Actuarial Agony with Jen & Jean

As we write, Valentine’s Day is looming up upon us, and we couldn’t let February pass without paying homage to the day that strikes fear into the hearts of the risk-averse and emotionally detached. There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Our favourite is that St Valentine, a Roman martyred for refusing to give up Christianity, died on 14 February, ad269, and left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter who had become his friend, signing it ‘From Your Valentine’. Last month we wonder how many of our fellow students threw risk-aversion to the wind and slipped a colleague a Valentine’s card? And how many are now enjoying repayment of the interest in perpetuity or have had to rework their assumptions?Work-based skills are now an integral part of the actuarial qualification process, but the official list of work-based skills seems to leave out some of the real-life issues we encounter daily in the workplace. These are the issues we want to talk about… How appropriate then that this month’s agony focuses on one of the trickiest of work-based skills to master, the office romance.And finally, what issue would be complete without a little bribery and corruption? Great rewards are on the horizon (at least 15 minutes of fame and an ‘Actuarial Agony’ mug) for the first student to submit an article to the student page that does not contain the words ‘exam’ or ‘study’. - Jen & Jean

Dear Jen & Jean,I’m an actuarial student and I met a lovely girl from the transactions department at this year’s office Christmas party. We’ve been meeting surreptitiously at the water cooler, but colleagues have warned me that office romances never work and one of us may end up having to leave the company! Can you really be sacked for seeing someone you work with? Lovelorn Loss Adjuster

Dear Lovelorn Loss Adjuster,This is a difficult one and it pretty much comes down to company cultures and policy. Legally you can not be asked to leave a company if you are in a relationship with another member of staff; however, some companies may prefer that these relationships are not made obvious in office hours. Problems can arise when the relationship involves members of staff of different seniority, particularly where one is a line manager for the other. In actuarial terms, you need to balance carefully your risk appetite with the marginal utility that you will derive from this relationship. Study carefully the trust deed and rules of your employment and take a good look at your multiple decrement table. You will still have to work together in the event of withdrawal or other settlement or curtailment to the relationship. Regardless of the opportunity set, the sensible option to maximise returns may be to maintain a strictly professional relationship during working hours and diversify your portfolio out of the office.

Do you have an actuarial agony you would like resolved? Problem you would like to share? Then drop us a line or two, and we’ll attempt to wipe away your actuarial woes…

It’s NUS being a studentIf you haven’t got yourself an NUS card yet, get one!You may remember an email sent out a few months ago informing you that the Actuarial Profession now has an NUS associate card available to all actuarial students in the UK. For those of you who haven’t yet checked this out, the NUS card, (NUS stands for National Union of Students) gives you ‘official’ student status.What does that mean?The simple one word answer – discounts. All you have to do is flash your snazzy NUS card, and this powerful piece of plastic gives you instant access to student-priced cinema tickets, 10% off at places like HMV, Topshop/Topman, Subway, as well as various discretionary student discounts at practically any retailer (if you ask!).Great – how do I get one?Go to http://stage.nusonline.co.uk/associate/272698.aspx, scroll down to ‘The Actuarial Profession’, and print the form. Print your contact details from the Actuarial Profession website, and get your employer to sign this (to prove you work there). Send your completed form, together with your contact details and a photo (preferably of yourself), to NUS and voilà! The discount world of students is once again within your grasp.

Jen & Jean’s actuarial horoscopesPart of an actuary’s role is to extrapolate results from seemingly meaningless data – our horoscopes allow you to do just that. Each month, the horoscope for each star sign is described in just five words, and it is up to you to decipher their mystical meanings…Aries (21 March–20 April)Jujitsu buffalo mediates mission cycleTaurus (21 April–21 May)Dynamic proposition permits comfortable substanceGemini (22 May–22 June)Attack power pie, solve divorceCancer (23 June–23 July)Constituency dances, grease sticks fingersLeo (24 July–23 August)Grasp half-baked oral contract accommodatinglyVirgo (24 August–23 September)Non-verbal flaps discord boss’s partiesLibra (24 September–23 October)Happiness denies deception – reverse engagementScorpio (24 October–22 November)Ambiguous authority with dubious intentionsSagittarius (23 November–22 December)Social perceptions alert brainstorming tapeCapricorn (23 December–19 January)Underhandedly lifting proverbial fruit polarisesAquarius (20 January19 February)Vent rude tension explicitly, gunfight!Pisces (20 February – 20 March)Hollow requests frustrate tactical ways