LUncheons
The Portland Actuarial Club hosts monthly luncheons from September to May, providing opportunities for continuing education and networking. See upcoming and past lunch events below.
December 2023 - Dethorning your Roses – Best Practices and Hot Topics for a Valuation and Pricing Actuary
Speaker: Dave Dillon, FSA, MAAA
Bio: Dave, a consulting actuary with Lewis & Ellis, has dedicated his career to serving a wide range of insurance companies, state insurance departments, and other health insurance stakeholders. His area of expertise includes the ACA, Voluntary Benefits, valuation, and financial solvency. From 2018-2021, Dave served on the SOA’s Board of Directors. He is currently an instructor for the Academy’s Life & Health Qualification Seminar and Georgia State’s Actuarial Program.
Subject: Based on his experience with assisting both insurers and state insurance departments, Dave will provide some key insights and best practices regarding both product development and actuarial opinions.
Date: December 13th, 2023 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual - Link will be sent on the day of the meeting
Past Luncheons
September 2023 - The Bountiful Actuarial Toolbox: Professionalism Resources for Everyday and Beyond
Speaker: Nancy Behrens, FSA, MAAA
Subject: Gain insights into the professionalism resources that are at your disposal for higher-level professional challenges such as ethical dilemmas, explaining professionalism to non-actuary stakeholders in your work, and branching into an emerging area of practice. An experienced professionalism thought leader and speaker from the American Academy of Actuaries will walk you through the many tools in the “actuarial toolbox” that you can turn to with professionalism questions of all kinds—from basic to advanced—and where you can get help when you can’t find the answers.
Date: September 19th, 2023 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual - Link will be sent on the day of the meeting
July 2023 - Linda Konarik
Speaker: Linda Konarik
Subject: Join us at our speaker event where Linda Konarik will share her story transitioning from working as an actuary to helping consumers directly as an insurance agent.
Date: July 26th, 2023 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual - Link will be sent on the day of the meeting
May 2023 - Lisa Foreman
Speaker: Lisa Foreman, FSA, MAAA
Subject: Join us at our speaker event as Lisa Foreman shares her story about moving to Albania, mentoring aspiring actuaries, and starting her own actuarial firm.
Date: May 23rd, 2023 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual - Link will be sent on the day of the meeting
April 2023 - Healthcare Price Transparency
Speaker: Chris Smith, FSA, MAAA
Subject: The curtains are finally being lifted on healthcare provider contract pricing. Beginning in 2021, all hospitals were mandated to post a machine-readable file in the public domain containing all negotiated rates they offer with all contracted payers. In July 2022, payers were mandated to post in machine-readable files their side of the story. At Milliman, we have partnered with Turquoise Health to ingest the large volumes of fee schedule data posted, and then with Milliman’s analytics & experience we have added a layer of intelligence to turn this machine-readable data into business interpretable data. Everyone has a stake in healthcare price transparency, from payers to providers to employers, from regulators to consumers, and it remains to be seen how this will change the US healthcare landscape.
Date: April 25th, 2023 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual - Link will be sent on the day of the meeting
October 2022 - SOA - 2022 And Looking Forward
Speaker: Sharon Giffen
Subject: This presentation will provide an overview of the SOA's strategy, some background and current progress against initiatives to fulfill the strategy. This will include an update on some current areas of focus in the SOA's Research Institute.
Date: October 18th, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
September 2022 - Professionalism: Keeping it Sharp With Fundamentals and, Yes, Fun
Speaker: Cande Olsen | Gabriel Schiminovich
Subject: This session’s speakers, who have contributed to drafting various actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs), will provide a brief overview of the professionalism infrastructure housed in the American Academy of Actuaries, followed by highlights of recently adopted ASOPs affecting life and health actuaries. The session begins with a review of the role and purpose of the Code of Professional Conduct, the U.S. Qualification Standards, the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline, and the Actuarial Standards Board. Following a high-level look at recent ASOP developments, the speakers will guide a discussion of additional key aspects of professionalism through a fun Q&A, giving audience members an opportunity to enhance and show their professionalism knowledge!
