Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

2006 Women to Watch: Joy A. Schwartzman

Posted On: Oct. 8, 2006 12:00 AM CST

Joy A. Schwartzman

Principal and Consulting Actuary

Milliman Inc.

New York

Age: 50

 

 

Joy Schwartzman joined Milliman in 1988 after working since the late 1970s as an actuary for American International Group Inc. At Milliman, she consults to insurers, reinsurers, banks and regulatory agencies on issues such as company valuation, adequacy of loss reserves and business profitability. Her actuarial work has been used in nearly 100 due diligence assignments, including ACE Ltd.’s purchase of CIGNA Corp.’s property/casualty business. Ms. Schwartzman also helped develop loss reserves as part of the Peoples Insurance Co. of China initial public offering in 2003, which was the first Chinese property/casualty insurance company to go public.

 

 

Q: Who has had the greatest influence on your career and why?

A: “I was fortunate that I took a job earlier in my career at AIG. I was surrounded by many people from whom I learned so much, including Robert Sandler, who was the chief actuary at the time, Brian Duperreault…and being exposed to Mr. Greenberg and his brilliance and his great insights, I learned so much from them.”

 

 

Q: What advice would you give young women entering the industry today?

A: “Seek out an environment in which you can learn from bosses, peers or clients. Pursue opportunities that take advantage of your assets, what you do well. If you’re excelling, you probably will be happy at what you are doing.”

 

 

Q: If you had the ability to change one thing about the industry what would it be?

A: “While I don’t think the industry is perfect, nothing is so intrinsically wrong in the insurance industry that I would want to change it.”

 

2006 Women to Watch Home