Before joining CalPERS, Fritzie Archuleta was an actuary at a small consulting firm that managed church pensions. She taught herself to program using Excel, and when she and her then-husband — plus a new baby — couldn’t find an affordable home in the Bay Area, Archuleta returned to her hometown and landed an entry-level actuarial job at CalPERS.
“When it comes to top career choices, actuary is up there,” said Archuleta, whose uncle guided her to become one due to the high pay and relative low stress. “But that’s not to say it’s without its stresses. I love CalPERS and want it to succeed, and my pension depends on it. When anything jeopardizes that, I’m going to try to fix it.”
An actuary is a risk professional that considers a system’s risks and prescribes ways to mitigate such risk. Most actuaries at CalPERS are pension actuaries who review the pension plans each year and determine how much money should be deposited to the account to pay the pension benefits when they come due. We also have long-term care actuaries and health actuaries.
She began as an actuarial assistant trainee in 2001 and was paired with a “buddy” through the CalPERS Actuarial Office’s in-house mentoring program.
That buddy taught Archuleta how to explain complex subjects in understandable, digestible ways, which would come in handy later. “My buddy Rick Santos was a master at that, and I wanted to be one of those actuaries that people could understand, that they would find helpful,” she said.
In 2017, Archuleta became one of two deputy chief actuaries at the top of the office’s organizational chart. In that role she oversees the technology side of the Actuarial Office, making sure she is giving her direct reports the tools they need to be successful. Her favorite part of the job is meeting with stakeholders and answering questions and concerns about the complexities of their pension plans.
“Being able to explain what we do, which includes projecting future possibilities based on many factors, really makes a difference,” Archuleta said. “Through our conversations, employers and stakeholders are better equipped to make informed decisions that impact their agencies and lives.”
Prior to her current role, Archuleta was a supervisor in the technology services unit and helped develop the custom valuation software for the Actuarial Office. And before that, she served as a senior pension actuary preparing valuations (the process of figuring out how much it will cost our public agency employers to fund their employees’ retirement benefits). In total, she’s held nearly every position in the office, except for supervising actuarial assistant.
She credits her career path to her appetite for learning. “My first actuary supervisor once told me, ‘I think you volunteer for too many things at work,’ but I always wanted to learn.”
That quality led to Archuleta leading one of the biggest projects in the Actuarial Office in recent years — an overhaul of its software system, which was built in the mid-90s — in collaboration with CalPERS’ Information Technology Services Branch.
It was during that project overhaul that she promoted to deputy chief actuary for special programs, though management isn’t something she had in mind.
“When the position became vacant, no one wanted to apply for it, so we took turns and I liked it, so I applied,” said Archuleta, who believes in the power of mindset and intention.
“It’s not the job that makes you happy, it’s the mindset, and you can do anything by intentionally focusing your attention,” she said. “Whether you’re a trainee or a division chief, you don’t just inherit a job — you have the ability to make it your own.”
And being in a role that directly impacts CalPERS employers, stakeholders, and members provides a deeper sense of purpose.
“I love what I do and feel it makes a difference in the world. That’s the most rewarding part about this job.”
We are always hiring for various positions, which all support CalPERS’ mission to deliver retirement and health care benefits to members and their beneficiaries. Visit our job openings page for more information.