Portrait of Philippe TALLEUX (90)

What has been your career path since graduating from ENSAE?
When I left ENSAE on July 1, 1990, I joined UAP (now merged with AXA) as a liability underwriter; a numbers man in a legal team! At the end of the first summer, working in tandem with an ENSAE alumni, we presented the Institute of Actuaries' dissertation, thanks to work done after the working day in a bank.

After leaving UAP and joining the AXA Group, I became head of corporate liability underwriting in France, where I managed the merger between UAP and AXA.

A few years later, as a co-leader, I directed the merger project between key accounts insurance and inward reinsurance. This led me to simultaneously manage the technical functions, ceded reinsurance, claims, legal and IT activities of the insurance entity thus formed. From an operational position in the entity, I moved on to group functions (strategy, responsibility for internal audit).

Today, my activity includes a normative component, but above all technical advice to colleagues in the entities. At the same time, I have had the pleasure of taking part as a volunteer in the technical and institutional activities of the Institute of Actuaries, of which I have been President.

What do you remember most about your time at ENSAE?
In addition to the love of mathematics and economics I had cultivated prior to my arrival at ENSAE, my encounter with the teachings (books or amphitheatre) of Messrs. Laffont and Rochet led me down the path of insurance. Mutualization and economics are two of the hallmarks of my career in insurance and my commitment to the Institute of Actuaries. On a less professional level, winning the inter-regional university basketball final against HEC as a team was a moment of great emotion and joy!

What advice would you give to young graduates wishing to follow a career path similar to yours?
The teaching of numerical sciences (probability, statistics, data sciences) is fundamental for young graduates who want to become actuary. In fact, it's an invaluable aid to a future career. But this is not enough. You need to enrich this breeding ground with personal curiosity and the will to continue learning every day.