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Top 10 questions for your Actuarial Firm.
1. How long has the firm been providing actuarial services?
As a purchaser of actuarial services, you will be want to know how long the actuarial firm has been in business and how much experience the actuary has in dealing with your particular needs.
2. How many credentialed actuaries are in the firm?
In order to express an actuarial opinion you will need to make sure that you are working with a credentialed actuary. You will want to make sure that your actuary will be working on the project and not farming it out to a junior analyst. Depending on the type of services you need, the actuarial designation will vary. If the actuary is also a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, they will have an MAAA after their name.
- Property and Casualty actuaries will be an ACAS or FCAS
- Employee Benefits/Pension actuaries will be an EA, FSA or ASA
- Life and Health actuaries will be an ASA or FSA
3. Can you provide relevant references?
As a risk manager, it's important to know that actuarial firms have satisfied clients that are willing to share their experiences with the firm. It is also important that the references are similar in nature to the type of services that you are looking for.
4. How much experience do you have in opining on this line of business?
You wouldn't want an actuary who works exclusive in one line of business to opine on another line where he has no experience unless the proper resources of the firm are at his disposal.
5.Do you have other actuaries to peer review your work?
It is critical that another actuary peer review any work product presented to the client. This is part of the quality review process and enhances the ultimate quality of the final work product.
6. Does your actuarial firm do the work in-house or is the actuarial work outsourced to a third party?
You will want to make sure you know who will be working on the project. If the work is outsourced to another country or provider you will want to make sure that you consent to it.
7.Does the firm carry Errors and Omissions insurance?
You will want to make sure that the actuarial firm which you hire carries the appropriate level of insurance in case of malpractice.
8.Are there pending investigations by the actuarial discipline board?
Obviously, you would want to learn more about the nature of the investigation if the answer is yes.
9. Will you be able to travel to present the actuarial report in person and is that included in the price?
Most of the time, consulting actuaries are willing to travel to your location to present their reports. This actuarial service may be included in the price or it may be a separate fee.
10.Have you published any papers or are you on any actuarial committees?
The actuarial profession is a volunteer organization and as such it relies on its members to write papers, perform research and educate other actuaries. If an actuary is active in a particular area that might give you insight into their interests and how that might apply to your particular need.