Hire an actuary

Scope of work this page covers

We match on reserve and reserve-adjacent engagements. If your need is outside this list, send a note anyway and we will point you somewhere useful.

• Workers compensation IBNR and unpaid loss estimates
• General liability, auto liability, and property reserve reviews
• Medical professional liability and hospital self-insurance
• Self-funded health plan IBNR and run-out reserves
• Captive Statement of Actuarial Opinion (single-parent, group, RRG, cell)
• Public pool reserve studies and rate-adequacy support
• Second opinions on an existing reserve report

Credentials, in one line each

For a Statement of Actuarial Opinion on a U.S. insurer or captive, the signing actuary must also be a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and meet the Academy's qualification standards for the line at issue. Ask who is signing, and ask whether the signing actuary is also the working actuary.

FCAS

Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. Default credential for U.S. casualty reserve work.

ACAS

Associate of the CAS. Passed reserving; less advanced ratemaking and ERM than the fellow.

MAAA

Member, American Academy of Actuaries. Required to sign U.S. Statements of Actuarial Opinion.

FSA / ASA

Society of Actuaries fellow / associate. Health plan IBNR, stop-loss, life and pension work.

EA

Enrolled Actuary. Required for ERISA-covered pension liability work.

CERA / FCA

Risk and consulting designations. Useful, but not a substitute for a reserving credential on a reserve engagement.

Firm types

The reserve actuary market has three rough tiers, and the right choice depends on the program, not the price.

• Global consulting firms

  Deep benches, formal peer review, multi-line capability, and the brand auditors and rating agencies recognize without a second question. Higher fee floors. Best when the program is large, complex, or under heavy external scrutiny.

• Mid-size specialty firms

  Often founded by partners from the global firms. Senior attention on every file, usually still with formal peer review. Best when the program is material to the entity but not unusually complex, and the buyer wants the signing actuary on the phone without escalation.

• Boutique & independent

  One or two credentialed actuaries with twenty-plus years of line experience. Lower fees, faster turnaround, no committee. Best for single-line self-insured programs, second opinions, and captives where the board wants direct contact with the analyst.

What an engagement looks like

A typical reserve review runs four to ten weeks from kickoff to signed report. The actuary requests loss data (paid, case, claim counts, exposure), reconciles it to the program records, fits development patterns, applies two or three methods, builds a range, selects a central estimate, and writes a report that an auditor and a board can both follow.

Fees are usually fixed-price by line and program type. A single-line workers comp review for a mid-size self-insured employer runs in the low five figures; a multi-line captive SAO with reinsurance and several legal entities runs higher. Hourly billing and retainers exist for ongoing advisory work and litigation. Ask for a written scope and a not-to-exceed before signing.

Questions worth asking before you sign

1. Who is the signing actuary, and are they also the working actuary?
2. How many programs of this exact line and program type have you signed in the last three years?
3. What is your peer-review process, and who performs it?
4. Will you provide a written scope, a not-to-exceed fee, and a deliverable list?
5. What data will you request, and what happens if it arrives late or incomplete?
6. Will the report withstand an auditor's questions without a follow-up engagement?
7. Are you carrying current professional liability coverage, and at what limit?
8. What are your independence considerations relative to our broker, TPA, or carrier?

Working effectively with your actuary

The strongest reserve engagements share two things: clean data and shared context. Before kickoff, naming a single data owner on the program side, agreeing on the triangle format with your actuary, and delivering a complete file on day one removes the most common source of delay. The rest comes from the context the triangles cannot carry on their own: program changes, retention changes, large individual claims, reserving philosophy shifts at the TPA, and any legal or legislative developments that touched the book during the experience period. Surfacing that picture early lets the actuary spend the engagement analyzing rather than chasing, and the conversation between buyer and reviewer becomes a partnership rather than an exchange of requests.