Insurance Industry-Sponsored Summer Camp Trains the Next Generation of Actuarial Talent

Company Website: http://phoenixwm.com/
HARTFORD, Conn. -- (Business Wire)

The Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services Cluster’s (CT IFS) Actuarial Boot Camp, an interactive one-week immersion in the actuarial profession for high school seniors and college freshmen, will be hosted in 2015 by The Phoenix Companies, Inc. Now in its seventh year, the Boot Camp will run two sessions, July 13-17 and July 27-31, at Phoenix’s corporate headquarters in Hartford.

“Connecticut has the largest concentration of actuaries in the country, and the demand from the insurance industry for these professionals remains consistently high,” said Susan Winkler, Executive Director of CT IFS. “CT IFS created the Boot Camp to help meet this demand and develop homegrown actuarial talent.”

Educating the Next Generation of Actuaries

The Boot Camp features in-depth, actuary-led math instruction, along with sessions covering effective negotiation skills, assessment and risk, case studies and ethics. Students also receive career guidance and have opportunities to interact with local practicing actuaries.

As part of the training, students are prepared to sit for one of the Society of Actuaries’ preliminary exams (“Exam P”), which is paid for by the host company. To date, 80 of 122 Boot Camp alumni have elected to take and have passed multiple actuarial exams. Twenty-six Boot Camp alumni have participated in actuarial internships, and another 10 are currently employed in full-time actuarial positions in the Hartford region.

“Boot Camp was a great experience and gave me a good understanding of what the industry is all about,” said Megan Gauer, Boot Camp participant from the summer 2011 session and a current student at the University of Connecticut, class of 2016. “I made many connections that helped me secure career opportunities, including internships with Phoenix, Travelers and Deloitte. I may not have had these opportunities without the networking and training I received at Boot Camp.”

The 2015 Boot Camp sessions will include speakers from several local life, health and property-casualty insurers, including: Aetna, The Hartford, MassMutual, Phoenix, Prudential, Travelers, UnitedHealthcare and Voya Financial.

“The Boot Camp is an important piece of Phoenix’s pipeline for actuarial talent, and we have hired a number of Boot Camp alumni for both internship and full time positions,” said Jody Beresin, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of The Phoenix Companies, Inc. “Phoenix has been involved with the Boot Camp since its beginning and hosted once before, so we are excited to have the students here again this summer.”

ABOUT CT IFS

The Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services Cluster (CT IFS) is a strategic corporate initiative of the MetroHartford Alliance that is designed to create a stronger IFS industry and a more robust economy in Connecticut. Formed in 2003, CT IFS is comprised of 28 corporate sponsors whose shared vision is to create competitive advantages in business attraction and retention, to assist with recruitment and education of a trained workforce, and to increase public awareness through advocacy. Leaders from business, state government and academia collaborate to foster growth among all of the industry’s segments. Learn more at www.connecticutIFS.com or follow @CT_IFS and #CTIFSBootcamp on Twitter.

ABOUT PHOENIX

The Phoenix Companies, Inc. (NYSE:PNX) helps financial professionals provide solutions, including income strategies and insurance protection, to families and individuals planning for or living in retirement. Founded as a life insurance company in 1851, Phoenix offers products and services designed to meet financial needs in the middle income and mass affluent markets. Its distribution subsidiary, Saybrus Partners, Inc. offers solutions-based sales support to financial professionals and represents Phoenix’s products among key distributors, including independent marketing organizations and brokerage general agencies. Phoenix is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and its principal operating subsidiary, Phoenix Life Insurance Company, has its statutory home office in East Greenbush, New York. For more information, visit www.phoenixwm.com and www.saybruspartners.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150706005602/en/

Contacts:

Prosek Partners
Gabrielle Simon, 203-254-1300 x108
gsimon@prosek.com
or
Phoenix
Alice S. Ericson, 860-403-5946
alice.ericson@phoenixwm.com

Source: The Phoenix Companies, Inc.