Amanda Turcotte Of Amalgamated Life Insurance Company On Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Insurance Industry

An Interview With Kieran Powell

Be curious about your customer. I spent years in product development, designing life insurance policies in a conference room based on survey data and competitive analysis. At the time, I thought that was how you built good products. It wasn’t until I sat across from real customers, selling life insurance at their kitchen tables, that I truly understood their concerns and how they made decisions. That experience completely changed the way I approach product design. You can’t build solutions in a vacuum, you need to listen to the people you’re trying to serve.

The insurance industry plays a vital role in providing security and peace of mind to individuals and businesses. Building a successful career in this field requires a combination of technical knowledge, customer-focused skills, and strategic vision. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Amanda Turcotte.

Amanda Turcotte, FSA, MAAA, is the Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary at Amalgamated Life Insurance Company, where she leads actuarial functions to drive innovation in risk management and insurance solutions. With over 20 years of experience, she has held leadership roles in product development, financial modeling, and reinsurance, including her recent position at Guy Carpenter and founding her own consulting firm to advise insurtech startups. Throughout her career, she has played a key role in technology-driven insurance solutions, leading product development at Ansel Health and AXA Equitable.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Honestly, I landed in insurance because I was a double-major in theoretical economics and French linguistics — neither of which screamed “actuary.” I always assumed I’d get my doctorate and work at the Federal Reserve or World Bank but then I had my oldest daughter at 19 and grad school was no longer in the cards. I knew someone at Prudential who suggested that being an actuary may be good for me — I was good enough at math, really good at taking tests, and I liked solving complex problems. It turned out to be the perfect fit for building my career while growing a young family.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?

I’m a big bullet journaler and I like to keep things structured. On my first day, I told my CEO that I wanted a huge whiteboard in my office. I wanted everything laid out — what I was doing that month, what was a priority, and then a section at the bottom full of sticky notes with all the things I had uncovered but wasn’t ready to tackle just yet. I made it clear: If something new had to be added, something else had to come off.

While I was putting up that whiteboard, my boss, Victoria, Amalgamated Life’s CFO, was in the office next to mine. As I was drilling it into the wall, I heard a crash. Her framed pictures had started falling off the walls from the vibrations. She popped in, asking, ‘What are you doing in there?’ and I just told her, ‘Setting expectations.’

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I have two! The first was at Guardian, my first job out of college, where I had been for maybe three weeks. The staff had a rotating responsibility to answer the phones and one day it was my turn to answer — the caller asked for my boss, so I asked them for their last name and a callback number, following standard protocol. There was a pause before an irritated voice shot back, “Don’t you know who I am?!” — and then the line went dead. Turns out, it was a Senior Level Executive, who was a legend in the industry. At the time, I had no idea who he was but after that incident, I made it a point to thoroughly understand the organizational chart and the key people within any company I worked at. I quickly learned that knowing the key players in your company is just as important as knowing your job.

The second mistake was at Chubb, where I worked on program business, including travel and common carrier insurance tied to credit card benefits. I was responsible for pricing a new case and sending out the final quote — but I mistakenly listed the rates as annual instead of monthly. Fortunately, the client was kind enough to flag it instead of just rejecting the proposal outright. That moment reinforced just how much precision matters in this industry. In insurance, even small errors can erode trust, and trust is everything.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the insurance industry, and what has been your driving force for success?

My inspiration and driving force has always been two things: first, my kids, and second, my belief that insurance should help working families build stability. When I started at Guardian, I was mostly exposed to high-value life insurance policies. It wasn’t until I moved to Prudential that I saw policies with face values under $1 million. That shift made me realize that many working families rely on much smaller coverage amounts and are often underserved. Over time, I realized this wasn’t just a difference in face amount, it reflected a broader shift in the industry. Life insurance had moved away from providing basic financial protection for families and had become more about estate planning for the wealthy.

And while that’s a fine business goal, it’s not what I want to do with my life. I wanted to focus on making insurance accessible for the people who need it most, working families who don’t have financial safety nets. That’s why throughout my career whether at AXA, my own consulting firm, or now at Amalgamated Life, I’ve worked to increase access to insurance for working Americans.

