FCAS, MAAA, CSPA Senior Consulting Actuary
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Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Auto Insurance Mar 27, 2018
Data Breach at Equifax Sep 26, 2017
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Laura Maxwell is a senior consulting actuary with Pinnacle Actuarial Resources in the firm’s San Francisco, California office. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Moravian College. She has worked in the property/casualty insurance industry since 1987 and has provided consulting services since 2003.
Ms. Maxwell currently serves the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) as a member of the Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar Planning Committee, E-Forum Committee, and syllabus part vice chair of the Syllabus and Examination Committee. She is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) Cyber Risk Task Force and a member of the Actuarial Science Advisory Board at the University of the Pacific.
Prior to consulting, she was a product manager for a direct auto insurer and held actuarial positions with a state insurance department and national rating bureau. Her background includes personal and commercial lines pricing and reserving.
December 2018 APEX Webinar ASOP Disclosures: A Professionalism Quiz Authored by Laura A. Maxwell.
October 2018 APEX Webinar Status of Cyber Liability Insurance and Methodology Authored by Laura A. Maxwell and Radost Roumenova Wenman.
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DFA Model
Pinnacle was asked by a regional insurer to help build a customized financial model for use in strategic decision making and in determining economic capital needs. The model reflected current and potential underwriting operations. It also incorporated economic scenario generators, capital allocation, catastrophe model results, regulatory and rating agency metrics such as risk-based capital (RBC) and Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratings (BCAR), as well as loss reserve variability. The model was designed to be used to evaluate a variety of strategic decisions, particularly related to underwriting, reinsurance, macro investment allocation, and capital allocation decisions.
Funding Study
Pinnacle was approached by an aircraft manufacturer to provide recommended funding for various aviation and liability coverages. Pinnacle’s initial steps included discussing coverages to be provided and what data was available to complete the funding study. The captive was a start-up with no loss information on which to determine appropriate funding levels. Pinnacle was able to determine that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had a database of aircraft incidents that recorded both the manufacturer and model of the aircraft involved in the incident. Since the manufacturer was able to provide the number of units produced, Pinnacle was able to determine the frequency and severity of the incidents and project ultimate funding levels. The captive is currently operational after receiving regulatory approval.
Self Insured Loss Reserve Analysis
Pinnacle was approached by a major, national manufacturer to perform a loss reserve analysis of their retained workers compensation, auto liability, general liability and products liability loss exposures. The previous actuary worked for a large broker which the customer felt presented a conflict of interest. In addition, the actuary used industry benchmarks that the customer felt did not accurately represent their loss development behavior. Pinnacle worked with the customer to better understand their loss exposures, claims handling practices, and corporate risk management philosophy. We worked with the company to gather better internal data and refine the industry benchmarks to better reflect their third party administrator, industry focus and geographic mix. These refinements, and many others, led to a more accurate analysis of the company’s retained loss exposures, a reduced provision for unpaid claims on their balance sheet, and reduced collateral requirements from their fronting carrier.
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September 21, 2020 NAMIC Annual Convention
September 24, 2020 September APEX Webinar - Group Captives 101 Register