Industry Insights

The element of surprise. Facing the unknown. Making predictions. That’s what comes to mind when students interested in the actuarial profession ask me why I have enjoyed this career for the past 22 years. There are always problems to solve, but on any given day, I can never fully predict exactly what will come my way. Every morning, I start with my short list, but something unanticipated is usually on the horizon, case in point, the Coronavirus.

You can probably imagine that working with more than 100 third party administrators (TPAs) means that HM Insurance Group (HM) receives tens of thousands of claim detail files every year. It’s a lot of data to manage. Files come into a secure, designated Stop Loss claims email box or via an FTP site. They are then saved to a corporate drive so our Claims team can format the TPAs’ Excel files into a format acceptable for loading into our claims system. The entire process takes a lot of manual work.  

I have a confession to make. As I watched the Coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the world and into the United States in late January and February, I was openly derisive about the potential impacts. I was convinced this would just be another flu (don’t we have one of those already), and this would not likely be a significant concern, both from a risk/loss perspective and from a societal impact standpoint. It’s a good thing I learned an important lesson a long time ago: be humble in defeat. 

Fear of catastrophic claims and the financial challenges they can create may be keeping you – and your clients – up at night. When statistics show claims growing well beyond the $1 million mark with greater frequency, that fear is certainly founded. It’s also a very real fear for me as the CFO of a Stop Loss insurance company. However, I know that data-backed decisions and having the right approach in place for responding to trends can make all the difference.

I’m often caught off guard when someone thanks me for getting back to them. It feels odd being acknowledged for doing my job. With all the technology we have at our fingertips, I have to wonder how anyone survives in this business without being responsive, since that quality is so important to sustaining relationships. I suppose, in the day-to-day, some may forget common courtesies as they focus on checking off to-dos. But those gestures that demonstrate you truly care are what help you stand out, and I don’t ever want to lose sight of them. I want to do right by my partners and clients.