Hello everyone, this is Nardine Andrawos, ACTEX’s Actuarial Strategic Analyst. I’m joined today by Gabe Necoechea, Co-Author of the ACTEX Manual for IFoA CS1, who will be sharing a bit about his background and his perspectives on actuarial education.

Nardine Andrawos: Hello, Gabe. Thank you for being here today. Could you tell us a bit about yourself, your background, education, work experience, and hobbies?

Gabe Necoechea: Hi Nardine, of course, I trained initially as a "pure mathematician" but got interested in risk during my time in graduate school. Actually, the first thing in graduate school that interested me about risk was my reliance on public transportation to get groceries on Saturday mornings. When I first arrived, the realized arrival and departure times were highly variable, and the number of runs was very low. The risk that a graduate student (or any other user) could lose four hours to a grocery store run was non-negligible! Thankfully, within a few years, the arrivals and departure variability went basically to zero, and the frequency of arrivals and departures increased as well. The system improved a lot. The experience left quite an impression on me, as I really began to spot the risks in all areas of life. 

As a mathematician with a burgeoning interest in risk, I thought actuaries were some of the most interesting people to get to know. I decided I would take some actuarial exams, and I didn't mind that this might open employment opportunities in such an attractive field. 

Just as I was starting to prepare to write SOA Exam P, I received word that a company called ACTEX was looking for someone to help with some mathematical typesetting projects. That seems to have worked out well. Over the years, I've worked as an individual contributor with the company and also in project management roles. I've also been an instructor for the Exam P Bootcamp since it started in December 2021.

My hobbies are reading, walking/biking, and soccer. I used to enjoy running quite a lot, but I've reduced my exposure due to persistent injuries. Now I like to walk or use an exercise bike, and I try to play soccer once a week. My greatest joy is my family, which includes my wife and twin cat "sons" and twin daughters.

NA: What inspired you to write this manual specifically?

GN: I've been fortunate to work on projects related to study manuals, textbooks, instructional videos, GOAL questions, flashcards, and topic explorer definitions for much of the probability and statistics content that appears on Exam CS1. I also led the development of our GOAL for CS1 product and the CS1 video library. I've been fortunate to have other exposures related to content on the CS1 exam syllabus as well. Combining all of that with my bootcamp instructor experience and my formal training as a mathematician, I thought I might have something worth saying about the topics on the CS1exam and how to develop exam-practical knowledge & skill.

NA: What three key tips in the manual do you think every aspiring actuary should know, and why? 

GN: [I'll preface this answer with a curmudgeonly response. There are no magic tricks in studying for Exam CS1. The examiner's reports consistently indicate that successful students are characterized by strong fundamentals, the ability to precisely state hypotheses & interpret hypothesis tests, and the ability to accurately carry out basic algebra and calculus calculations. In short, successful students set a high standard for knowledge and skill on the syllabus topics and reach that standard. Our study manual takes the guesswork out of that standard and provides ample explanatory text & practice exercises to develop knowledge & skill to that standard.]

First, I think actuarial exam takers often think they have to think "outside of the box" to succeed. I encourage you to reject that idea; for Exam CS1, your objective is to "think inside the box." That means you need to identify the box (the concepts, formulas, problem type) and then do the calculations correctly. To do that, you really need strong fundamentals, and that is exactly what this study manual will equip you with.

Second, most actuarial students would benefit from getting much more comfortable with the Law of Total Probability and its extension, the Law of Total Expectation. These are tools for conducting probability calculations on a case-by-case basis, and this case-by-case approach can be really effective if you're working on an exam question whose answer is not immediately clear to you. It allows you to turn big problems into a set of smaller problems. 

Third, it's common for students to be comfortable with normal linear regression but intimidated by Generalized Linear Models (GLMs). I believe the best cure for this intimidation is to see applications that lend themselves to different choices of distributions & link functions [the two unfamiliar of three ingredients in a GLM]. I've done my best to include such examples so that you can build an association in your mind of distributions/link functions and particular kinds of tasks such as prediction of loan default. 

NA: What was the most challenging part of writing this manual? 

GN: My wife and I welcomed identical twin girls while I was writing the manual. That changed how I spent my time, both before and after their arrival. Every challenge brings with it opportunities, and in my experience, having more constraints on my time really focused my writing and editing sessions. I believe this translates to greater clarity in the study manual. 

NA: Are you interested in writing more manuals in the future?

GN: Yes, definitely. I'm also interested in learning over time how this manual can be improved. I already have some ideas, but I would love to hear from each and every reader of the manual. 

NA: Do you have any general study or exam tips you’d like to share? 

GN: Be disciplined about setting a maximum number of skills/exams you're working on over the next two to three months, and then make consistent progress on those skills/exams six to seven days a week. You will not always be able to see that you are making progress, and then one day you'll realize how far you've come with small progress each day. If you can be focused and consistent, each day becomes easier and the months become more filled with progress. 

NA: Is there anything else you’d like to include that you think students would find interesting? 

GN: [I am aware the following is highly unlikely to be interesting to most actuarial students. That's why it's in square brackets, where it can be omitted. As I was writing a very brief historical footnote about the Kolmogorov Axioms (basic probability axioms) for the CS1 Study Manual, I began to think about the philosophy of probability: in particular, is a probability always the same kind of thing or are probabilities different things in different contexts (perhaps with overlap in some contexts), and why have the Kolmogorov Axioms become the accepted formulation of these things we call probabilities? Well, these questions have a very interesting history that has drawn some serious thought from mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, economists, historians, and actuaries as well. The philosophers of probability have been highly reliable in relaying the perspectives of all the aforementioned parties, and philosophy has many related rabbit holes. I'm currently enjoying this network of rabbit holes and will see if there's anything worth reporting back to an actuarial audience after some digestion.] 

NA: Thank you so much, Gabe, for taking the time to share your insights with us today and for being such an essential part of the CS1 manual! We look forward to many more manuals from you.