Date: September 22nd, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
June 2022 - ESG Under the Spotlight
Speaker: Karen A. Grote, FSA, MAAA, CERA
Subject: ESG (environment, social, governance) is becoming more important for insurance companies due to regulatory and market trends, such as the NAIC climate risk disclosure standard for insurance companies adopted earlier this year. This session will provide an overview of what ESG is, why it is garnering so much attention, and how actuaries are contributing to ESG efforts. Discussion will include implications and considerations for insurers, as well as a typical roadmap for insurers to set the foundation of a solid ESG approach, including addressing climate risk.
Date: June 21st, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
April 2022 - Actuarial Transformation: State of the Industry
Speaker: Cole Bloom | Mandy Jiao | Melanie Dunn, FSA, MAAA, Oliver Wyman
Subject: As the speed of technological innovation increases, actuarial leaders are trying to determine how to use emerging technologies to unlock more business value and improve competitive positioning. This includes enabling new capabilities, improving process efficiency, and increasing the effectiveness of human capital.
The session will discuss what we are hearing from clients who are in the process of transforming their business, how they are approaching these transformations, and what they are focusing on. This will include different aspects of transformation, including visualization dashboards, data science applications, no-code platforms, automation, data, and the cloud. The presenters will also cover how organizations are thinking of human capital and collaboration between actuaries, IT, and other professionals.
Date: April 19th, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
February 2022 - The Information Environment in Commercial Real Estate Markets: Challenges and Opportunities
Speaker: Julia Freybote, Ph.D.
Subject: Commercial real estate markets are characterized by informational inefficiencies that represent challenges for investors and lenders pricing risks and making decisions. This presentation focuses on the information environment for market participants in commercial real estate markets. It firstly reviews commercial real estate market characteristics that contribute to informational inefficiencies. Secondly, technological innovations generating data (e.g., PropTech, artificial intelligence, textual analysis) are discussed as they improve the information environment for commercial real estate market participants and represent new opportunities for better predicting risks.
Date: February 23rd, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
January 2022 - The Future Of Actuarial Models
Speaker: Nate Worrell, FSA, Moody’s Analytics
Subject: The Future of Actuarial Models
How will technical and societal trends shape the future of modeling
How can you future-proof your models
Considerations for inputs, calculations, and outputs
Date: January 18th, 2022 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
December 2021 - Growing Good Actuaries into Great Leaders
Speaker: Brad Whatley, Senior VP and Managing Director at The Jacobson Group
Date: December 16th, 2021 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
September 2021 - Current Market Trends on Reinsurance and Capital Relief
Speaker: Sean Abate, FSA | Don Cho, FSA, CERA | Becca Tao, ASA, CERA
Date: September 28th, 2021 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
June 2021 - Merger, Acquisition, and Employee-Benefit Consulting at Ernst & Young
Speaker: Matt McLean, ASA
Subject: What does it take to attract and retain talent in a competitive workforce environment? How do employers navigate their employee benefits offering? Matt McLean will share what he has learned in his 8 years as an employee-benefits consulting actuary—experience ranging from telemedicine to merger & acquisition due diligence.
Date: June 29, 2021 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Virtual
May 2021 - Powering the Profession for Long-Term Growth: Strategies for Success
Speaker: William (Flick) Fornia, FSA, MAAA, EA, FCA, SOA Board Member
Subject: Flick will discuss the current challenges and opportunities within the actuarial profession, sharing updates from the Society of Actuaries’ long-term growth strategy. He will discuss artificial intelligence, data analytics, diversity and inclusion, member/candidate engagement, and education.