How do you stay informed and adapt to changes in the insurance landscape to maintain your competitive edge?

I stay informed by constantly taking on roles that stretch beyond traditional actuarial work. I’ve been Chief Insurance Officer at a startup, Chief Product Officer at a technology company, and I even spent time selling policies at kitchen tables, learning directly from agents and customers. Each of those experiences forced me to stay engaged with how the industry is evolving from pricing models to customer needs.

I also believe in always being in ‘learning mode.’ When you step into a role where you don’t know everything, you have to rely on experts, ask questions, and absorb as much as possible. The industry is changing quickly, whether through technology, new regulations, or shifting consumer expectations, and staying competitive means never assuming you already know the answer.

Beyond that, I stay active in industry conversations. I speak at conferences, engage with regulators, and track how different sectors within insurance are evolving. I also prioritize direct engagement with customers rather than relying solely on surveys. The best way to stay competitive is to stay curious.

What key strategies have you implemented to build and nurture strong relationships with clients and colleagues?

For me, building strong relationships comes down to three things: listening, problem-solving, and making genuine connections. First, I listen more than I talk. I’ve been in roles across actuarial, underwriting, sales, and product development, and no matter the position, the best way to earn trust is by understanding what people actually need — whether it’s a client, a broker, a colleague, or a business partner. I don’t assume I know their challenges; I ask, and I listen.

Second, I connect people to solutions. I’ve always seen myself as a problem solver and business enabler. At conferences, I often run into people discussing challenges, and my instinct is to say, ‘You know who you need to talk to? That person over there. Let me introduce you.’ Relationships aren’t just about who you know — they’re about being the person who helps others find the right resources and solutions.

Third, I believe in showing up when it matters. I know I’m not always the best at keeping in touch, but if someone reaches out and says, ‘Hey, I need help or advice,’ I’ll drop everything to assist them. That’s how I’ve built relationships that have lasted years — by being someone people can rely on when it counts.

Can you share an experience where you overcame a major challenge in the insurance industry and the lessons you learned?

One of the biggest challenges I faced was launching the AXA Employee Benefits division from scratch. For 30 years, AXA had been strictly an individual life and annuity company. Then, after a strategic review, our consultants advised us to expand into group benefits — which is a nice idea in theory, but in practice, it meant we had to build an entire business unit from nothing.

I was part of a small team of four people, and we were given an 18-month window to get everything up and running — products, pricing, underwriting, technology, sales, and distribution. At the same time, I was also about to have my fifth child. I had my son on a Monday and was back on calls with reinsurers the next Monday. Every week mattered because if we didn’t launch within our window, we would lose the momentum and support we had from leadership.

In just 18 months, we launched seven products nationwide, built a full underwriting team, and had 60 employees. It was one of the most intense and rewarding experiences of my career. But the biggest lesson I took away from it? Sometimes, just because you can push through something doesn’t mean you should. I was completely burned out by the end, and I ultimately left AXA because I had nothing left to give. It taught me that sustainable success is about making sure you still have energy left to enjoy the achievement once you get there.

Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Insurance Industry” and why?

1. Be curious about your customer. I spent years in product development, designing life insurance policies in a conference room based on survey data and competitive analysis. At the time, I thought that was how you built good products. It wasn’t until I sat across from real customers, selling life insurance at their kitchen tables, that I truly understood their concerns and how they made decisions. That experience completely changed the way I approach product design. You can’t build solutions in a vacuum, you need to listen to the people you’re trying to serve.

2. Know how the dollars flow. While underwriting and risk are key components, insurance is ultimately a business. You have to understand how revenue moves through the system, from premiums to claims, commissions, and everything in between. When I worked in employee benefits, I realized that we weren’t just selling to the end customer, we had to convince HR reps, brokers, and decision-makers along the way. If you don’t understand all the financial levers at play, you won’t be able to make informed decisions that drive both business growth and customer value.

