An Actuarial Advantage Booklet

New Booklet Dispels Myth and Mystery, Highlights Benefits of Actuarial Studies

Brentwood, TN, October 6, 2005 – Officials from SIGMA Actuarial Consulting Group and its affiliate Specific Software Solutions announced today that a new booklet, An Actuarial Advantage: Maximizing the Benefit of an Actuarial Analysis, is now available.

"Through our years of providing services and software to insurance and risk management professionals, we've realized there is a lot of confusion about the methods, scope and applicability of an actuarial study," said Tim Coomer, author of the booklet and CEO of the affiliated companies. "Our goal in writing the booklet was to clear up a lot of misunderstood actuarial topics and to make agent/brokers, risk managers, and CFOs more confident in their interactions with actuaries."

The phenomenal popularity of the companies' first booklet, Master Your Workers Comp Modifier, released in 2003, inspired Coomer and his team to tackle the new booklet, he said. "The subject matter can be intimidating," admits Coomer, "so we've worked hard to make this booklet a very accessible resource."

To accomplish this goal, the booklet:

Presents a clear explanation of fundamental actuarial topics
Discusses the most effective ways to utilize an actuary for a competitive advantage
Identifies common problems encountered by brokers, CFOs, and risk managers when working with actuaries, and present strategies for preventing these problems
Provides specific examples of real world applications of actuarial analyses.

Specific topics include:

Defining the actuary
Understanding loss development factors
Reserve analysis and the ABC’s of IBNR
Forecasting losses
The value of a cash flow analysis
Understanding confidence intervals
Real world applications for your actuarial analysis
Your checklist for working with an actuary

Additionally, the book warns readers of common misconceptions and mistakes, emphasizes key concepts to remember when working with an actuary, and includes a glossary of actuarial terms.

More information about the fifty-six page booklet is available on the companies' web site at www.specificsoftware.com/advantage.

Specific Software Solutions, LLC serves risk management and insurance professionals in companies of all sizes with software products that facilitate complex calculations and insightful analyses. Founded in 1990 by Tim Coomer, A.R.M., the privately held Brentwood, Tennessee organization is best known for its flagship product ModMaster. More information about the company and its products is available at www.specificsoftware.com.

SIGMA Actuarial Consulting Group, Inc. (SIGMA) is a casualty actuarial consulting firm located near Nashville, Tennessee. The company provides actuarial services to government entities, associations, self insureds and commercial insureds in a wide variety of health, retail, service and manufacturing industries throughout the country. Specializing in workers compensation, automobile liability, general liability and products liability, SIGMA prides itself in producing attractive graphical analyses that are easy to read, easy to understand, and free of actuarial jargon. More information about SIGMA and its services is available at www.specificsoftware.com/sigma.