Risk Management

2019 Break Out Awards, Northeast: Peter Johnson

June 01, 2019 Reprints

Agents & Brokers More + Less -

PETER JOHNSON

Senior consulting actuary

Spring Consulting Group LLC,
a unit of Alera Group

Boston

Age: 39

Peter Johnson took and passed his first actuarial exam as part of his applied math and computer science undergrad program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The foundation led to job opportunities with various property/casualty insurers in the Midwest. His first job out of college was with Allstate Insurance Co., where he worked as a personal lines pricing analyst.

What is the No. 1 concern in your specialty?

Too much reliance on machine learning. I’m worried that could take away some needed training for the next generation. A lot of my advancement has been through research, analysis, hands-on experience. I’m worried that utilizing computers inappropriately could lead to some issues early on in the education of the next generation.

How do you see your job changing over the next 10 years?

With the combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, particularly modeling, this will begin to complement much of what we do as actuaries for various lines of business.

What advice would you give someone starting out in the business?

Having the traits of grit, hard work, passion, intelligence, intelligent decisions really will drive a natural career progression.

What surprised you about the insurance industry?

The complexity. All the different business units. The skill sets. The professionals involved: actuaries, claims adjusters, underwriters, executive leadership, lawyers. Then you have the brokerage side bringing in the business.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I spent two years in the Manhattan area, where I took acting classes. I think it really has helped me from a lot of standpoints. I think it was a different kind of skill set than you would get in the business world.

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