Introducing the ACTEX eLearning Webinar Series...
Principles for Actuarial Spreadsheet Design with Mary Pat Campbell, FSA, MAAA, PRM

December 9th, 2015 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

This course qualifies for 1.2 SOA CPD and CAS CE Credits.

Spreadsheets are one of the largest workhorses in actuarial work and business work in general, but few of us have serious, rigorous training in their use and design. Various bodies have developed lists of best practices for spreadsheets, but these best practices lists are often developed for accountants and financial analysts, and do not necessarily fit with actuarial needs.
This session will cover high-level principles of spreadsheet design with a special focus on actuarial needs and issues, as well as specific practical implementation tips.

Specific topics to be covered include:

• Considering why one should (or should not) do certain things, not only how.
• How to structure the flow of information through your spreadsheet together with appropriate documentation
• Building spreadsheets with future changes in mind
• Why using the INDEX/MATCH combination is preferable to VLOOKUP
• Considerations on the use of Named Ranges 

Instructor Mary Pat Campbell, FSA, MAAA, PRM, is Vice President, Insurance Research at Conning in Hartford, Connecticut. She also teaches courses on computing (Excel, Access, and VBA) and business writing for actuarial science students at the University of Connecticut. 
Mary Pat has had a long interest in spreadsheet best practices in actuarial work, writing for SOA publications on the topic since 2007.  She has also spoken for SOA webcasts and at meetings on spreadsheet issues, most recently at the 2015 SOA Annual Meeting: "Session 30: How to Keep Your Spreadsheets Out of the Headlines".  She is a member of the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group and on the SOA Modeling Section Council (2015 - 2018).