Vivian (Jingcheng) Yu

Ph.D. Researcher | Submodular Risk Measures & Financial Stability

Profile

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo, specializing in the intersection of financial stability, risk management, and theoretical mathematics. My research focuses on quantitative risk management and stochastic optimization, developing robust frameworks that bridge abstract mathematical theory with data-driven market applications.

With a Master of Financial Engineering from UCLA and professional experience at Ernst & Young and the California Department of Insurance, I combine rigorous academic discipline with industry-grade problem solving.

Education

University of Waterloo

Ph.D. in Actuarial Science | 2024 - Present

UCLA

Master of Financial Engineering | 2022

GPA 3.82/4.0

University of Manitoba

B.S. Actuarial Math | 2019

First Class Honor

Credentials

★ FSA (Fellow of Society of Actuaries)
★ CERA (Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst)
★ CFA Level II Candidate

Technical Skills

Python R (Tidyverse) SQL TensorFlow Stochastic Calculus

Professional Experience

Ernst & Young (EY)

ACTUARIAL CONSULTANT | NEW YORK | 2023

Applied algorithmic optimization techniques (Simulated Annealing, Genetic Algorithms) to optimize portfolios with liabilities, successfully reducing financing costs by 50%.

California Department of Insurance

ACTUARIAL STUDENT ASSISTANT | LOS ANGELES | 2022

Conducted in-depth research on ISO filings and redeveloped the Class Plan Application using VBA, achieving a 30% reduction in processing time.

Research Projects

Submodular Risk Measures

Working Paper

Developed a theoretical framework to study submodularity for cash-invariant and convex law-invariant risk measures. Clarified structural links to Choquet-type representations.

Portfolio Design

UCLA Capstone

Engineered a portfolio analysis framework using Classification and Decision Tree (CART) models across 14 asset classes. Identified critical shifts in feature importance.