3. Recognize you can learn from everyone around you. Early in my career, I assumed that actuaries, like me, were the ones who built products. But when I got the chance to sit in on agent training, I had a major realization: what we designed and what was being sold weren’t always the same thing. The way an agent positioned a policy to a customer wasn’t how I had imagined it at all. That experience taught me that every function — sales, underwriting, marketing, claims — sees the business from a different perspective and if you don’t engage with those teams, you’re missing critical insights.

4. Do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it. Trust is the foundation of this industry. Whether it’s a customer counting on their policy to pay out, a colleague relying on your analysis, or a broker expecting clear guidance — following through on commitments is everything. I’ve learned that being organized, setting realistic expectations, and building in extra time for the unexpected makes all the difference in delivering on promises. People remember who they can rely on and that matters in an industry built on long-term relationships.

5. Build products and solutions that actually serve people. Insurance has drifted away from its original purpose: providing financial protection for working people. When I started my own consulting firm, I focused on inclusive insurance, working on products that actually met the needs of underserved markets. One of the most meaningful projects I worked on was developing a life insurance program for NYC taxi drivers, a group of people who had never had access to employer-sponsored coverage. After spending days at taxi dispatch centers listening to drivers talk about the benefits they actually needed, life insurance emerged as a priority. That’s when I first connected with Amalgamated Life who helped bring that product to market, staying true to its founding mission of protecting working people and their families.

What role does continuous learning and professional development play in shaping a successful insurance career?

Insurance is an industry where you can never afford to stop learning. The products, regulations, and technology are constantly evolving, and staying relevant means staying engaged. In addition to continuously learning through taking on roles that weren’t traditionally ‘actuarial’, speaking at industry events has also been a huge driver of my professional growth. I deliberately take on topics that push me outside my comfort zone because I know that figuring them out will make me better at what I do. When you’re asked to present on something you’re not an expert in, you don’t want to stand up there and sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about — so you dig in, do the research, and talk to people who know more than you. While I can’t be an expert on everything, I can connect people to the resources which will move them forward. That constant challenge of stretching myself into new areas is one of the best ways I’ve found to keep learning and stay ahead in this industry.

How do you approach balancing customer satisfaction with meeting organizational goals in the insurance field?

Customer satisfaction isn’t separate from organizational goals, it drives them. If people don’t believe their insurer will be there when they need it, they won’t buy, and they certainly won’t stay. The best way to meet organizational goals is to ensure customers understand their policies, trust their coverage, and feel confident in the company behind it. At the same time, businesses have financial objectives, and short-term pressures can create tension between profitability and customer needs. Cutting corners on transparency, service, or product design might boost KPIs for a quarter, but it erodes trust and damages long-term growth.

For me, the key is long-term alignment and building products that truly serve customers while remaining financially sustainable. That’s why I’ve worked across underwriting, sales, claims, and product development. When you understand how each part of the business impacts the customer experience, you can make better decisions that serve both sides.

What advice would you give to someone starting their journey in the insurance industry to ensure long-term success?

Break out of your silo. Insurance is a complex industry, and if you only focus on your immediate role you’re going to miss the bigger picture. Early on, take the time to talk to people in different parts of the business and learn how their work connects to yours.

Stepping outside my comfort zone has repeatedly given me the perspective I needed to do my job better.

Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Making insurance accessible to everyone, not just those with the right employer or the right income bracket. A huge portion of working Americans are completely left out of the insurance system. If you’re a gig worker, self-employed, or in a lower-wage job without benefits, you’re often left to figure things out on your own. And let’s be honest, most people aren’t sitting around researching life insurance policies in their free time.

The industry used to do a much better job of serving everyday families. Decades ago, mutual insurance companies built their business around protecting middle-class Americans. Over time, the focus shifted, and now, a lot of traditional insurance products are built more for estate planning than for basic financial security. I’d love to see the industry go back to its roots and design policies that truly work for people who need them most.

That’s one of the reasons I was drawn to Amalgamated Life. Unlike many carriers that avoid union and independent worker risks, Amalgamated was built to serve them. We should be designing more products with that same mindset. Solutions that meet people where they are, rather than expecting them to fit into an outdated model of employment and benefits. If the industry prioritized inclusion and simplicity, we could help millions of people build real financial security.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.