to a story. Tell your side and be willing
to listen to the other side. By doing so,
you learn more than you would otherwise and you convey respect for the
volunteers and the process. I am always
surprised to see that several of the public
reprimands have involved someone who
didn’t respond to the ABCD.
Respect the Volunteers and the
Process
ABCD investigations can be lengthy. The
profession is fortunate to have a dedicated group of volunteers working to
evaluate all complaints and ensure that
the Code is followed. Their time and energy are critical to the actuarial system of
self-governance.
Hire a Lawyer
While in the various meetings with
the ABCD or the other actuarial organizations involved, you will be solely
responsible for defending your work
and your actions. Your lawyer will not
be allowed to speak. However, a lawyer
can help you understand the process and
navigate the paperwork. In addition, he
or she can listen to you and help you refine and clarify your message. In the end,
a good lawyer can help you state your
own opinion clearly. He or she is not
there to make your arguments for you.
We Need the Disciplinary
Process
The actuarial profession is relatively
small, and much of what we do seems
opaque to those who are not part of the
profession. Because of the highly tech-
nical nature of the work, actuaries are
uniquely qualified to determine the valid-
ity of complaints against fellow actuaries,
and indeed we are uniquely qualified to
identify when an actuary may have vio-
lated the Code. Our work doesn’t easily
reduce to sound bites. For example, read-
ers of this article know that sometimes
both 4 percent and 5 percent are within
the range of reasonable assumptions, but
the results are different. This concept is a
difficult one to explain to outsiders. But
without a robust and effective disciplin-
ary process, at some point the actuarial
profession may be legislated such that we
have no room for professional discretion.
Ultimately we could end up with others
besides actuaries determining the valid-
ity of complaints.
When I received my first letter from
the ABCD, I did what many of us would
do: I called my older brother for advice.
Interestingly, he started telling me about
complaints that he had received as a law-
yer as well as complaints my sister has
received as a veterinarian. It is expected
in those professions that disagreements
may lead to complaints and disciplinary
discussions or actions. Both my broth-
er and sister are talented, ethical, and
hardworking professionals, yet they had
been the subject of complaints. In order
to keep our profession healthy and in-
dependent, we must be willing to bring
differences of opinion to light—and we
must be willing to discipline our own. We
must also be willing to defend our work
and accept consequences if our defense
is not successful.
As a result of going through the dis-
ciplinary process, I am a better actuary. I
approach my work differently and docu-
ment my work more carefully. Here are
a few things I have changed:
■ ■ I read the printed copy of the Code of
Professional Conduct hanging next to
my computer frequently.
■ ■ Regardless of the audience, I examine
any communication for whether it ful-
fills the requirements of an actuarial
standard of practice (ASOP). I tend
to use the ASOP guidelines for more
communications than most actuaries
would. In general, ASOPs No. 23 and
41 are good practice for any work you
are doing.
■ ■ I try to improve every report I make
over the last version. Sometimes this
just means better formatting in my
summary of assumptions, but that’s
part of working for continual improve-
ment in my work product.
■ ■ I clearly delineate the role I had in cre-
ating an actuarial communication and
anything that I might not have done.
This includes identifying the source of
my data, even if that source is within
my own company.
■ ■ I try to think of how I would read the
document in five years and whether it
will have enough information to an-
swer all the questions a reader might
have.
■ ■ Regardless of my audience, I attribute
data and work that I used that was
done by someone else.
■ ■ I read the Applicability Guidelines ev-
ery time I start a new project. Based on
that reading, I reread the appropriate
ASOPs. I do this even if I have per-
formed a similar project many times
before.
Do I wish I hadn’t had to go through the
ABCD discipline process? Yes. But I also
learned to stand behind my work and to
take responsibility for what I had done. I
am proud of the work that I do as an actu-
ary, and I am proud of my profession.
In order to keep our
profession healthy
and independent, we
must be willing to
bring differences of
opinion to light—and
we must be willing to
discipline our own.
