An Actuary Like Me – Henning Wergen
I am proud to be an actuary because it always gives a wonderful starting point when explaining to a stranger what you do for a living.
Henning studied Mathematics and joined DAV in 2005. Having explored various roles different tasks and responsibilities within DAV, he was named Managing Director of the German Actuarial Academy (subsidiary of DAV) in 2015. As of 2023 he has also been named Managing Director of DAV, responsible for all education, examination, and qualification activities. He is currently chairperson of the Education Committee of the IAA and represents the DAV in the CERA Global Association.
Why are you proud to be an actuary?
It always gives a wonderful starting point when explaining to a stranger what you do for a living.
What is the most valuable skill an actuary can possess?
Being able to explain an actuarial result to a non-actuary.
What is your advice for younger/rising actuaries?
Be open-minded and keep looking for the things you love to do.
What’s something an outsider wouldn’t know about your industry?
The techniques and methodologies we use are absolutely up to date – perhaps something someone would not expect.
What’s the most interesting trend for 2023?
The current political landscape – at least in Europe – gives enough trends to take into account: The war in Ukraine; Coming out of a pandemic; High inflation, just to name a few.
Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities for actuaries?
I see great opportunities for actuaries in the social sector as well as around all environmental topics. Providing support for decision making based on observations and data is key for those two areas to develop.
What do you do to recharge each day?
Try to spend as much time as possible with my family.
What do you like to do in your free time? What are your hobbies?
Sports in all kinds of formats.
What’s the phone app you use most?
It is a head-to-head race between WhatsApp and Twitter.
What is your favourite random fact?
That 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.
If you had millions of dollars, what would you do every day?
Kind of boring, not change anything.
If you lived 500 years in the future, what do you think your profession would be?
It is hard to imagine life in 500 years’ time. Just looking back to the past, the world and regular life of people has been significantly different in the early 1500s. But nevertheless, the amount of information and data available will completely reshape the actuarial work. Explaining data will be our key asset.
CPD: Actuaries Institute Members can claim two CPD points for every hour of reading articles on Actuaries Digital.
