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Reflections on Actuary Day
On Monday, August 2, 2004, the Center for Insurance
Studies (CIS) hosted an Actuary Day featuring two seminars: The Challenges for Casualty Actuaries and Modeling of Economic Series Coordinated with Interest
Rate Scenarios. Both seminars were presented by Dr. Stephen P.
D'Arcy, Professor of Finance and the John C. Brogan Faculty Scholar in
Risk Management and Insurance at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. Dr. D'Arcy is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society
(FCAS), a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, past president of
the American Risk and Insurance Association, and currently serves as the
President-Elect of the Casualty Actuarial Society. He has
received numerous awards for excellence in teaching and for best papers
published in well known journals.
Dr. Thomas Johnson,
Associate Dean of CBE, and Dr. Paul Deland, Chair of the Math Department,
were there to welcome and introduce the speaker. Dr. Stephen D'Arcy was an
excellent and motivated lecturer. It was interesting to see that as the
presenter, he did not use all the time for his own presentation but also
left time for those in the audience. In the first seminar he presented
some important changes in the actuarial examination system (focusing on
the first four exams), in voting rights for members, and on the issues of
fellowship and associateship. The seminar attracted many local actuaries,
including the Chiefs of Actuary from the Auto Club, Pacific Life, and
others
from Farmers Insurance, the Department of Insurance, and firms in
the area. During the first seminar they gave their ideas and
recommendations regarding the changes discussed.
Preceding the second
seminar, Dr. Ephraim Smith, VP of Academic Affairs, and Dr. Mark Stohs,
Finance Chair, presented Dr. D'Arcy with a gift to express the
university's appreciation. The topic specific for the second seminar was
developed from a research proposal for both the CAS and SOA. The speaker and his two
collaborators were the pioneers on this project, and the subject
definitely interested finance and math professors and actuaries. The
project demonstrates how stochastic processes apply in a financial setting. Many more
papers will no doubt issue out of this initial work.
CIS was delighted by
the visit from Dr. Stephen D'Arcy, who provided germane and interesting
information for all who attended.
~ Dr. Andrew Nguyen, Mathematics
Professor George Yen, Dr. Stephen D'Arcy,
Dr. Tom Johnson, Associate Dean,
CBE |
CIS Welcomes
Zenith
 Stanley
R. Zax, chairman, president and CEO of Zenith National Insurance
Corporation, began his career in 1961 as an associate, then a partner,
with the Chicago law firm of Friedman, Mulligan, Dillon & Uris. From
1966 to 1972, he served as vice president, secretary and general counsel
for Hilton Hotels and, from 1973 to 1976, as president and CEO of Great
American Insurance Company. In 1977, he became chairman of
Zenith,
a company specializing in worker¡¯s compensation insurance, and the
following year was named president and CEO.
Through a mutual friend, Lin Lan, President of Pacific Pioneer
Insurance Group, I had the opportunity to visit Stanley Zax. When asked
for advice regarding the CIS program, he said, ¡°I hope you are successful
in training people to ¡¯think¡¯ and solve insurance problems, since this is
the real shortage in the workplace.¡± He also spoke of other related matters,
and I realized through our talk that Stanley Zax is not only an
entrepreneur, but a visionary. I was impress-ed by his legendary trip to
China in the early 1980¡¯s, of the people he met and the experiences he
had.
About one week after the time we spent together, I was very
surprised to receive a generous check on behalf of The Zenith. We welcome
the company as our Benefactor, and we thank you, Mr. Stanley Zax.
~ Dr. Weili
Lu, Director, CIS
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CIS Board of Directors Meeting, 2004
Dr. Gordon, President of CSUF, welcomed the members
to the sixth Board of Directors meeting. He observed that the Center was
beginning its seventh year and that he is extremely pleased with what has
been accomplished in terms of course enrollments, placement of students
and fund raising.
Dr. Lu presented the
Director¡¯s report in which she discussed the Center¡¯s performance against
objectives. Major accomplishments included a steady increase in enrollment
and student placements in the industry. Particularly noteworthy was the
new actuary program, which is showing increased student interest.
She then reviewed the financial statements.
Mr. Tirador, Chairman of the CIS Board of Directors, pointed out
that the Center is facing a challenge to make up last year¡¯s shortfall as well as to fulfill the need for increases to
support next year¡¯s programs.
The new business plan draft for the Center¡¯s next
five years was reviewed by the members in a Power Point presentation given
by Dr. Lu. Its mission is to provide an undergraduate concentration in
insurance, risk management and financial services and an MBA
specializing in corporate risk management and insurance. Underlying the plan is the objective of raising endowments. Although
detailed plans have not been developed, the largest amount would be used
to hire full and part-time qualified faculty, followed by research
activities, new projects and programs, internships and scholarships.
