Odds look favorable for actuary profession

There is a joke that actuaries like to tell: What is the difference between an introverted actuary and an extroverted actuary?

"The extrovert looks at your shoes," said Eric Hansen, head actuary at the Merrill Lynch Howard Johnson & Co in Seattle. Hansen chuckles when he tells the punch line. He knows that the actuary field has a reputation for dullness.

Even some professional associations have tried to add a little pizazz to their image. They try to recruit math-minded college students into the field through sites such as www.beanactuary.com, which sells not just the job, but the lifestyle that goes with actuarial work.

"This is a wonderful place," said Hansen.

He occupies a corner office, with two walls of glass and views of Elliott Bay and the city. Hansen and his team of 16 are consulting actuaries, advising companies on such things as the best financial strategy for pension and retirement plans.

The actuary profession repeatedly gets top billing as one of the nation's best jobs, according to the Jobs Rated Almanac. Of course, those rankings are a statistical tally of several factors that, theoretically, add up to a good job. It's a number-crunching formula similar to how an actual actuary might evaluate a profession.

The ranking drew Allison Kew, also at Merrill Lynch Howard Johnson, to the field. She was interested in business consulting and wanted to use her math skills.

"I just saw that it was ranked one of the Top 10 consulting jobs," said Kew, 25. Seattle is Merrill's headquarters for actuarial consulting.

Knowing and liking math are essential. Hansen, dubbed Einstein by elementary-school teachers, was a numeric natural.

"We were those nerds who might not have been the greatest readers in the class, but we could bang out the mathematics," said Hansen.

About 70 percent of the nation's 14,000 actuaries work for insurance companies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hansen estimated that 10 percent work for the government and 20 percent in consulting.

Insurance-firm actuaries are the ones who determine that it costs more to insure teenage boys than girls, and more to insure boys than men. But sometimes the car is a factor, too. Heavy cars protect the driver, but if the driver of a heavy car causes an accident, chances are that the insurance company will pay more.

Hansen's rookie actuarial job was at a small, local insurance company where he helped to determine how much money the company needed to keep in reserves to pay its claims. He was 26. He wanted more interaction with businesses and people and switched to the consulting side of actuarial work. Now, he looks to hire people with a solid skill set and professional acumen, and to keep workers content.

In the past few years, he said he's hired as many women as men. His division is flexible with employees' schedules and supports telecommuters and part-timers.

Better salaries go to actuaries with credentials, including passing some of the eight actuarial exams sponsored by the Society of Actuaries. Pass all eight and it's the equivalent of getting a doctorate in mathematics, Hansen said. It's not easy stuff.

Some of the junior actuaries at Merrill Lynch Howard Johnson said that passing these tests was the most challenging part of being an actuary. It is recommended that actuaries study 400 hours for each test, offered twice a year. They said they found it hard to motivate themselves to study after a full day of work. The next exams: mid-May.

"It's time to start studying," said Scott Perrin, 26.

Actuaries are numbers people, most with degrees in applied math, actuarial science, statistics, business economics or finance. But not always.

"It depends tremendously," said Jack Kaleas, actuary and founder and president of Conway Jones & Associates.

Kaleas once worked with a history-major actuary.

"He was very good for the field because he was eloquent and could explain things very well," Kaleas said. Kaleas has been in the business 35 years. A Wisconsin native, he left Los Angeles to settle in Seattle in 1985 for a better quality of life.

Most of the actuaries indicated that a balanced approach to work and life made both richer. And while they measure risks, it doesn't mean they are entirely opposed to taking some chances.

For example, Hansen took his youngest daughter skydiving for her high-school graduation. He didn't realize it would trigger her interest in high-adrenaline hobbies. She is now a skydiver and rock climber.

He's not overly thrilled by her interests, but said that the risks she encounters on a rock ledge or jumping out of airplanes are still less than the accident potential of daily driving.

Hansen's been known to do a little gambling of his own.

"Lots of actuaries like to play poker," said Hansen, who gets in a game or two with fellow actuaries. They have an instinct for figuring out the odds, but like everyone, there are challenges.

"We're not real good bluffers," he said.

Sarah Anne Wright: 206-464-2752 or swright@seattletimes.com