Sarah Christiansen, Ph.D., FSA, MAAA

Sarah is a research actuary with specific experience in creating, developing, and maintaining mathematical models, and in designing original user friendly APL software tailored to the needs of the specific user. She has a reputation for quality work. In addition she has been a speaker at professional meetings.

Her experience includes dividend analysis, X-factor validation and financial review work for insurance regulators.

Sarah has the necessary experience and education (basic and continuing), per the Academy of Actuaries Qualification Standards for Prescribed Statements of Actuarial Opinion, to render a public statement of actuarial opinion.

For her former employer, Sarah has:

• provided primary support to the appointed actuary for the actuarial opinion and memorandum, coordinating all of the cashflow testing process, maintained all of the common internal APL modules, setting common assumptions for expenses, asset defaults and summarized and analyzed results,
• developed revisions and maintained the interest rate scenario models for cashflow testing and for setting the annuity crediting rate,
• coordinated with the IS department in developing cashflow's for all of the various asset classes,
• researched and/or developed models for cashflow's of derivatives and other asset based securities,
• provided support to other areas as needed, including internal consulting on annuity modeling,
• represented the company on a number of industry committees,
• revised all of the models from mainframe APL to user friendly PC APL complete with input forms, simplifying the work of the line actuaries,
• created representative scenario methodology, which enabled the company to test only 50 stochastic scenarios and have the reliability of 1000, and
• modeled the cashflow run-out with alternative reinvestment strategies including multiple combinations of different maturities of each asset type for the static reinvestment strategy enabling the cashflow testing model to be used for comparison of the interest rate risk associated with different investment strategies without having to actually invest funds in the specific manner.

Sarah has the following publications to her credit:

• "Representative Interest Rate Scenarios" NAAJ Vol. 2 No. 3 (1998), pp. 29-60.
• "Stability of Representative Crediting Rate Scenarios Under Monte Carlo Simulations", with Buchacker, K., Journal of Actuarial Practice, Vol. 6 (1998), pp. 113-148.
• Workshop: "Representative Interest Rate Scenarios", Contingencies, September/October,1998, pp. 56-60.
• "The Markov Chain Interest Rate Generator Revisited", J. Actuarial Practice, Vol. 2 No. 1 (1994), pp. 101-124.
• "A Practical Guide to Interest Rate Generators for C-3 Risk Analysis", TSA XLIV (1992), pp. 101-134.
• "The Malpractice Crisis" Health Section News, April 1992, pg. 5.
• Many Articles in the Education and Research Section Newsletter.

Her strengths include a broad background in interest rate scenarios, assets and liabilities. She is capable of working with high level professionals to accomplish management and technical goals.

Resume

2002 - Insurance Strategies Consulting, LLC (West Des Moines, IA)

CONSULTING ACTUARY. Clients include domestic and international insurance companies, regulatory bodies and marketing organizations.

1985 to 2001 The Principal Financial Group (Des Moines, IA)

ASSOCIATE ACTUARY