Representative Consulting Projects

During more than 25 years of consulting I have provided services to a wide variety of clients on a range of topics related to the application of quantitative techniques to financial management. Here are brief descriptions of some representative projects.

Insurance Company Financial Reporting and Management

Projects covering all aspects of the actuarial elements of financial reporting and financial management for life, health, and property/casualty insurance companies, and self-insured entities. This includes statutory, GAAP, and tax financial reporting. Projects covered both the technical aspects of financial reporting and the professional responsibility of actuaries and auditors.

Human Life Economic Value

Projects involved the estimation of mortality rates and of economic value under a variety of circumstances. Many of these situations involved individuals with impaired health. The purposes of these studies included determination of damages in wrongful death actions, and evaluation of life estate values for tax purposes. One project involved the establishment of a funding plan for stock repurchase by a large family that owned a business valued at over one billion dollars.

Mortality Estimation for Cancer Patients

In an ongoing project for the American Cancer Society Foundation I assisted the Foundation to estimate the mortality of cancer patients. The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the quality of life for cancer patients by developing alternative sources of funds for them. The services provided are similar to those descibed under the heading Human Life Economic Value.

Estimation of Unearned Revenue

Varous projects involved the estimation of unearned revenue for five major airlines. Estimation of unearned revenue involves the determination of patterns of ticket usage and of the portion of tickets that will never be used. One project included estimating the cost of frequent flyer benefits. Mathematical and statistical methods are used to establish the patterns of ticket usage.

Foundations of Actuarial Methods

Projects involved evaluating and explaining the use of actuarial methods in a variety of settings. One project involves explaining the use of various characteristics of insurance applicants to determine the appropriate basis of pricing. Insurance regulations have evolved over time, and the characteristics used in underwriting have changed accordingly. Regulators, courts, and consumers have questions about the appropriateness of the use of various characteristics over time. This project involved a review of the underwriting procedures used in the insurance industry at various times, to determine what approaches were considered appropriate in the past.

Clients

My clients have ranged from the largest corporations, governmental entities, pension plans and law firms to individuals and sole practitioners. Among the largest clients are the three largest life insurance companies, three of the top ten property and casualty insurance companies, the World Bank, and the U.S. Department of Justice.