Leading property and casualty actuarial firm Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc. (Pinnacle) today announced the addition of two new and two newly promoted professionals to its consulting team.

Megan Baker and Patrick Newell have joined Pinnacle as consulting actuaries.

Baker joins Pinnacle from Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, where she was the manager of the company’s property and casualty commercial lines actuarial team. In that role, she managed and prepared commercial lines filings, and completed rate reviews and pricing analyses. She served as the company’s subject matter expert in matters associated with business owners, as well as personal and commercial umbrella and commercial package policy ratings. She spent more than 10 years in roles of increasing responsibility in the actuarial field.

Newell is returning to Pinnacle, where he served as an actuarial analyst from 2012-2015. Since 2019, he has served as a financial analyst lead at the United Services Automobile Association (USAA). At USAA, he managed a team of analysts that supervised all financial management reporting on a $16 billion auto insurance book of business. He also directed strategic planning and forecasting, and ensured adherence to budget.

“We are delighted to welcome Patrick back to Pinnacle, and to have Megan join our team as well. They bring a wealth of expertise and experience with a deep understanding of the property and casualty industry. They will bring key skill sets to Pinnacle and the work we do for our clients,” Pinnacle Managing Principal Joe Herbers said.

In addition, Pinnacle promoted associate actuaries James Wencil and Joey Sveda to consulting actuaries.

Wencil has been in the property and casualty industry with Pinnacle since 2016. The focus of his assignments have been loss reserving, loss cost projections, funding studies, predictive analytics and ratemaking. He serves the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) as a member of the University Liaison Committee.

Sveda has been in the property and casualty industry with Pinnacle since 2018. He is a member of Pinnacle’s predictive analytics team, and has experience in assignments involving commercial and personal lines pricing plans, actuarial studies for captives involving loss reserving, and commercial lines ratemaking.

“Pinnacle continues to grow and expand our presence and eminence in the property and casualty insurance industry. We are very pleased to recognize James and Joey on their outstanding professional accomplishments and look forward to the prominent roles they will play on our consulting team,” Herbers said.

Baker is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS), a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) and is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU). She is located in Lansing, Michigan.

Newell is an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA). He will be located in San Antonio, Texas.

Wencil and Sveda are also Associates of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) and Members of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). Wencil is based in Miami and Sveda in Pinnacle’s office in Bloomington, Ill.

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