With respect to the
Center's business plan funding objectives, Dean Puri said that the
University has a unique window of opportunity to grow the program at this
time, and while the plan seems realistic, it will still
present a large challenge. A discussion among the members of possible
funding strategies followed. The Board felt that to raise sufficient funds, the
Center must be able to define where it wants to position itself and
develop active marketing programs to show potential donors how support for
the Center would benefit them.
In his closing
remarks, Mr. Tirador expressed appreciation for the Center¡¯s many
achievements over the last six years and for the University¡¯s support. On
behalf of the Board, he congratulated Dr. Lu for her numerous
accomplishments and said that he supports the endowment plan.
Charles H. Schroeder
Secretary, pro tem
CIS Board Meeting,
2004. L-R: Robert Hsu, SVP, Pacific Life; Prof. Charles Schroeder,
Finance, CSUF; Dr. Weili Lu, Director, CIS;
Dr. Milton Gordon,
President, CSUF; Gabriel Tirador, President,
Mercury Insurance
Group; Dr. Anil Puri, Dean, College of Business and Economics; Robert
Siglock, VP, Auto Club of Southern California
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In This Issue
Reflections on
Actuary Day
CIS Welcomes
The Zenith
CIS Board of
Directors
2003 Meeting
George Joseph
as
Keynote
Speaker
Spotlight:
Timothy Rooney
Insurance Commissioner Forum:
Mark Wei
A Brief Description
Of CIS
CIS
Scholarships
CIS Contests:
Financial
Planning
Business
Writing
Insurance Case
RIMS Education
Workshop
Alumni Corner
Dynamic Statistics
International Forum:
Dr. Gordon
Visits China
Everbright
Securities
Zhejiang
Delegation |
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George Joseph Visits Cal State Fullerton
as Business Week¡¯s Keynote Speaker
George Joseph
with Finance Association members. L-R: Vannak Kang, Dung
Vu,Tiffany
Cleveland, Mr. Joseph, Kathy Fung, Lu-Anh Nguyen, Nicole Lopez
Mr. George Joseph, CEO and Chairman of Mercury
Insurance Group, visited the campus in December of 2002. All who heard
him speak at that time were privileged to hear him give his clear
perspective on the business world combined with his keen advice on how to
be happy and successful in business.
To the delight of Cal
State Fullerton students and faculty, George Joseph made a second visit to
the CSUF campus in March 2004. He came through the invitation of Dr. Weili
Lu, Director of CIS, as the keynote speaker for Business Week, the largest annual event in the College of Business
and Economics.
Vital and energetic, Mr. Joseph¡¯s keynote address was
entitled, Make Your Own Future. This time his words were equally personal and
practical, beginning with modest and helpful illustrations from his own
life and ascendancy in business.
From humble West
Virginia beginnings, he spent time in the Air Force in WW II, and arrived
in southern California in 1962, when he decided to start a business. After
some consideration his decision was to build an insurance company from
virtually nothing. First goal? Raise two million dollars. ¡°Whatever you
can conceive, you can achieve,¡± he told himself. ¡°You have the ability to
get where you want to go.¡± Said he, ¡°I found that being in business can be
just as exciting as being shot at in a B-17 [bomber].¡±
Within a short time,
the Mercury Insurance company was born, with five employees and
two million dollars raised through determination and an attractive and
viable idea. The rest, as they say, is history.
Mercury has grown to become the leading writer of
insurance to independent agents in California, and is also one of the
largest writers of auto insurance in the United States. Since its
inception, there has not been a single year in which the company has not
turned a profit.
All those who were
present will definitely remember the occasion. At the end of his
presentation, George Joseph left the listeners with some very useful and
golden nuggets of advice:
1. Work. You will find yourself happy if engaged in the
kind of work you look forward to coming to every day, and work you are
reluctant to leave.
2. Purpose is your most powerful motivator.
3. Develop a concentration of purpose. You need to lead
your time, or your time will lead you.
4. Let your humanity shine at your work.
5. Treat people with courtesy and kindness.
6. Be an aggressive listener. Great leadership follows
great ¡°follow-ship¡±.
George Joseph recently donated $100,000 for the CIS
offices that will be built in the new CBE building.
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Spotlight
Timothy Rooney
Timothy Rooney is the Director of Strategic
Initiatives for Pacific Life¡¯s Annuities & Mutual Funds Division. In his
current role he has been responsible for managing the development and
implementation of the Pacific Funds family of mutual funds, the Pacific
Funds 529 College Savings Plan, and the Portfolio Optimization family of
funds.
