What a year. Recently, I took a few minutes to read Lauren Okum’s first article as President of ASEA (ACOPA at the time). As I read, all I could think was how different this year turned out to be than the Lauren of October 2019 would have thought. Fate threw us all quite a curveball, and I wanted to use this opportunity to thank Lauren for her leadership over the last year through such an unexpected year. Little did she know a few years ago when she agreed to take on the role that it would entail so much cancellation and rearranging of our scheduled events and instead replace them with so many virtual meetings and conferences. She handled it well and with grace and deserves our applause.
I’d also like to thank Bill Karbon for all that he has done for ASEA, as he has officially rolled off the Leadership Council (LC). Our organization is successful because of the volunteers that we have, and there is a lot of work that goes into it. This year we welcome Lorraine Dorsa to the LC and Clint Blankenship as our incoming Executive Vice President. We look forward to working with them over the next year.
As I mentioned at our Transition Meeting in October, I am proud to be a part of an organization that does so much for our industry and for the private retirement system in America. In my opinion, our value to enrolled actuaries is best summed up in four words: We have a voice. As I have thought about what I would like to accomplish throughout this upcoming year, this phrase has been a recurring theme for me. I believe it defines our organization in many ways. Whether it is interpreted to mean a voice on our message board where we make each other better, a voice with legislators and regulators ensuring that laws are written, interpreted and enforced in a way that best serves the private retirement system, a voice among the U.S.-based actuarial organizations ensuring that standards of practice and disciplinary procedures are reasonable as they apply to our members who sign the majority of Schedule SBs each year, or a voice within our organization where our members aren’t lost, but are able to serve and have an impact.
One recent example of our voice is the comment letter recently submitted to the American Academy of Actuaries on the Exposure Draft Revisions of the Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States. ASEA’s comments focused on our belief that the draft exposure went beyond the stated intent to “add clarity but not to change the requirements.” The exposure draft eliminates recognition of fellowship designations from both ASEA and CCA in determining education and experience necessary to satisfy the General Qualification Standard. Furthermore, the draft states that Enrolled Actuaries are deemed to satisfy certain requirements “Solely for purposes of Statements of Actuarial Opinion that ERISA mandates an Enrolled Actuary to issue” (emphasis added), failing to recognize that Enrolled Actuaries Treasury Circular 230 authorizes an Enrolled Actuary to represent taxpayers and pension plans before the Treasury Department and IRS on a wide range of pension items beyond those for which they are mandated to issue Statements of Actuarial Opinion. Thank you to Jim Holland, Kim Corona, Joel Tippetts, Mike Bain, Lauren Okum and Marty Pippens for your work in preparing this response. A copy of the letter can be found here.
Over the next year, I hope to see our voice grow louder. We will focus on reenergizing our membership campaign, attracting new volunteers, engaging with other actuarial organizations and partnering with legislators and regulators.
I’m excited about the year to come, and I look forward to serving our members.
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