FORTY Under 40: Jason Luckett
Jason Luckett, consulting actuary, SIGMA Actuarial Consulting Group.
Luckett is an experienced property and casualty actuary who has worked on loss projections, loss allocations, actuarial reviews, reserve analyses and statements of actuarial opinion for captives, risk retention groups and traditional insurance companies across a range of domiciles for both traditional and emerging risk exposures.
Luckett began his actuarial journey at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where he graduated summa cum laude with a BSc in mathematics including a specialisation in actuarial science and a minor in insurance in 2016. During his senior year he completed an extended internship with SIGMA, before joining the team full-time as an actuarial analyst the summer after graduation. Since then, he has progressed through several roles within the firm, and after completing his associateship with the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) and becoming a member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) in 2024, he was named as a consulting actuary with SIGMA.
Looking back at your journey over the past year, what accomplishment are you most proud of, and how has becoming a FORTY Under 40 finalist influenced your perspective on that achievement?
Over my career I have passed many actuarial exams to obtain my credential with the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), but during 2025 I passed what may have been the most important one for my career – CAS Exam 7. This exam was my final step to becoming qualified to issue statements of actuarial opinion for insurance companies as a P&C actuary.
While I began to build my own book of business when I was appointed as a consulting actuary with SIGMA in 2024, passing this exam was a crucial milestone that allows me to fully serve my clients as an actuary. Being recognised among top industry professionals at this stage in my career provides me reassurance that the hard work and commitment required to obtain my actuarial credentials – while continuing to develop professionally and build my skills on the job – has been worthwhile.
I have also had to develop more efficient ways to review the work of team members without fully reproducing that work myself.
What key challenge did you face in your work this year? How did you overcome it and what did it teach you about leadership at this stage of your career?
As my role has evolved from working in the weeds of data files and analyses every day – as I did as an actuarial analyst – I have had to learn how to delegate tasks and guide the team members who are working on projects where I now serve as the opining actuary. Letting go has not always been easy after being so hands-on earlier in my career, and it has required growth in maturity and judgment to identify which parts of the work can appropriately be delegated. I have also had to develop more efficient ways to review the work of team members without fully reproducing that work myself. This stage of my career has reinforced that even as I achieve goals I set earlier in my career, there is always continued opportunity for growth and development as a leader.
In what ways have you tried to push innovation or rethink traditional approaches within your sector, and what impact has that had on your team or organisation?
As my career has progressed, I have found myself becoming increasingly pragmatic in my approach to actuarial science. While there are defined professional guidelines for the actuarial practice and it is critical for all actuaries to operate within these boundaries, I believe there is still room to rethink traditional approaches. At times, some actuaries may be hesitant to innovate out of concern about venturing into unfamiliar territory. However, the captive insurance market continues to evolve by insuring new risks and using creative coverage structures, which often requires actuaries to venture into the unknown and evaluate problems in new ways.
At SIGMA, we have encountered these situations and strive to develop practical, common-sense solutions that align with actuarial standards, even when they fall outside the scope of traditional analytical approaches.
How do you see your role evolving over the next three to five years, and what initiatives are you most excited to pursue as you continue to grow professionally?
Over the next few years, I hope to continue expanding my experience across different types of risks and domiciles. My goal is to build a broad and well-rounded foundation so that I can best serve both current and future clients. I expect this to be increasingly important in the captive insurance space, where insureds are continually seeking creative solutions to meet evolving risk management needs. Captives offer a powerful avenue for these solutions when they are supported by strong actuarial analysis and sound analytics.
Many of the FORTY Under 40 winners are recognised for both business success and broader impact – how do you balance professional excellence with contributions to your community or industry landscape?
One thing I am particularly proud of at SIGMA is our commitment to educating the next generation of industry professionals. In addition to our consulting work, we regularly host high school and college students for job shadow days, present to risk management and actuarial classes and student organizations, participate in career fairs at universities across Middle Tennessee and offer internships to college students. This commitment is especially meaningful to me because it played an important role in my own journey – my first connection with SIGMA came through similar opportunities. Each year I continue to be impressed by the students we meet through these events, and I hope to be a positive influence on their career paths in the same way others were for me.
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