Prior to joining Pacific Life, Mr. Rooney was the President and
Managing Director of Rooney Consulting Group, a consulting firm
specializing in Financial Services. He also held management positions at
AXA/Equitable Financial Companies and Sherwood Capital.
Mr. Rooney
participates on two boards at California State University, Fullerton: The Executive
Council to The College of Business & Economics, and the Advisory Board
to the Center for Insurance Studies. He attained his Bachelors degree in
Finance from Baruch College of New York, and his Masters degree in Finance
and International Business from New York University.
We at CIS know Timothy as one of our earliest
Advisory Board members. He is a person who is committed in the most
practical way to the Center¡¯s continuing development, and his counsel and
perspective are highly valued. He is the co-founder of our Business
Writing contest, an advisor for our Personal Finance contest, a
regular guest speaker in our classes, and is popular with our
students.
On a more personal note, we happen to know that Timothy is a
surfing buff, and that he will be married in November. The couple
will honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand. We wish them all the very
best!
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Insurance Commissioner Forum
Cal State Fullerton was honored by a visit from Mr.
Mark Wei, Insurance Commissioner of Taiwan. He was invited to visit the
campus by Dr. Weili Lu, Director of the Center for Insurance Studies. Mr.
Wei met faculty and students at a reception, and as keynote speaker for
the CIS Insurance Commissioner Forum, gave a lecture to Insurance students
entitled, Insurance Regulatory System and Insurance Market in
Taiwan. This topic was both informative and interesting to
the audience, as we realize the importance of the global world in which we
live.
After class Dr. Anil
Puri, Dean, CBE, hosted a lunch in Newport Beach with Gabriel Tirador,
President of Mercury and Chair of the CIS Board; Dr. Tom Johnson,
Associate Dean; Robert Hsu, SVP Pacific Life; Brian Baker, Head of PIMCO Asian; Lisa Chan and Yiming Shen of Aon Asia; and Dr. Weili
Lu, Director CIS. After lunch Mr. Wei and others visited both PIMCO and
Pacific Life, and our visitor¡¯s day ended with a dinner with Dr. and Mrs.
Gordon, Dr. Anil Puri, Dr. Weili Lu, and George Yen.
As Commissioner of the
Department of Insurance in Taiwan¡¯s Ministry of Finance, Mark Wei is
leading one of the most dynamic and fluid insurance industry environments
in Asia.
Specifically, he is addressing issues such as the impact of
declining interest rates on insurance entities, while also focusing
on the liberalization of insurance companies¡¯ business and investment
practices.
The insurance industry in Taiwan has been growing significantly,
with an average annual insurance premium growth rate of 13% since
1996.
Mark Wei was invited to the
United States by the Eisenhower Foundation. He intends to use his
fellowship with the foundation to obtain a better understanding of trends
in the U.S. insurance industry, including issues of governance,
transparency, public and private cooperation, and organizational
restructuring.
~ Jane Shi,
International Program
Coordinator
L-R: Dr. Tom
Johnson, Associate Dean, CBE;
Mark Wei, Taiwan
Insurance Commissioner;
Dr. Katrin Harich,
Associate Dean, CBE
A Brief Description of CIS
The
Center for Insurance Studies (CIS) was established by the Department of
Finance during the 1998-1999 academic year, at which time Dr. Weili Lu was
appointed Director. The goal of CIS is to create an organization that
attracts and educates talented individuals who are committed to professional
careers in the insurance industry, including property, life, benefits,
risk management, and health care components. The emphasis is on careers in
actuarial analysis, claims, financial planning, marketing, risk
management, portfolio management, sales, technology and underwriting.
CIS is pleased to function as a bridge between the
academic and insurance and financial services communities.
The Insurance and Financial Services
program created by the Center for Insurance Studies is now one of the six
concentrations in the Department of Finance. |
CIS Scholarship Awards Ceremony
Listed
below are the scholarships and winners for the 2003-2004 academic year.
Heartiest thanks go to our munificent contributors.
Actuary
Scholarship
Yunhe
Ma
Travis
Redcher
David
Frondarina
Uyen Nguyen
Aon
Risk Services
Heather
Dickson
Auto
Club of Southern California
Michelle D. Garcia
Bill
Doomey Memorial
Jason
E. Levey
Chinese
American Ins Professionals
Quyen
Cong
Giang
Long Ngo
Chen
da Su Family
Lisa
Duong Ho
Kathleen
C. Le
Chartered
Prop/Casualty Underwriters
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