Consultation response - Board for Actuarial Standards - Transformations

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The Actuarial Profession is governed jointly by the Faculty of Actuaries in Edinburgh and the Institute of Actuaries in London, the two professional bodies for actuaries in the United Kingdom. A rigorous examination system is supported by a programme of continuing professional development and a professional code of conduct supports high standards reflecting the significant role of the Profession in society.

Actuaries’ training is founded on mathematical and statistical techniques used in insurance, pension fund management and investment and then builds the management skills associated with the application of these techniques. The training includes the derivation and application of ‘mortality tables’ used to assess probabilities of death or survival. It also includes the financial mathematics of interest and risk associated with different investment vehicles – from simple deposits through to complex stock market derivatives.

Actuaries provide commercial, financial and prudential advice on the management of a business’s assets and liabilities, especially where long term management and planning are critical to the success of any business venture. A majority of actuaries work for insurance companies or pension funds – either as their direct employees or in firms which undertake work on a consultancy basis – but they also advise individuals, and advise on social and public interest issues. Members of the Profession have a statutory role in the supervision of pension funds and life insurance companies as well as a statutory role to provide actuarial opinions for managing agents at Lloyd’s.

The Profession also has an obligation to serve the public interest and one method by which it seeks to do so is by making informed contributions to debates on matters of public interest.