Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
The Profession remains strongly committed to providing members with a broad range of opportunities to obtain
verifiable CPD throughout the year. During 2008/09, the number of CPD events increased to 78, from 44 the
previous year, and 7,620 delegate registrations were received.
Sessional Meetings
The Profession is committed to reinvigorating sessional meetings by fostering
more debate and audience participation. Contributions are actively encouraged
from a wide cross-section of the membership, including younger members.
One initiative, the Sloan Prize, has been introduced to recognise the best spoken
contribution at a sessional meeting in Scotland by a student or an actuary who
has been qualified for less than 15 years.
In future, each practice area will sponsor a minimum of one formal, peer-reviewed
sessional meeting paper each year to ensure that high-quality, rigorous research
and thought leadership remains one of the hallmarks of the profession in the
21st century.
Networking events and open fora
Networking events and open fora provide high quality CPD opportunities in a less formal environment; topics frequently cover the 'hot'
issues of the day.
More than 343 hours of CPD seminars, professionalism events, open fora and networking evenings were available in 2008/09.
Last year more than 15 open fora and networking events were held, with each practice area sponsoring at least one
open forum event. Attendance numbers, which ranged from 80 to 170, prove that this initiative has found favour with a wide spectrum of
members. Subjects covered have included practice-specific topics (bulk buy-outs, underwriting in a soft market) and multi-disciplinary
ones (behavioural aspects of risk and finance, an introduction to Solvency II). One of the most topical, and most popular, was the
credit crunch and its practical implications for actuaries.
Virtual CPD provisioon and podcasting
The Profession recognises that it is not always possible for members to attend every
event in person and is committed to making CPD available via the website. While podcasts of sessional meetings have long been available
for on-demand download, this year has seen this service extended to other free CPD events. Members can now receive this information at their
convenience, at a time and location of their choosing. In September 2008, the Profession launched a new era in CPD provision with its first webinar. Over 560 delegates took part at 144 registered
sites for this innovative seminar on the implications of the then-imminent changes to cash equivalent transfer value legislation.
Each participant received high-quality, verifiable CPD from the comfort and convenience of their home or office.
Over 560 delegates, at 144 registered sites, took part in our first webinar.
Innovative and joint events
The Profession also works with relevant external organisations to offer a varied programme of CPD for members,
providing actuaries with exposure to non-actuarial expertise and viewpoints on issues with both actuarial and non-actuarial components.The highlight of last year's joint work with the International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK) was the Ageing Population Conference 2008:
Choosing population projectection for public policy. Collaboration with ILC-UK is ongoing and the forthcoming year will see a further series of
joint events, including a debate on pensions reform and personal accounts.
Longevity issues are of interest and relevance to
those who work outside actuarial practice.
In September, the Profession and the Royal Society of Medicine collaborated to produce a joint event exploring the medical factors shaping longevity. The conference provided doctors and actuaries with a better understanding of the current thinking, issues and practice in each profession and explored how the actuarial and medical professions could work together in future to address the increasing challenges of longevity. The Profession also works with the CFA Society of the UK and with INQUIRE UK (the Institute for Quantitative Investment Research) to provide relevant seminars on topics of interest to members of all three bodies.
