End of Semester and Proseminar: Debrief
Last semester, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, our program held a special networking event at Swingers Golf NYC (35 West 29th Street, New York, NY) from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. We reserved a private room with catered refreshments and welcomed not only students but also lots of professors such as Yubo Wang and Mark Hoffmann, along with numerous alumni who now hold leadership roles as managers and directors at top firms like Transamerica.
The evening’s centerpiece was several rounds of indoor mini golf on Swingers’ imaginative courses, complete with winding fairways, obstacles, and neon-lit putting greens that made each round both competitive and fun. Groups mixed students, professors, and alumni, which encouraged lively interaction and teamwork on the course, and everyone built meaningful connections within each group.
What made this event especially meaningful was also the rare opportunity to connect with alumni who have already established themselves as influential figures in the industry. Their career journeys and insights offered students both inspiration and practical advice, while casual coffee chats and drinks gave space for deeper one-on-one conversations. The atmosphere was a unique blend of fun and professionalism, and for many students, these connections proved transformative, and several even secured positions at alumni companies after the event.
I could still remember one of the invited guests, Blake Berman (FCAS, Managing Director at Guy Carpenter), came to our proseminar and provided students with an overview of the U.S. property & casualty and reinsurance markets, highlighting how inflation, catastrophe events, and market cycles shape industry performance. He explained the differences between personal and commercial lines, the growing role of alternative capital such as catastrophe bonds, and the evolving organizational design of insurers and reinsurers. Blake also discussed current market challenges and opportunities, emphasizing the importance of actuarial expertise in navigating profitability, risk transfer, and strategic advisory in today’s insurance landscape.
There is also another wonderful guest speaker, Jon Wu (FSA, CERA, MAAA, MBA, and SOA Board Member), who delivered an engaging presentation on pricing and valuation of insurance companies, covering both short-term and long-term insurance contracts as well as key approaches to company valuation. What made his session especially impactful was that he shared with students a real-life Excel actuarial model currently used at his company, walking through how income statements, balance sheets, solvency measures, and cash flow projections are incorporated into valuation work. This gave students a rare hands-on look at the scale and complexity of professional actuarial models. Our students really gained practical insight into how actuarial theory translates into large-scale, real-world applications, making the session both educational and inspiring.