Jacob Palmer of...
Employer and area of work Marsh UK, Hymans Robertson, ERM.
How would your best friend describe you? Quiet and clever, with a dry sense of humour.
What motivates you? The desire to be the best at what I do and a deep-rooted fear of failure.
What would be your personal motto? You must believe in free will; there is no choice.
Name five dream guests you would invite to your dinner party? Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward (heavy metal fans may have spotted a pattern). Also Michael McIntyre to provide a few laughs.
What's your most 'actuarial' habit? Treating everything as if it's a problem to be solved.
If you could learn one random skill, what would you learn? Knife-throwing.
Favourite Excel function? Currently it is the INDIRECT function. Next week the answer will probably change.
How do you relax away from the office? Watching TV with my wife, reading lots of good books, going mental at a concert or playing my guitar to loud music.
Alternative career choice? Professional guitarist.
Tell us something unusual about yourself I have a long memory for names and faces. I can freak my wife out by describing everyone around us on an aeroplane, weeks after we've flown.
Greatest risk you have ever taken? Moving from a stable role in the pensions team, to one split between the ERM, banking and longevity risk teams. I also spent three weeks in Oman working for a large bank.
If you could go back in history, who would you like to meet?Being Jewish, mostly biblical figures come to mind, in particular Moses and King David. I'd love to have met Randy Rhodes (a favourite guitarist) to get some tips to improve my playing.
What are the top 3 things you would like to achieve in your lifetime? Having a close, loving family; getting to the top of my profession and using my time on this planet to its full potential.
If you ruled the world, what would you change first? The perception of actuaries.
Do you know an actuary destined for greatness? You can nominate an Actuary of the Future by emailing [email protected]
