Candidate Information: Christopher Carlson

Candidate for Regular Director Term Ending in 2024

Christopher Carlson

Practice Area: Property/Casualty
Employer: State of Ohio
City, State: Columbus, Ohio
Credentials: MAAA, FCAS

After graduating from the University of Oregon in the late 1970s, Chris Carlson has spent over 40 years in the actuarial profession. His career began with Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, serving in many varied roles including senior actuarial officer. At Nationwide, Chris served on various professional committees including the Casualty Committee of the Actuarial Standards Board and vice president of professional education for the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS).  

Following 25 years with Nationwide, Chris opened an office in Columbus as a consulting actuary with the Bloomington, Illinois-based consulting firm Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, Inc. Clients included private insurers and governmentally operated insurers and specialty funds covering costs such as coal mine land reclamation and remediation of petroleum storage tanks. During his time at Pinnacle, Chris served as president of the CAS and later chair of the CAS board as well as a special director of the American Academy of Actuaries for two years. 

Since 2012, Chris has been the chief actuarial officer for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, a multi-billion-dollar state insurance fund that is the exclusive provider of workers’ compensation insurance in Ohio. In 2019, he completed six years as a member of the Actuarial Standards Board.

The Academy’s mission is to serve the public and the U.S. actuarial profession. How will your service on the Board allow you to further the Academy’s mission of public policy and professionalism?

Over the past 15 years, I have had a number of opportunities to better understand the actuarial profession beyond the property/casualty specialty area. As president of the CAS and a special director of the Academy, I met regularly with the leaders of the other U.S. and North American actuarial organizations to discuss items of common interest as well as differences in focus and culture. A key accomplishment of these efforts to encourage collaboration within the U.S. profession resulted in the establishment of the global actuarial credential for enterprise risk management (ERM).

More recently as a member of the Actuarial Standards Board, I was able to gain a much better understanding of the professional issues facing the non-property/casualty areas in dealing with items such as the principle-based reserves in the life practice area; the Affordable Care Act in health; the various measurement and disclosure issues facing pension actuaries, both in private and in public plans; and the continuing development of operations with the ERM space. One interesting learning is that while we all perform similar tasks in our areas, we often use different words for the same items. Because I can now better “speak” and understand the different actuarial dialects, I can focus on understanding how and assisting the Academy leadership and staff in working to carry out the Academy’s mission of public policy and professionalism in serving as the public interface for the profession in the U.S. 

This year in completing an unexpired term on the Academy Board and serving on various Board Committees, I now have a much deeper appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that the Academy is facing and will face in continuing to support our members and move the profession forward.

Academy Volunteer Service: