Unusually for an actuary, Lisa Balboa didn’t study maths. Her degree included natural sciences, followed by an intensive year-long management studies course at the University of Cambridge then a master’s in health policy at LSE in London.
“What motivates me is that combination of maths, business and statistics together with insights on health,” she says. “I’m interested in how these various disciplines come together to provide new insights into the risks people face throughout their lifetimes.”
“I discovered the actuarial profession in detail while I was doing my master’s degree. It seemed to have the potential to blend all the areas I was most interested in.”
Lisa applied and was accepted to the graduate scheme at Lane Clark and Peacock, before moving into pricing-focused roles in life and health insurance. Today, she’s in what she describes as a non-traditional actuarial role with Hannover Re.
“I head up our life and health digital business accelerator team,” Lisa says. “Essentially, we help life and health insurers around the world to create value for themselves and their customers by leveraging innovations, especially when it comes to assessing risk.
“We look at how to use technology to help assess and price risk better – things like wearable tech, electronic health records, GenAI and so on. I work with colleagues around the world to see what we can do with new technologies and how we might take new products and propositions to market for customers.”
It’s a role that has its challenges, not least the enormous amount of technology emerging on an almost daily basis.
“There’s so much out there,” Lisa says. “One of the biggest challenges is finding the solutions and partners that are going to add value to our insurance clients.
“The solutions have to tie back to the core of what we do, bringing something that appeals to both the insurer and the end customer.
“As a reinsurer, we're a few steps removed from that end customer in the insurance value chain. So, understanding what's going to create value for customers is another important area of focus where we use research and work with insurers to gain insights.”
“It shows that we are a profession. It opens conversations. It helps us to be visible. It’s an opportunity and an innovation I’m happy to be part of.” – Lisa Balboa, Chartered Actuary (Fellow)
Lisa’s deep interest in new technologies not only helped to shape her career, it also helped her settle in at Hannover Re.
“In my final year of qualifying as an actuary, I joined the IFoA Wearable Tech Working Party,” she says.
“The brief was to explain how wearable tech can contribute to life and health insurance and to share those findings with the wider actuarial and insurance communities.
“It's a topic I was passionate about and I loved volunteering for this working party, as I was able to work with other people who were equally passionate about it. Together, we produced a comprehensive report.
“What’s very humbling is that when I joined Hannover Re a few years later, and started getting involved in projects there, that report was being shared as a thought leadership paper. Colleagues were already familiar with some of the work I had contributed to, which was great. I was also able to get involved in wearable tech from a reinsurance angle for the first time.”
While that piece of work is still sometimes used as a reference, Lisa is looking forward to the actuarial profession continuing to evolve and create new thought leadership on potentials for technology to transform health. “It’s lovely that the original work has lasted,” she says. “But it’s great that people are able to build on the topic and do something new, reflecting how much technology has evolved these past few years.”
Not one to shy away from exploring something new, Lisa was one of the first to take up the Chartered Actuary designation. She believes it’s a good way to communicate qualifications, and could help reach people who, like her, didn't set out on an actuarial career path.
“I think being able to say ‘chartered actuary’ could help break down some of the barriers around understanding what an actuary does,” she says. “It might help people to engage a bit more in our work, and maybe encourage a further visibility on what we do.
“It shows that we are a profession. It opens conversations. It helps us to be visible. It's an opportunity and an innovation I’m happy to be part of.”
We’ll be sharing member stories from around the world on a regular basis, so keep an eye out for updates. If you’ve chosen to adopt Chartered Actuary status, or if you’ve employed an actuary who is helping to transform your organisation, we’d love to hear from you.
