Ken Vogl found his career and his future wife tbrough his expertise in mathematics. Vogl works with Towers Perrin of St. Louis in the area of retirement plans and serves as a recruiter for the company.
Critical Points traveled to the St. Louis area to meet Ken Vogl, who uses his 1988 MU math degree daily as a consultant for Towers Perrin, one of the largest actuarial consulting firms in the world. Editor Peter Casazza met Vogl in Clayton, where Towers Perrin occupies two floors of a high-rise building located just a few blocks from the home of another guy who's used to dealing with big numbers—baseball slugger Mark McGwire. Casazza chatted with Vogl to discover why he choose actuarial consulting and what it takes to be a consultant at Towers Perrin.
Like most college freshmen, Ken Vogl wasn't sure what career he would pursue. But looking back on it now, he realizes he was in the right place—studying mathematics at MU. Vogl took Ira Papick's Abstract Algebra class during his junior year and was deeply influenced. "Professor Papick taught us in an optimistic and encouraging manner, and yet he was always challenging us, prompting us to think of things in different ways," he says. "He created in me a desire to learn more."
Vogl attributes the MU math faculty with helping him build a mathematical foundation, particularly Ira Papick, Nalikle Asmar and John Beem, who helped prepare him for the next step-graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a PhD in math.
Vogl's actuarial career began at MU when he passed the first two actuarial exams during his sophomore year. "My classes at MU covered most of the material on the exam syllabus," he says. He believes the passed exams listed on his résumé were a primary reason he was able to break into the actuarial profession.
An acquaintance Vogl made at MU had an even greater impact on his life. He served as a calculus tutor for accounting major Lori Andrews. The two hit it off so well that they ended up getting married. They have three daughters: Katie, 6, Claire, 3, and Megan, 1.
If you can imagine any type of consulting a company might need related to employee benefits, Towers Perrin probably provides it, from retirement plans to health and welfare plans to compensation. Other areas of expertise include workers' compensation, employee communications, and the management of performance, change and risk. A separate group at Towers Perrin provides counsel and actuarial services to life and casualty insurance companies.
Vogl works in Towers Perrin's Retirement division, its biggest group. Since joining the company in 1995, he has designed retirement plans, conducted pension plan valuations and plan cost determinations, and worked on projects involving plan funding and asset/liability management. "Retirement plans are very important today because people are living longer, and they need financial security in retirement," he says.
One of Ken's jobs is to certify that a company is setting aside enough money to cover its retirement obligations. "Recently there has been an increased interest in the investment of pension plan assets," he says. "Companies are looking at a more sophisticated investment approach—one that links the performance of assets and liabilities—to better manage the costs of their plans."
Vogl loves mathematics but says that's not enough to make it as an actuarial consultant. Analysts must be good communicators. "Towers Perrin needs people with good analytical skills and exceptional communication skills," he says. "We often go to college math departments to recruit candidates with good analytical skills, but it takes very good communication skills to identify our clients' needs and then to clearly explain the often complex solutions that address those needs."
For example, when a client asks Vogl to a look at a problem, he may discover it's just a symptom of a larger issue. "The challenge is to take a broad, general approach to figure out exactly what the problem is before you go about solving it," he says. "The most important issue here is to understand exactly what your client's need is and to make sure that both you and the client agree about it. Otherwise you might have the right solution, but the client can't see it."
Another hat Vogl wears is that of recruiter. "I try to be straightforward when recruiting," he says. "I make it clear that to work at Towers Perrin they must be committed to their career and to the clients. This can be a high-pressure, stressful business, and there is often no room for error. But for those who are cut out for it, there is no greater job satisfaction than serving clients with other high-caliber co-workers on behalf of a company with high standards."
Towers Perrin's 130-employee St. Louis office has recruited numerous high-caliber employees who are MU graduates: Jennifer Teter from the class of 2000, Michael Boland from 1999, Paul Baugher from 1996, Rebecca Brown from 1994, Dan Johnston from 1993, Russell Creed from 1993, Tina Zelinsky from 1992, Robert Hartupee from 1985 and Ann Dettmer from 1973.
Vogl has come a long way from his freshman year at MU. Yet he hasn't forgotten how his University years shaped his life. "Now, as a consulting actuary at Towers Perrin," he says, "I try to instill in the employees I supervise the same optimistic pursuit of excellence the faculty at MU modeled for me."
