Our mission of ‘actuaries supporting others’ is made up of of 3 elements. From rewarding excellence to supporting our community and addressing future challenges, the IFoA Foundation is helping the profession to make an even greater positive impact.
From the establishment of the early charitable trusts of the Institute of Actuaries and the Faculty of Actuaries, we have had a long history of funding prizes for excellence in research.
We award the Geoffrey Heywood Prize for the best research paper demonstrating excellent levels of communication. In 2021, it went to Luca Bongiorno, Andrew Claringbold, Lisa Eichler Claire Jones, Bert Kramer, Louise Pryor, and Nick Spencer for their paper: Climate scenario analysis: An illustration of potential long-term economic & financial market impacts. The paper is available on the Geoffrey Heywood Prize page.
Today, the IFoA Foundation also awards prizes, scholarships, and grants to the most promising student actuaries in our regional communities across the globe.
We are committed to supporting young student actuaries in the UK and around the world every year with hardship grants. These are students who are experiencing financial difficulty. The grants enable them to continue pursuing their studies, thereby promoting social mobility and increasing access to the profession for disadvantaged groups.
For many years, the IFoA’s Scottish Board has supported the school mathematics competition Enterprising Maths in Scotland. Today the IFoA Foundation continues this tradition. As well as encouraging a love of mathematics in schools, we hope these exciting events will encourage the talented participants to one day consider a career in the actuarial profession.
The IFoA funds a range of education and research prizes. Winners often request that their prize money be donated to a charitable cause close to their hearts. These have ranged from large international charities, such as Unicef, to smaller local charities, such as Leicester Hospitals Charity, and international recipients such as a charity supporting flying doctors in Africa.
We are delighted to be supporting the Actuarial Academy of East Africa (AAEA) to address the huge shortage of working actuaries in this region. There are currently less than 70, compared to the estimated 700 required.
Over the next 3 years we will be supporting the AAEA as it implements an innovative e-learning tool that will transform the learning experience for actuarial students in this region.
By the end of the third year, 1,500 students will be enrolled across 7 countries. This sustainable and replicable operating model will open up access to advice, guidance, and support through mentoring, skills development, and university accreditation. This will create opportunity where it did not previously exist, helping to unlock the potential of the profession to address key challenges in the communities and economies of East Africa, and to support financial sector growth.
Our ability to support these excellent causes is dependent on our success in raising funds from our members and other sources. Donating to the IFoA Foundation is a fantastic way to help the profession support others. Take a look at the quick and easy ways you can donate below.
By giving a regular donation you will enable us to plan for the future, with a more sustainable income model that supports our long-term objectives. Thank you for your generous and ongoing commitment.
You can make a one-off donation on our Just Giving page. Every penny furthers our mission of ‘actuaries supporting others’. Thank you for any amount you are able to give.
For larger donations or to discuss strategic philanthropic giving, please contact the General Manager at gmfoundation@actuaries.org.uk.
We form partnerships with organisations that can help us further our charitable aims, and where there is synergy with CSR and ESG agendas.
We create tailored engagement programmes that offer the flexibility to integrate across organisations and deliver against strategic partnership goals. These include joint project funding, volunteering and skills sharing, communications and awareness campaigns, and invitations to IFoA events.
To find out more about how your organisation could get involved, please contact the General Manager at gmfoundation@actuaries.org.uk.
To view a list of our partners and hear from the people we work with, see: IFoA Foundation partners and supporters