Eric Askelson, ASA, MAAA
Director Actuarial | Protective Life | Birmingham, Alabama
LinkedIn | Actuarial Directory | eric.askelson@protective.com | eraskelson@gmail.com | (205) 937-4151
Professional Summary
Actuary with 12+ years of experience at Protective Life, progressing from actuarial student to Director. Combines deep technical expertise in valuation and financial reporting with a passion for automation, process improvement, and developing talent. Known for building scalable training programs and introducing modern development practices to actuarial workflows.
Experience
Protective Life Corporation
Birmingham, Alabama | June 2013 – Present
Universal Life Valuation | 2021 – Present | Director Actuarial
Led subset of UL valuation team while maintaining hands-on technical contributions. Managed team of 3–5 including actuarial students and technical experts.
- Financial Analysis: Expanded experience measurement tool and took prominent role in explaining UL earnings drivers to leadership
- LDTI Implementation: Led Universal Life LDTI implementation for valuation - built model changes, developed testing framework, coordinated cross-functional team for reporting readiness
- Training Program: Created ~20-session annual training curriculum covering GAAP/Stat calculations, Excel, SQL, PowerQuery, Git, and PolySystems; evolved delivery model so rotating students progress from attendee to presenter; expanded to monthly technical training sessions for full department (roughly 90 people)
- People Development: Focused on career development through 1:1 mentoring across subteam and broader department
Traditional Life Valuation | 2018 – 2020 | Actuarial Assistant III
Extended technical innovations to new product line while deepening financial reporting expertise.
- Version Control Evangelist: Extended Git version control implementation to Traditional Life PolySystems models
- Report Automation: Built PowerQuery dashboard tracking model and assumption update impacts
- Traditional Life Financial Analysis: Developed GAAP and Statutory financial impact explanations for quarterly reporting
Universal Life Valuation | 2013 – 2018 | Actuarial Assistant II
Built foundational actuarial skills while driving automation and process improvement initiatives.
- Foundational Skills: Developed deep expertise in reinsurance modeling, accounting, and Legacy GAAP (FAS97), as well as SQL, Excel, and VBA
- SQL True-Up Process: Designed and built novel SQL process to ingest data from general ledger and PolySystems valuation software, automating FAS97 true-up calculations
- Experience Measurement: Implemented variance analysis tool decomposing experience into mortality, non-death terminations, and other drivers - enabled clear communication of results to leadership
- Version Control Pioneer: Researched and implemented Git for actuarial model change tracking; developed gitignore configurations, clean/smudge filters, best-practice documentation, and training program for PolySystems users
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Mathematics Department | Aug 2012 – May 2013 | Teaching Assistant
- Tutored students in Algebra, Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and Abstract Algebra
- Proctored examinations for undergraduate mathematics courses
Education
Master of Science in Mathematics
University of Alabama at Birmingham | 2012 – 2013 GPA: 3.9 | Specialization: Analysis, Probability & Statistics
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
University of Alabama at Birmingham | 2008 – 2012 GPA: 4.0 | Summa Cum Laude | Honors in Mathematics | Presidential Honors
Technical Skills
Languages & Tools: SQL, PowerQuery, Power BI, Excel/VBA, Git Actuarial Platforms: PolySystems Areas of Expertise: Life insurance valuation, LDTI, FAS97, reinsurance modeling, experience analysis, process automation
Last updated: December 2025