The lablog
My protection work is commercially-focused. I use both standard techniques and proprietary technology. The challenge: how to establish credibility while maintaining intellectual property.
Lablog = lab + blog is my answer:
lab shows things I’ve built and why. Not directly commercial, I aim to show insight, technical competence and speed. Often I’ll use these tools myself.
blog articles are to clarify (my) thinking rather than an attempt at thought leadership. But in line with the Transformaction strapline there will be pointers to building, improving and optimizing.
Learn Python fast
How to learning Python in anywhere between a few hours and two months.
Protection Premiership 2000-2020 - series
November 2021. We look at individual protection market and its leaders over 2000-2020. Who were the leading players? What were their market shares? And more.
- Term top 5: 2020. The term market has been relatively stable over 2017-2019, but 2020 saw some big movements from Aviva and Royal London.
- Term top 5: 2000, 2010 and 2020. Looking back 20 years. Who were the top 5 and where are they now? What will have changed in 2025?
- Critical illness top 5: 2000-2020. As above, but for critical illness.
- Term top 5: 2025. Survey results on who will be top.
More articles in this series to follow.
Tough core Excel bug for blackbelts
September 2021. An obscure Excel bug, but important for developers.
Autofilters were the predecessors to Excel tables and are still sometimes used to filter data. An Excel bug means autofilter ranges can be misstated, hindering automated spreadsheet management.
This article looks at:
- Why this bug matters
- An Excel Blackbelt challenge: identify and solve the bug
- The circumstances in which this bug appears
- A solution
- Some near misses and fails
You may want to skip from 1 to 3.
Data science and data analytics - false trails
July 2021. I recently spotted Data analytics vs data science: what better suits your needs? being shared on LinkedIn. Despite my best efforts, I’m still a sucker for these type of articles.
The original article has significant flaws. I aim to improve on it in the following areas:
- Big data
- Data analytics and data science defined
- A phoney war
- Non-phoney challenges (goes beyond the article)
- Business use of data analytics and data science (goes beyond the article)
- Analytics and data science: careers and recruitment
Reinsurance magic
April 2021. A suite of three articles:
- Why reinsurance is commercially effective.
- Financial dynamics of reinsurance structures - a little technical.
- How new-to-market companies can best present to reinsurers.
Thales of the unexpected
March 2021. Dedicated to the memory of Peter Neumann, an outstanding man and mathematician who in recent years shared his enthusiasm in schools, this is a series of posts on the infamous circle theorems of your school years. Cringe as you discover that the proof you were offered was flawed!
IR35: a whirlwind tour
Q1 2021 research. The private sector IR35 adjustments are nearly upon us. The whirlwind tour suite of articles examines the impact on hirer and contractor.
Goldilocks Pricing
Q4 2020 protection research. The Goldilocks Pricing report investigates market prices for guaranteed rate individual protection business, based on 900+ quotes from two channels.