Candidate Questionnaire
Lisa Kuklinski, FSA 1995, MAAA 1996
FTI Consulting
Managing Director
New York, NY
Brief description of current work:
Consulting services including litigation support on life and annuity insurance/reinsurance matters; intellectual property disputes; sales suitability; mergers and acquisitions; regulatory lobbying.
Primary Area of Practice:
Life and Annuities
Other Areas of Practice
Financial Reporting, Product Development, Risk Management
Professional Background
Provide a brief description of your professional background and the type of work you have performed and explain how these experiences have uniquely prepared you as an Elected Board Member and qualify you in carrying out the strategic direction of the SOA.
I have over 30 years of experience working as an actuary, in both technical and leadership roles, and in both an insurance company and in consulting practices. I worked at MetLife until 2018, moved to Ernst and Young, started my own consulting practice, and now I am a Managing Director at FTI Consulting.
This varied background has been invaluable in my first term as an Elected Board Meeting and as Secretary/Treasurer of the SOA and would continue to be important if I were reelected. I’d like to highlight the following experiences:
People: As Chief Actuary of MetLife’s Americas region, I led a large, diverse, and multi-national team. I have recruited and mentored many actuaries and am passionate about developing their careers. This focus on people is key to helping the SOA adapt to the changes affecting our profession, attract new candidates, and grow opportunities for current members.
Finance: As CFO of MetLife’s then-largest segment, U.S. Retail business, I was responsible for financial planning and expense management. Financial discipline and accountability are crucial to a well-run organization. The SOA is no different. Member dues must provide value and be put to their highest and best use.
Strategy: My background in product development and strategic planning has prepared me to work on opportunities and risks facing the SOA. My time in consulting has emphasized entrepreneurship, adaptability, and innovation.
International: My international experience (including 2 years of living in Mexico City) has helped me to understand the needs and challenges faced by candidates outside of the US.
Volunteer, Governance and Personal Experience
Describe how your volunteer, governance and personal experiences would strengthen your contributions to the SOA Board, the organization, and strategic plan execution. Please list your relevant volunteer experience. Please include the name of the organization, your role, and approximate dates.
I have served on the SOA Board since 2019 and I am currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the SOA. My SOA volunteer experience has had an international theme. I chaired the International Section in the early 2000s, led the Latin America Committee in 2017 and 2018, and headed the International Committee in 2020 and 2021. I have a deep understanding of how the profession is evolving around the world and have actively participated in developing and implementing the SOA’s strategy.
I am seeking re-election because I would be honored to continue the work that I have been involved in (like international expansion) and guide these projects forward. My Board experience has ranged from identifying problems and opportunities, facilitating decision-making, agreeing on strategic direction, conducting pilots, and measuring progress. The SOA Board has accomplished a great deal in the past three years. I understand that getting things done depends on collaborative work with the SOA staff and volunteers.
Through the American Academy of Actuaries, I currently serve on the Actuarial Standards Board Life Committee. This work has given me a focus on professionalism and providing guidance to actuaries. I am currently chairing the task force revising Actuarial Standard of Practice 10, Methods and Assumptions for Use in Life Insurance Company Financial Statements. Through the ACLI (2016-2018), I was co-chair of the group representing the industry on the Variable Annuity Statutory reserve and capital framework. In these experiences, balancing competing views and building consensus were important.
I have also served on boards of MetLife subsidiaries (2008-2018) as well as on the board of a not-for-profit community organization (2013-2017).
Agility/Change
Describe a significant change that you led in the workplace or in your volunteer activities. Explain what worked well and what could have gone better.
In my first two years on the SOA Board, I chaired the International Committee and led the strategy to expand the SOA around the world. Accelerating global growth is a key part of the SOA’s strategic plan and essential to the future.
In 2020, the SOA already had offices in Asia and was making inroads in Latin America. However, we needed to move faster and further. The regions that presented the most potential were India, the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. We needed to have representatives located in the region and develop localized products. We also needed to innovate and try new approaches, to be more agile.
We developed a three-year plan and built a business case. Given the investment, it was critical to agree on the metrics for evaluating success. We brought this plan to the SOA Board in 2020, and it was approved.
Fast forward one year later, it was time to report back to the Board on progress. We had a great deal of activity to talk about – new candidates and dozens of professional development activities. Like most actuaries, I am big on data, and my main focus was on providing an update on the metrics, even thought it was still early and regions were still evolving.
In terms of what worked well, I would highlight:
- Conveying a sense of urgency
- Collaborating with the SOA staff and key stakeholders
- Building a solid business plan and understanding sensitivities
- Identifying key metrics and providing updates
Looking back, I think the process and approach to change worked very well. There is still much work to do, and the COVID-19 pandemic led to slower growth in certain regions. However, I am convinced that this change effort will be a template for further growth.
Motivating/Influencing
Describe a difficult situation or disagreement that you had in a professional setting during which opinions varied and you worked through the issues that led to a successful result.
