I’m not sure why anyone would be interested, but Alan asked me to write a brief update on my change from Summit to EGPS. After more than 25 years of building and running Summit, my partner Jeff Curl and I decided to sell Summit to EGPS last year. No, I haven’t retired! I’m working as Chief Actuary at EGPS and plan to do this for a while. My wife intends to work until she is 85; it would be boring for me to have no work to do each day; and I still really enjoy working as an actuary.
So why make this change if I didn’t intend to retire? It’s a lot of risk and responsibility running a business with 25 employees, and both Jeff and I had decided we were tired of all that. I’m 62 and Jeff is 61, and we decided that it was a good time for us to “de-risk.” We also felt that we had taken Summit as far as we could, and felt that a merger with a large firm would provide our employees better future opportunities. As a client recently said to me, “Congrats—businesses are created to be sold.”
Is it hard to no longer be the owner and boss? No, it’s actually a huge relief. I can say, “If I were still the boss, this is what I would do.” If my opinions are taken into consideration and acted on, that’s great; and if not, at least I tried. Of course I’ll try again later and will keep trying until I get my way, and if EGPS have not figured that out about me yet, they‘ll know after they read this.
Do I still watch Chelsea when their games are in the middle of the workday, and do I still get out and ride my motorcycle if it’s a sunny day? Yes, I still do all of that. Luckily the job gives me the flexibility to work and play the way I used to when I was the boss. Do I have any regrets about making this change? Honestly, none at all. It was the right move at the right time.
Cheers, Norm
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