Date: May 25, 2021 from Noon to 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual
September 2020 - Oregon Health Plan's COVID-19 Response
Speaker: Will Clark-Shim, FSA
Subject: Oregon Health Plan’s actuaries and colleagues responded to COVID-19 in a variety of ways – from assessing provider needs and payer strategies, to filing state plan amendments and Medicaid waivers – in service of continued functioning of the health care system. Our presentation will describe the actuarial response in four stages as the pandemic has unfolded. As part of this, we will spotlight certain modeling and policy initiatives that have helped inform our thinking and respond to the health emergency and economic fallout.
Date: September 15, 2020 from Noon to 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual
July 2020 - Alternative Payment Models in Healthcare
Speaker: Bob Nemeth, FSA
Subject: Efforts to move beyond the traditional fee for service reimbursement model for medical providers have been in place for some years, with varying degrees of success. This presentation will cover different alternatives to the traditional fee for service reimbursement structure and look at how this might be impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic.
Date: July 21, 2020 from Noon to 1:00 pm
Location: Virtual
February 2020 - Excel Best Practices
Speaker: Aaron Curtis, FSA, CERA
Subject: Aaron will present the best practices he learned in 30 years of using Excel, as well as the best tips from members of the Portland Actuarial Club. Regardless of your level of Excel expertise, there will be something here for you to learn and possibly incorporate into your own practice. (Full Description)
Date: February 18, 2020 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
January 2020 - SOA Update
Speaker: Julie A Curtis, FSA, MAAA, EA
Subject: Julie will provide an update on the SOA’s strategic plan, which includes discussing long-term growth strategy, predictive analytics and other key initiatives. (Full Description)
Date: Jan 21st, 2020 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
November 2019 - Professionalism
Speaker: Aaron Curtis, FSA | Ajmal Haseeb, ASA
Subject: Join us for a discussion on professionalism!
Date: Nov 19th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
September 2019 - Medicaid
Speaker: Peter Hedgecock, FSA | Scott Fry, FSA
Subject: Scott Fry and Peter Hedgecock, who both recently started as Managers of Actuarial Services at CareOregon, will provide an overview of the Medicaid program in the US, details on the Oregon Health Plan’s unique organization of the Medicaid program through Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) and actuarial issues around Medicaid including: risk adjustment, rate-setting, covered services, and coordination with Medicare. (Full Description)
Date: Sept 17th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
June 2019 - Professionalism
Speaker: Scott Fry, FSA | Aaron Curtis, FSA
Subject: Case-Study Based Professionalism Class
Date: June 11th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
May 2019 - A Few Words about Fixed-Income Securities
Speaker: Chris Beaulieu, CFA
Subject: How does total return performance and asset/liability matching coexist in a well-functioning portfolio, and how do core issues of duration, liquidity, and convexity get sorted out in this paradigm? (Full Description)
Date: May 14th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
April 2019 - Paying for Quality in US Healthcare: The Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Program
Speaker: David Dodge, Cambia Health Solutions
Subject: On average, 10,000 baby boomers ‘age in’ to Medicare each day. As Medicare spending increases with this demographic shift, the federal government remains focused on ensuring high-quality services are provided for each Medicare dollar spent. (Full Description)
Date: April 16th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
February 2019 - The SOA from the President’s Perspective
Speaker: James M. Glickman, FSA, MAAA, SOA President
Subject: James Glickman is the President of the SOA and president and CEO of LifeCare Assurance Company. He will speak about the recent updates to the examination process, the potential merger between SOA and CAS, the general direction of the actuarial profession, and research projects being supported by the SOA. (Full Description)
Date: February 19th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
January 2019 - Around the World with a Career in Medicine
Speaker: Nathalie van Havre, MD, FRACP
Subject: Nathalie's life and career in Medicine have allowed her to live and work in 5 countries with very different healthcare systems. Nathalie will speak about her experience as a doctor in each country, and will discuss the benefits and issues of each system from the point of view of a physician. (Full Description)
Date: January 29th, 2019 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
November 2018 - Professionalism
Speaker: Gideon Medley, ASA, CERA
Subject: Brush up on your Code of Conduct knowledge, because you’ll be in serious Jeopardy if you don’t (hint hint). Come ready to fill in the blanks on what keeps our profession held in high regard.