I led a year-long project implementing a new valuation framework, Embedded Value. Changing the basis for measuring business results is always a difficult challenge for an organization, especially when the new basis is being used to drive strategy and, ultimately, compensation. Stakeholders need to understand and trust the new metric.
I was part of an overall task force comprised of business leaders and CFOs. Representing Actuarial, I focused on making sure the business leaders fully understood the inputs and results, so that they would embrace the new methodology.
Embedded Value is very much driven by the assumptions chosen. I spent numerous hours with each business discussing the assumptions chosen and the rationale. If assumption choice became contentious, I worked to understand concerns. Frequent touchpoints helped to solve flare-ups before they became larger issues.
Interpreting Embedded Value results can also be a challenge. Small changes in assumptions can have a large impact on results. To break this down, I showed the year-by-year components of the calculation and bridged them to current earnings. Again, this provided transparency and built credibility.
In my experience with this and other difficult situations, the key to a successful outcome is frequent touchpoints, fully understanding any concerns, and finding common ground.
Diversity
What additional actions do you think the Board should take regarding diversity, equity and inclusion?
Diversity, equity and inclusion is an important part of the SOA’s long-term growth strategy. Key aspects of this strategy include growing the candidate pipeline in historically underrepresented groups and engaging diverse members and candidates. I am very excited about new programs, like the new Diversity Extension of the University-Earned Credit program. This will allow students to obtain SOA exam credits through approved college courses. Pilots are starting at schools serving African-American and Latinx communities.
Every decision addressed by the Board needs to be viewed through the lens of how it impacts DEI. I’m not just talking about the obvious ones (like the DEI strategy itself), but a broader context. For example, do changes to the educational path encourage or detract from diversity? What about the research that the SOA performs? What about the types and formats of the professional development we offer?
In terms of additional actions, the Board must measure and monitor the results of the actions the SOA has been taking. If an initiative is working, the SOA should double-down. If an initiative is not working, what were the reasons, and how can we correct course?
Ongoing work is needed to understand what it takes to attract and retain diverse candidates. I believe that these answers will come from brainstorming with the communities that we are trying to encourage, and outreach is important. The SOA needs to continue working with partner organizations on this front.
International
What can the SOA Board do to balance the needs of our global membership? How will your experience help the Board accomplish this?
SOA membership is rapidly becoming more global, with nearly one-third of exam candidates outside of the US/Canada. I have been deeply involved with the SOA’s global strategy, having chaired the International Committee for two years. Before being elected to the Board, I chaired the Latin America Committee. Through my involvement, I have visited Asia and Latin America, to build relationships and meet with stakeholders.
I firmly believe that the SOA is the premier actuarial organization in the world. However, through my experience, I know that the SOA cannot pursue a “one size fits all” US-centric approach. The actuarial profession is well-established in some countries, and very new in other countries. The path to become an actuary varies. Additionally, the insurance industry is unique to each country. For the SOA to decide which countries to target and how to best approach each market, getting input from various perspectives (students, universities, employers, local associations, regulators) is vital.
Through this type of outreach, the SOA can understand the needs of each country and see how to customize education, professional development, and research. We have made great strides and have a number of success stories. These include dozens of local professional development events, with content in Mandarin and Spanish. The International Financial Reporting for Insurers (IFRI) certificate has also been well-received.
To be successful and leverage best practices from around the globe, it’s so important to engage local volunteers. Volunteers are truly the lifeblood of the SOA, in terms of the expertise that they bring.
The strength of the SOA around the globe is a combination of having a robust and vibrant local presence in the countries where we focus, while facilitating communication and collaboration around the globe.
Emerging
Recently, the number of new candidates for actuarial exams has been declining. What additional actions should the Board take on this topic in relation to keeping the SOA successful?
When I was deciding on a profession, I was lucky enough to have had a high school math teacher who had planted the idea of being an actuary, a college classmate who returned from a summer boasting of a lucrative summer internship (earning the unheard-of sum of $300 per week!), and the added impetus of seeing actuary ranked the #1 “Best Job in America” in the 1990s.
Thirty years later, the actuarial profession still suffers from lack of awareness, and increasing competition from other professions.
As a Board member, I can attest that the declining number of candidates is top-of-mind for us. The Board has taken important and innovative steps to promote the profession and engage potential candidates. These include affiliate membership, micro-credentials, the SOAR (SOA-Readiness) Pathway and social media campaigns. In addition, the SOA is expanding around the globe.
For the next phase, I think there is tremendous opportunity in these additional actions:
- Early Outreach: Promote the actuarial careers to high school students, to “plant a seed.” This should be done in to build a more diverse pipeline.
- Cast a Wide Net: Target career changers, liberal arts college students, and others.
- Grow the Pie: Continue to work with employers to expand non-traditional roles for actuaries, to grow opportunities.