Aaron Hillebrandt
Director and consulting actuary
Pinnacle Actuarial Resources
Personal bio: I was born in Springfield, Illinois, attended university and now work for Pinnacle Actuarial Resources in Bloomington. I entered the US Marine Corps in my late teens. My service took me from California to North Carolina and Wisconsin as well as Kuwait to Iraq.
I love my work and making a difference for clients, but my family – my wife Meghan, sons Jackson (7) and William (3) – absolutely come first. I enjoy doing Brazilian jiujitsu, which is mentally and physically challenging. I also like reading classic novels and books about business and history.
Professional profile: I am a director and consulting actuary with Pinnacle with over 12 years of actuarial experience in the property/casualty insurance industry with experience in all kinds of assignments including captive feasibility studies, loss reserving, funding studies, etc.
I studied mathematics and received a Bachelor of Science degree at Illinois State University (ISU). I have kept my connection to ISU and returned to be a lecturer while working as an actuary for a commercial insurer.
I am a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (AAA), with various certifications from other professional associations and organisations. I currently sit on various committees for different organisations including CAS and the Vermont Captive Insurance Association.
Before Pinnacle and after the Marine Corps, I worked at a large commercial insurance company.
How did you end up in the captive industry?
I spent my first six or so years as an actuary with a commercial insurer. I left the commercial, or in-house side of the business approximately seven years ago. I was looking to explore what else actuaries might do in the world and was interested in consulting and the contributions consultants can make to the companies they work for.
I started at Pinnacle – which had a fantastic reputation – and jumped straight into the deep end of captive insurance on my very first day
What has been your highlight in the captive industry so far?
The most rewarding single event in my career thus far was saving a large client more than $10 million in collateral by discussing the assumptions in our independent actuarial study versus the assumptions the insurance carrier’s actuary was using to set collateral requirement. I felt extremely proud and pleased to help my client with that work.
What/who have been your influences in the captive industry?
Since the day I joined Pinnacle, I’ve looked up to our managing principal Joe Herbers. Despite having built one of the largest captive actuarial practices in the country, Joe is one of the most kind, fair, down-to-earth people I have ever met.
He exemplifies what an actuary and a consultant should be with his pragmatic approach to communicating actuarial results to clients. He continues to teach me a lot about many things, including navigating tough or unusual consulting situations.
What is your impression of the industry?
It is fun, creative, challenging, fast-paced and rapidly evolving. I am constantly being engaged in conversations about new types of insurance coverages and new events affecting existing coverages in novel ways. It is fun and exciting to me to create a solution with real value that doesn’t have an existing mould.
What are your aspirations for your career in the captive industry?
I would like to continue growing my practice, serving more and different types of clients and building upon the insight and value I provide to my clients.
I would also like to continue mentoring and developing Pinnacle’s exceptional and talent-rich actuarial staff.
I would like to help them continue to progress and learn to independently advise clients and build their own practices.
What advice do you have for someone considering a role in the industry?
For an actuarial student or analyst entering a consulting role for the captive industry – be a sponge.
Most businesses in the captive industry gravitate to this market in order to manage and control their cost of risk.
Despite actuaries approaching the needs of many diverse facilities as a variation on that theme, we have to address nuances in every programme.
Actuaries need to be able to apply their foundational mathematics knowledge appropriately for the specific niches they serve.
So read a lot, spend a lot of time with more senior actuaries asking questions and actively listening, take on every assignment you can get your hands on.
Charles Spitzer, Managing director, HIG Captive Insurance Group, a Higginbotham Company “As a captive management firm, our relationship with actuaries is critical. We have found Aaron Hillebrandt to have the knowledge and expertise you would expect from him professionally, but also a unique ability to help find solutions to complex risk situations and assist in communicating those to clients. He is an invaluable asset to our practice.”
