News IFoA NEWS UPDATES FROM THE ACTUARIAL PROFESSION
Upfront Opinion CEO’s comment Derek Cribb looks at the achievements of the Research and Thought Leadership Committee
Spotlight on research Derek Cribb is the chief executive of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
At this time of year, we are once again celebrating our two largest conferences. Life Conference will enjoy its 30th anniversary, with over 1,000 attendees, and GIRO this year is putting “Research” firmly back at the centre of the agenda. As ever, these conferences give us the opportunity to showcase the great research done by our members through our working parties. While ours are business qualifications, we have always said that research is the lifeblood of the profession, allowing our members to ever improve their unique position as business-focused professionals. With the Research and Thought Leadership Committee (RTLC), under the chairmanship of Professor Mark Cross, celebrating its first birthday and its first ‘call for research’, there is much to look forward to. The RTLC has rejuvenated our approach to commissioned research, and I am delighted to report that our call for research has generated significant interest from around the world. As I write, we have received 25 proposals from 103 institutions, covering 21 countries. This is the beginning of a diverse, multidisciplinary and international research programme that will allow for learning and research both within and outside traditional actuarial practice areas, supporting our charter objective to promote actuarial science and opening new opportunities for our members. Research commissioned through RTLC will complement and enhance member research undertaken by our working parties, which will continue to play a vital role in our research agenda. These certainly are exciting times for RTLC and the wider profession. With our first call for research under our belt, I am looking forward to seeing proposals commissioned and the outputs disseminated as widely as possible. This will not only help promote the value that actuaries add to society but will also play a crucial role in furthering the development of actuarial science for the benefit of the whole profession. If you or anyone you know are interested in feeding into our research programme, please contact Sarah Mathieson, head of research and knowledge, at sarah.mathieson@actuaries.org.uk Or if you’d like to get involved in one of the IFoA’s working parties, visit the volunteer vacancies areas of our website (bit.ly/1oaKuJZ) or contact Debbie Atkins at debbie.atkins@actuaries.org.uk
DEREK CRIBB
10
Bulk annuities and longevity swaps MIG: register your interest This proposed member interest group (MIG) will appeal to actuaries interested in the fastgrowing area of de-risking pensions plans through bulk annuities or longevity swaps. This would include actuaries at consultancies, insurers, reinsurers, banks or asset managers. This topic now touches most UK pension schemes and is a growing area of specialism. Related areas might also be touched upon by the group to the extent that they affect, say, a bulk annuity transaction exercise. However, these areas will not be a primary focus. Examples include trivial commutation and transfer value exercises, asset strategies/ transition, benefit changes etc. Key objectives would be: ● education/continuing professional development; ● sharing case studies/best practices; ● communicating new and developing ideas in the market; and ● networking. To get involved, email migs@actuaries.org.uk
Group-think and herd-like mentality The IFoA Regulation Board is working with other UK regulators (the Financial Reporting Council, Prudential Regulation Authority, Pensions Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority) to conduct a series of thematic reviews following a recent consultation exercise to identify a collection of risks that affect the actuarial profession; the Risk Perspective (bit.ly/1NBFmkJ) and output of the Risk Perspective (bit.ly/1ZuXYqp). A number of risks were identified during that exercise, and one raised frequently was ‘group think’. We are looking at this risk in more detail and would be interested in your views. For the purpose of the review, we define the risk as the tendency for one’s judgment to be influenced by the apparent consensus view of assumptions, methods, processes or approaches. If you are interested, please email suzie. lyons@actuaries.org.uk by 20 November
THE ACTUARY • November 2015 www.theactuary.com
p10-13_Nov_IFoA_news_2•CT.indd 10
26/10/2015 09:40