This month, our “get to know” series introduces the world to another of our amazing team members who works behind the scenes, Rishabh Mohta. Rish is an Associate Actuarial Analyst.
Read on to learn more about Rish, how he came to the United States and IPL, and what on his TV to-watch list!
I provide the clients with hypothetical illustrations and help them understand the numbers when they have questions regarding them. The software we use must be tested with additional functionality and is that is something I work on from time to time. I also help the team with the monthly valuations by preparing the file and ensuring that all the values are recorded correctly.
Other tasks which I perform include testing the existing products with scenario testing which is basically a process where we change certain variables and see the effect on the performance of the policy.
Lastly, whenever I get a chance, I prepare for the SOA based actuarial exams and LOMA exams to attain my designation.
I was 8 years old when we moved to Hyderabad, a large city (India’s 6th largest) in Southern India. I studied there till I graduated high school.
I completed my Bachelor of Technology in Instrumentation and Control Engineering with a minor in Business Management from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal which is a coastal town in the Southwestern part of India.
Immediately after my graduation, I came to the United States (in August of 2018) to pursue my Master of Mathematics in Actuarial Science from Illinois State University. Although I ended up doing a second major in Applied Statistics.
During my undergrad while studying my minor, I realized that I was not the best engineer, so I decided to pursue an MBA and started preparing for GMAT. While I was doing so, I learnt about Actuarial Science for the first time and decided to learn more about it. When I dug up information on the subject, I realized it needed a lot of mathematical computational skills, something I have always been good at, so I decided to pursue a career in this field.
While I was in my final semester at ISU, I was just applying for jobs on every platform that I was aware of, and it was during that time I had applied for my current role at IPL on LinkedIn. I had my first interview with Nikki. It went well and then I had a call with Chris Hause, our consulting actuary, about the technical aspects of insurance and finally a call with Tommy where we discussed long term goals, leadership methods and motivational books. I was then asked to come to the Gilbert office where I met the team and was presented with a job offer, which I accepted to become a part of team IPL!
While I was learning the basics of insurance in college, I did not have any clue about PPLI and how big of an industry it is. Although it is a very niche industry and accessible only to the UHNW, the growth has been significant in the recent years.
The most interesting aspect about PPLI is the availability of reinsurance and the investments being held in separate accounts (not accessible to the creditors), so it safeguards the investments. Reinsurance makes the insurance coverage much cheaper than regular life insurance and the participation rate is very high, with some of the funds available exclusively to the PPLI space.
Although PPLI is a type of life insurance, a common reason to buy a PPLI policy is for estate planning purpose and creating tax efficient strategies to pass wealth onto the next generation.
Something that people should understood more about PPLI is that the transaction costs and the cost of insurance are lower than traditional insurance. Many people understand the advantages of PPLI and use their existing traditional policies into the PPLI policy. A PPLI product should be thought of as an investment vehicle rather than a product to obtain more death benefit.
IPL’s goal is to help the client obtain the most effective solution tailored for their needs in the most efficient manner possible. We at IPL do that with integrity and honesty. We focus on putting the client’s needs first and foremost and we do this by providing the “White Glove” treatment and believe that the client comes first and money second. Internally, we try and extend our help to the colleagues who interact with external folks in every possible way. We work by the rules in a professional way.
Currently, I am not watching any series, but I have a few on my list:
