The global financial crisis has had an enormous impact on actuaries, the financial world and the wider community in 2008/2009.
For members of the profession, it has changed the environment in which we operate and highlighted the vital
importance of reinforcing public confidence in our profession.
While many of our members will face continuing challenges in recovering
from the events of the past year and adapting to the new financial landscape, the coming year will also
offer many opportunities for our profession to grow and evolve.
The economic crisis has exposed weaknesses in the existing financial sector, and in doing so, it has highlighted the need for well-trained, experienced and ethical
professionals to provide leadership for the future. This is a role that our members are well-placed to fill, and the
Profession has a central part to play in ensuring actuaries have the skills, knowledge and ethical standards to do this,
through its education and training programmes and regulatory framework.
Our members are fortunate to have access to the latest information, research and discussion in their areas of work through the
Profession's continuous professional development (CPD) programme. At a time when confidence in the financial sector is low, it
is essential that actuaries maintain their skills and knowledge at the highest level by embracing the development opportunities
available through their professional body.
“We are looking forward in the coming year to listening to, and working with, our members so that we can all embrace the opportunities available to us in our changing and evolving profession.”
Ronnie Bowie
President, Faculty of Actuaries
Nigel Masters
President, Institute of Actuaries
The wide range of CPD events offered by the Profession reflects the importance of ongoing professional development as a means of
keeping our skills fresh and relevant. It is for this reason that the Profession has been active this year in ensuring members
comply with their CPD obligations.
The Learning programme for students has been updated in several ways to ensure that students have the skills they need in the evolving
workplaces of today and tomorrow. Communication skills are becoming increasingly important to actuaries as they move into non-traditional
and leadership roles, and in order to arm them with the skills they need, the communications (CA3) exam has been overhauled to
better meet students' future needs.
New modules have also been offered online to make it easier for students to access information and training from their workplace
or more remote locations. Enterprise Risk Managament (ERM) offers new opportunities for actuaries as companies and regulators seek to tackle the financial turmoil of 2008/09. Actuaries have a
real opportunity to lead the way by nesting their skills in modelling within a robust risk management framework to ensure organisations are
better equipped to cope with uncertain economic conditions in the future.
The Profession has included ERM in its educational syllabus, organises ERM events and continues to support members who work in the ERM field. It is also seeking to cooperate with
actuarial associations in other countries to build an internationally recognised actuarial ERM qualification.
“We are looking forward in the coming year to listening to, and working with, our members so that we can all embrace the opportunities available to us in our changing and evolving profession.”
Ronnie Bowie
President, Faculty of Actuaries
Nigel Masters
President, Institute of Actuaries
The Profession has established a global financial crisis group to keep members informed of developments in the wider financial sector.
In addition, members have the opportunity to discuss all aspects of the global financial crisis, particularly in relation to the Profession, in an
online forum.
Our training and CPD provision will provide us with the tools to embrace challenges and move forward
after the economic turmoil we have seen this year. The Profession's ethical and regulatory framework will also play a vital part in maintaining
public confidence in our expertise and professionalism.
In 2008/2009, the Profession instigated a change in the resources devoted to
our professional regulation. We appointed two new lay members to our Professional Regulation Executive Committee and recruited two senior
members of staff to support it.
We have worked extensively with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and the three relevant arms of the
FRC, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board. We also signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Pension Protection Fund to streamline our cooperation.
“We are looking forward in the coming year to listening to, and working with, our members so that we can all embrace the opportunities available to us in our changing and evolving profession.”
Ronnie Bowie
President, Faculty of Actuaries
Nigel Masters
President, Institute of Actuaries
We expect 2009/10 to see significant developments in our professional
regulation which will put the Profession in the vanguard of professional ethics and quality.
As global economic conditions have made a significant
and sometimes personal impact on our members, we are also working to provide members at an individual level with the range of support that they should expect
from a world class membership organisation. Building the Profession's infrastructure so that it can rightly claim to be world-class must be a theme for the future.
As you will be aware, work is underway to provide members with the opportunity to vote on a proposed merger between the Faculty and the Institute.
We believe the merger would help the Profession become a stronger, more effective organisation, better able to anticipate the needs of our members. Through the merger, we believe the Profession would be taking important steps as it develops its role as a world-class membership organisation. Our priority is to lead the Profession towards a secure and successful future, while retaining the positive aspects of the two bodies. The members of the Profession have a crucial role in this decision, and we hope that you will all take the time to think about the future of your membership body and play your part in this evolution.
“We are looking forward in the coming year to listening to, and working with, our members so that we can all embrace the opportunities available to us in our changing and evolving profession.”
Ronnie Bowie
President, Faculty of Actuaries
Nigel Masters
President, Institute of Actuaries
We are looking forward in the coming year to listening to, and working with, our members to meet the challenges ahead so that we can all embrace the opportunities available to us in our changing and evolving profession.
Ronnie Bowie
President, Faculty of Actuaries
Nigel Masters
President, Institute of Actuaries
