Perhaps a sensible way to begin would be to give you some basic information about actuaries.

What is an actuary?

An actuary:

• Uses mathematical and statistical techniques to solve business related problems
• Estimates the current financial impact of future contingent events
• Focuses on insurance issues

Kinds of actuaries:

• Life Actuary: Specializes in the statistical nature of life products such as term and whole life policies and pensions
• Casualty Actuary: Specializes in property and liability lines of insurance, such as automobile insurance

Chris works in the casualty field so from here on, I'll focus there.

Basic Tasks of a Casualty Actuary:

• RatemakingEstablishing the correct rate to charge for an insurance product
• ReservingDetermining the value of a company's loss and expense liability