Case Competition – California Actuarial League

Cal Actuarial League hosts biannual case competitions, which pose business problems for students to tackle in teams. Typically, our corporate partners, alumni, and analysts & consultants from other firms across the nation work with our Case Competition team to coordinate a business problem that they have encountered recently in their own work.

Firms and professionals who deliver these problems review solutions and presentations from competing students. It is an excellent opportunity to meet and network with professionals and experience some actual day-to-day work. The cases are designed to test your problem-solving skills and your ability to think critically and analytically. Students of all standings and majors are encouraged to compete!

Spring 2026

Congratulations to Zack Smith and Theresa Zheng for winning CAL's Spring 2026 Case Competition!

This semester’s case was centered around the applications of various actuarial reserving methods. As an actuary tasked with tracking the performance of a hypothetical startup company, participants were tasked with measuring a performance indicator called the Dental Loss Ratio amidst a volatile portfolio of claims. The challenge of this case involved a component called the incurred but not paid phenomenon, where recent claims were not fully reported or paid. Participants needed to apply different techniques to get estimates on recent total claim amounts while giving justifications on why their technique works the best.

Fall 2025

This semester's case competition was CAL's first competition since it went on hiatus, and we're so glad it was a success! The topic was health insurance pricing, with a case given by Beam Benefits Actuaries. Congratulations to our finalists for making it through!

If you would like to participate, please check our Slack, calendar, or come to our biweekly general meetings to learn more.

Please email calactuarialleagueucb@gmail.com for any further questions.