Interview with Lauren Miller, Stars Of The Future 2023 winner

Many congratulations to Lauren Miller who was the 2023 winner of the Actuarial Post's, Stars Of The Future award!

What was your initial reaction to becoming an award winner in Stars of the Future, nominated, and voted for by your peers?

I was delighted to have even been nominated in the first place, let alone be lucky enough to win the award!

Moving from life insurance pricing to pensions consulting a few years ago was a big decision for me. This nomination has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own career path to date and has given me comfort that the decision has paid off in some respect. Receiving the news of the award was a bit of a ‘cherry on top' moment for me - I got promoted, engaged and won Actuarial Star of the Future all in one week - it will be hard to top that again!

A huge thank you goes out to the individual who submitted my initial nomination, the panel for including me in the final shortlist and to everyone who took the time to vote. It also goes without saying, but I wanted to express a massive congratulations to everyone who was shortlisted. I have had the genuine pleasure of working closely with two of the other nominees shortlisted - so I can confirm the quality of fellow actuaries nominated for the award, they are definitely gold standard.

What aspect of your work do you enjoy most?

The variety! In my consulting role, I work with a large range of clients, each with their own unique set of needs and challenges to include navigating the ever-changing financial markets and regular developments in legislation. As a result - it's difficult to be an expert in everything. That means drawing on the knowledge of different specialist teams and the experience of colleagues to develop the best solutions for our clients. As a result, I get the opportunity to work with and learn from a team of talented and intelligent people. I can vouch for Warren Buffets advice to "Always surround yourself with people better than you"!

What would your advice be to those starting out in the actuarial field? What would your top actuarial tip be? (Similar question) 

I think it's important to always be curious and ask lots of questions! Seek to not only find out the "how?" but also the "why?". If you understand something fully, it's a lot easier to transfer the knowledge into other projects, communicate to a client or deliver training to others.

The early stages of an actuarial career is so focused on academics and building technical knowledge, and whilst obviously these elements are important, my advice would be to pay equal attention to the softer skills as that will differentiate you as your career progresses.

Finally, it's so important to be human - we are all just people trying to do our best in life, regardless of position!

Looking forward what are your hopes or resolutions for 2024?

I've been lucky enough to tick off quite a few career goals the past two years! I've qualified, moved from life insurance pricing to pensions consulting, and recently been promoted to a senior consultant at lsio. My current priority is to spend time settling into my new role, and build my knowledge through continuing to work with different clients and deliver various innovative solutions to the differing challenges they face.