The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is a leading international organization for credentialing and professional education. They have maintained a reputation for providing high-quality educational content to its members through a variety of offerings and resources. Thus, when exploring ways to expand its revenue base, CAS considered widening its educational offerings to new audiences in relevant professions outside of the actuarial field.
Challenge
AS engaged McKinley to conduct market research to identify viable adjacent professions to gather more market insights and information before expanding their services. Overall, CAS wanted to identify new markets and the best opportunities for growing their customer base.
Solution
McKinley’s research team began by conducting a field assessment to measure the current state of the actuarial profession, followed by an evaluation of over 30 professions in related markets. The assessment examined these potential markets and considered multiple factors including:
Total employment
Growth outlook
Necessary skills
Continuing education requirements
McKinley and CAS reviewed the field assessment findings and worked to narrow down the list to four relevant professions for further in-depth analysis. The analysis continued with a secondary research phase. This included an environmental scan to evaluate any competing associations and for-profit providers that deliver relevant education and services to the targeted professionals in those markets. This secondary research examined the content, format and price of competitive resources to help identify how CAS’s offerings compare to those of its competitors. It also identified some existing market gaps for CAS to fill.
While identifying opportunities, McKinley considered the relevance of CAS’s current offerings to each specific profession. Of the four professional markets tested in the environmental scan, three were determined to be viable professions for CAS to target with their expanded offerings. The three professions serve quantitative analysts who would find CAS’s resources relevant, and therefore may look to CAS to fulfill gaps in the market.
Outcome
McKinley’s research helped CAS identify areas to develop and adapt its existing offerings for the new markets rather than creating entirely new programs or services. McKinley also recommended clear strategies for CAS to develop and strengthen partnerships with existing providers, to market itself as a trusted provider of continuing education and to optimize its resources to support expansion.
Since completion of the project, CAS has continued to consider the recommendations to repurpose their offerings for the three new professional markets. McKinley’s research found that there was a market opportunity of more than 31 times the size of the current target profession.
The findings reassured CAS that they can remain successful by maintaining their current offerings while also providing the Society with the insight and confirmation needed to make informed decisions to expand its markets in the future.
