Nick Gurgone
Consulting actuary
Pinnacle Actuarial Resources
b>Personal bio: I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and moved to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, to attend college at Illinois State University (ISU). Pinnacle Actuarial Resources is located in Bloomington, so I have stayed in the area to work at Pinnacle.
I am a fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
I have a number of interests. In particular, I very much like making music and have been playing guitar since I was 12. My interests also include history, politics and social issues, and I frequently read about these topics. I also have to say I “enjoy” running!
Professional profile: I am a consulting actuary with Pinnacle, where I started as an actuarial analyst six years ago. A significant portion of my work at Pinnacle has been in the captive space, and I have been involved with a wide variety of captives, from groups offering traditional coverages, to captives offering enterprise risk coverages.
I have performed feasibility and funding analyses, reserve analyses and a variety of other analyses for captives.
I started off at ISU as a maths education major but switched to actuarial science in the middle of my freshman year. I had not heard of actuarial science before I was at ISU. When a professor told me about the career, the combination of maths, business and insurance interested me and I was convinced to change majors.
While in college, I had a summer internship with Mercer working on pensions in their retirement services department in Louisville, Kentucky. I graduated with a bachelor of science degree from ISU and began working at Pinnacle and in the captive industry right away.
I currently volunteer on a few CAS committees, such as the syllabus and examination committee, and stay involved with the important work by CAS through volunteering.
How did you end up in the captive industry?
While in college, I really did not know much more about captives other than that they existed. I was interested in Pinnacle because of its reputation and for the very interesting variety of work its professionals did, rather than specifically being a leader in the captive industry. As I am now aware, a large part of the variety in what Pinnacle does is due to our track record of work in, and contributions to, the captive industry. It is an exciting and constantly evolving industry to work in.
What has been your highlight in the captive industry so far?
Professionally, one of my highlights was f inishing my actuarial exams. Alongside my excitement about the end of consecutive years of study, receiving my actuarial credentials helped open doors to advancing a career in the industry.
Learning about how diverse and dynamic the captive industry is has been a highlight as well. I have been increasingly working with captives for sectors such as warranty, and recently presented a Pinnacle APEX webinar on the topic. It goes to show how much uncharted territory there is in the captive space.
What/who have been your influences in the captive industry?
A number of Pinnacle colleagues and principals of the firm have been great influences and mentors. In particular, I started working regularly with Rob Walling, one of Pinnacle’s principals, early on in my career. Rob is well known and respected in the industry and has a large captive practice, which are both long-term goals of mine. Rob has been a great mentor, spending significant time and effort helping me gain experience and grow in my career.
What is your impression of the industry?
This is an industry where you can see things that are unique within the property and casualty actuarial world. Because of that, it is both interesting and challenging
I think the captive industry has great capacity to innovate and facilitate innovation. It is ahead of the curve on some major emerging risks and will continue to be in the future.
What are your aspirations for your career in the captive industry?
I hope to build my own consulting practice at Pinnacle and be a well-rounded actuary that clients can come to without all of the ordinary projects and requests.
I also hope to be a mentor to other actuaries that want to work in the captive industry.
What advice do you have for someone considering a role in the industry?
It is important to keep pushing yourself to grow, venturing outside of your comfort zone with different types of projects. Equally important is finding a good mentor. Mentors are so helpful because they can keep pushing you to learn and make sure that you are heading down an appropriate and worthwhile path.
John Yaple, director of captive marketing, HUB International “Over the past few years, Nick has played a vital role in the success of our captive and alternative risk programmes. In an ever-evolving captive industry, Nick continues to take an innovative approach to finding solutions and communicating these strategies to clients.” “In addition to his knowledge, expertise and professionalism as an actuary, Nick has exhibited the dedication and work ethic that has allowed us to meet client needs during this demanding period in the captive industry. Nick consistently delivers quality work in a timely manner, and we look forward to watching his influence and impact on the captive industry expand.”
