We are pleased to announce the election of five new members to the CIA Board, effective July 1, 2022.
President-Elect (acclaimed)
Steve Prince, FCIA
New Directors
Marco Fillion, FCIA
Alexis Gerbeau, FCIA
Jill Harper,* FCIA
Maria Teresa Palandra, FCIA
Steve Prince will serve a one-year term as President-Elect, followed by a year as President, then one as Immediate Past President.
Steve has been on the leading edge of many evolving issues in the actuarial profession and earned the CIA’s Award of Excellence in 2021. With over 35 years of extensive experience in financial reporting and pricing in the insurance sector, his career as a life insurance actuary has been split equally between insurance company management and consulting.
As President-Elect, Steve would like to see the growth of AI and big data as an emerging practice area. “AI and big data are powerful tools, but on their own they risk becoming yet another black box, leaving people with an answer but no insight or explanation. Actuaries can add value by providing that insight, that narrative that connects the dots, so people understand a situation and can manage it.”
Elected for three-year terms, each Director brings with them a unique vision and breadth of knowledge.
Marco Fillion understands the value in providing more support for actuaries in the realm of predictive analytics. “We are competing with other mathematicians and statisticians who have gained significant expertise in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, and data mining required for the development of predictive models.” He continues, “the good news is that the CIA is already on it, but we need to move fast.”
As a CIA Director, Alexis Gerbeau will drive discussions on three elements that are close to his heart: fostering the active participation of Canadian actuaries in public debates, ensuring that the actuarial profession preserves and enhances its relevance in an evolving job market, and promoting volunteering among our members. “Our forward-looking mindset, pragmatic objectivity, and superior quantitative skills have applications beyond our traditional areas of practice.”
*Jill Harper joins the Board as Director in the reserved role for an FCIA who obtained their Fellowship within the past seven years. She understands the importance of volunteering to research, asserting that “actuaries have unique skills that can be applied to a wide range of problems, and it is up to us, as a profession, to drive our growth into new areas that make sense.” Her already abundant volunteer experience, coupled with her perspective as a newer actuary, will assist in engaging the CIA’s newest members even further.
Currently leading Mercer Canada’s Wealth Business, Teresa Palandra has a vision for the role actuaries can play in newer, emerging areas through innovation. She understands that, because we are a multi-faceted profession, this vision can be attained through proper utilization of our varied skillsets, and she believes that “the future of work will not be about jobs, it will be about skills.”
“The challenges facing the actuarial profession continue to evolve. Canadian actuaries are well respected, but the world doesn’t appreciate how much more we have to offer. We need to spread the message.”
– Incoming President-Elect Steve Prince, FCIA
With the continued growth of the CIA and the profession, these new additions to the Board will serve to broaden awareness of the profession and further fulfil the Institute’s vision of financial security for all Canadians.
