Career Path Spotlight: Matthew Savolskis | Lead Pricing Actuary at Liberty Mutual Insurance

How did get started in the insurance industry?

I graduated from Fordham University in 2010 with a degree in Math and Economics. This was at the height of the Great Recession, so finding a job in finance wasn’t achievable. I went back home to help at the bagel store, frying eggs. A close friend mentioned something about actuarial work. Frying eggs wasn’t the goal, and studying gave me something more to look forward to than making bagels. That was the start. I’ve always had a quantitative attitude in a business setting. I passed two exams and worked in ISO FAIR risk analytics.

Can you give a description of your current role?

I’m a cyber actuary at Liberty Mutual in the Global Actuary Division. I’m working on rolling out a global rater at Liberty Mutual for profit centers around the world. Cyber isn’t a mature line of business, but different products and rates do have an impact. We’re making a push for consistency and developing a rater for worldwide use.

What are the most relevant/ important skills someone looking to follow your career path should work on developing?

Quantitative, math-heavy skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving are prerequisites. You also need to be able to communicate complicated concepts and connect with people. You can be a math genius, but you need to be able to dumb things down to communicate effectively. It’s about making difficult concepts easy to understand without getting into the weeds.

What advice do you have for someone not currently in your career field who has an interest in following your career path?

Step one is to take the test. Put the time in with the exam materials and use the tools available in large language models. Focus on developing your technical skills and spending time learning the concepts. Do the tough work.

For example, work on rate-level indications for every state, every quarter, repeatedly. Repetition works best because it develops your eye to notice things more quickly and identify the reasons behind them. Constant analysis and studying models help develop pain tolerance and teach you to focus on not taking shortcuts. Fundamentals first, then complicated things.

Is it a good time for someone new to join the industry?

Yeah! (laughs) I’ve always enjoyed it. The actuarial side is hungry for data and can work with numbers to tell the story of the business. Yes, definitely.

What is your favorite part of your job?

Right now, it’s working with all the different actuaries and building relationships. Pricing cyber is a very complicated job, so working with a bunch of smart people who are pulling in different directions makes it fun and engaging.