Professional qualifications

PROFILE

Outgoing, results-focused life insurance actuary with success building insurance businesses and a professional services practice.

Skills/Qualifications

  • Technical actuarial skills in pricing, valuation and asset/liability management.
  • Extensive knowledge of the Canadian individual and group life and health insurance marketplaces.
  • Leadership, planning, organizing and execution skills. Team-building, and personnel development and management.
  • Written and oral communication skills and documentation habits.
  • Accomplished public speaker with superior ability to communicate technical issues to non-technical parties.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to manage relationships with a wide variety of clients.

Career Highlights

  • Built an actuarial internal audit practice to a team of 17 actuarial professionals across 3 offices in Canada and Europe performing 60+ engagements annually.
  • Led the research, development, launch and operation of a mechanical warranty insurance line of business.
  • Led the operations of a group creditor and property/casualty insurance businesses with $300 million annual revenue. 
  • Designed and developed a multi-life Universal Life insurance solution on the partners of a professional firm, incorporating the 300+ employee shareholders as insured lives on a group insurance basis.


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

McCormack Actuarial Consulting                                                                                                                      Aug 2017 – Present

President

  • Provide consulting services to the life insurance industry on pricing, valuation, asset/liability management, and risk management initiatives.
  • Provide independent assurance of sound actuarial practices, including valuation of actuarial liabilities.
  • Perform valuations of life insurance policies for ownership transfer, and CRA reporting of non-exempt policies.

Great-West Life                                                                                                                                                      Sep 2008 – May 2017

Assistant Vice-President & Global Practice Leader, Actuarial Internal Audit

  • Led a team of 17 actuarial professionals responsible for Internal Audit activities related to over 200 Canadian, European & Reinsurance Division actuarial processes in risk research, product development & pricing, valuation & financial reporting, asset/liability management, capital management, and risk management.
  • Liaised with all levels of management in the Corporate Actuarial and Financial Management groups, and in the lines of business in relation to risk assessment, annual plan, timing of audits, findings and reports and other matters related to work planned or performed.
  • Developed audit strategy for actuarial processes. Tested to support management’s attestation on the design and effectiveness of the key controls over the valuation processes. Independently reviewed and tested the components of actuarial liabilities. Liaised with the external auditor.
  • Member of team responsible for maintaining relationship with Western University’s Actuarial Program.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Started the practice, building it to a team of 17 actuarial professionals.
    • Instilled a culture of support of independent review within the global actuarial community.


IA Pacific Insurance & Financial Services                                                                                                         Sep 2004 – Aug 2008

Vice President, SAL Marketing and Administration

  • Led the group creditor and property/casualty insurance operations. Annual profits of $20M on revenues of $300M. Responsible for all financial, accounting and budgetary matters.
  • Led a team of 35 delivering product, marketing and administrative functions to a Distribution team of 75 employees, and a client base of 2,000 motor vehicle dealerships and 400,000 individuals insured.
  • Liaised with Distribution leadership to assist in establishing sales objectives, strategies and programs.
  • Directed product planning, design, pricing and management; marketing, advertising and sales promotion policies; administrative and customer relations functions; and mechanical warranty claims adjudication.
  • Performed valuation of actuarial liabilities for variable participating life insurance, and mechanical warranty insurance lines of business.

Key Accomplishments:

  • Led the research, development, launch and operation of the mechanical warranty insurance line of business.
    • Developed, embedded and provided oversight of the operations of the offshore reinsurance subsidiary.

Manulife Financial                                                                                                                                                 Oct 2000 – Aug 2004

Assistant Vice-President, Actuarial Consultant, Individual Life Centre

  • Member of the Professional Services Team, a group of accountants, lawyers, actuaries and underwriters, situated in the field offices, supporting advanced market individual life insurance sales.
  • Provided training, technical product support and special case consulting support. Clients included Manulife sales managers, independent financial and investment advisors, individual policyholders, and third-party professionals such as accountants and lawyers.
  • Field liaison with the Product Development and Special Case markets teams in Head Office.

Hewitt Associates                                                                                                                                                   Jul 1998 – Sep 2000

Senior Benefits Consultant

  • Provided group benefits consulting advice to a wide range of clients, including public and private corporations, and multi-employer Health and Welfare Trusts.
  • Responsible for the design, pricing and financing of group life, disability, health and dental insurance plans, and communication of plan issues to clients. Duties included valuation of Long Term Disability and post-retirement benefits plans, as well as pricing of flexible benefits plans.
  • Managed the administration team for a large multi-employer plan, and mentored a team of consultants and analysts.

PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE

Seaboard Life Insurance               Marketing Actuary, Personal Financial Services                                                  1995 – 1998

Seaboard Life Insurance               Group Products Actuary                                                                                           1994 – 1995

Seaboard Life Insurance               Actuarial Student/Associate, Corporate Actuarial                                            1984 – 1993

Canadian Football League            Football Player, Edmonton Eskimos & Saskatchewan Roughriders        1987 – 1990

EDUCATION

  • Fellow, Society of Actuaries; Fellow, Canadian Institute of Actuaries
  • Chartered Financial Analyst: completed Level One
  • BSc Mathematics, Simon Fraser University

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

  • School Council, St. George’s Public School, 2012-17; Chair 2012-16.
  • Soccer Coach: Nor’West (London), 2010-17; London District Youth Soccer League, since 2014.
  • Football Coach: Forest City Thunderbirds; London Minor Football Association, 2014-15.
  • Advisory Board member for Western University’s Certificate Program in Business Skills for Actuaries.
  • London Life’s Actuarial Professional Development Team (whose mandate is to promote professionalism & foster a sense of community among the Actuarial Forum) member 2011-14; Chair 2013-14.
  • Program co-ordinator, Vancouver Actuaries’ Club, 1998-2002.