Date: November 27th, 2018 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
October 2018 - Pharmacy Prices in the US
Speaker: Scott Fry, FSA, MAAA
Subject: Over the last several years pharmacy prices in the US have risen considerably faster than overall medical trend. There have been a number of high-profile news items regarding pharmacy costs and the state and national legislatures are passing or proposing new laws and regulations. This presentation will look at pharmacy pricing from a number of angles. (Full Description)
Date: October 23rd, 2018 from Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
September 2018 - My Decade as a Northwest Regulator
Speaker: Scott Fitzpatrick, FSA, MAAA
Subject: With a decade of regulatory experience in both Oregon and Washington, Scott Fitzpatrick will share his experience working as a regulator the Northwest. He’ll reveal his observations about the differences in regulation style and substance between the two states, about the day-to-day work of a regulator, and differences in working for an appointed Insurance Commissioner versus an elected one, if he dares! (Full Description)
Date: September 25th, 2018 from noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – The Library, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
May 2018 - The Entrepreneurial Actuary
Speaker: Ben Wacker, FSA, MAAA
Subject: Come hear Ben Wacker’s experience dipping his toes into the entrepreneurial actuarial space over the past decade with his study materials company. He promises that he’ll try his best to make this the least technical PAC presentation of the year!
Date: May 15, 2018, Noon to 1:30 pm
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room, 614 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97205
April 2018 - Predictive Analytics in P&C Insurance
Speaker: Andrew Davies, FCAS
Subject: Andrew will give a high level overview of predictive analytics in the property casualty insurance industry. This includes what companies are modeling, types of models used, challenges in creating them and lessons learned.
Date: April 17, 2018
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
March 2018 - The SOA Listening Tour
Speaker: Jeremy Brown, FSA, MAAA
Subject: Jerry will be visiting as a part of the SOA Listening Tour. He will be discussing the SOA Strategic Plan and some of the initiatives underway, particularly those related to Predictive Analytics. Jerry will be very interested in hearing your views.
Date: March 20, 2018
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
February 2018 - Predictive Modeling: A Case Study
Speaker: Jeremy Fleischer, FSA
Subject: Predictive modeling is receiving increased focus and attention in the actuarial community. Come see a case study of one predictive model built in the context of Group LTD claim administration, with lessons learned along the way.
Date: February 20, 2018
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
January 2018 - R: Actuarial Adoption, Training and Applications
Speaker: Scott Fry, FSA
Subject: R is a statistical programming language used for data analysis. What is R useful for? What are resources for learning R? What will it mean to have actuarial analysts with R experience? How does R compare to Excel and SAS? What are R applications?
Date: January 16, 2018
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
November 2017 - Professionalism: SOA Code of Conduct and BEYOND!
Speaker: Kim Ledbetter and Woody Richen
Subject: What does it mean to be a professional actuary? Is it enough to follow the Code of Professional Conduct, or is more necessary? This is an interactive presentation that will test your knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a professional.
Date: November 28, 2017
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
October 2017 - The Many Landslides in Oregon
Speaker: Scott Burns
Subject: Scott Burns has been studying landslides in Oregon for 27 years. They are the last geological hazard that really does not have insurance available to cover it. He will discuss past slides, what we have learned, and the future of landslide insurance.
Date: October 31, 2017
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Card Room
September 2017 - Evolution in Healthcare Technology
Speaker: Brian Ritchie and Matt Holman
Subject: New technologies, apps, and healthcare companies are entering the health care landscape at a rapid pace and changing the way that health care is being delivered, how consumers engage the health care system, and how analytics are performed.
Date: September 19, 2017
Location: Sentinel Hotel – Billiard Room