Leadership and professionalism

Presidential Speaker Series: Cultural Transformation of the Profession
The final panel event of the Presidential Speaker Series - The Cultural Transformation of the Profession - will see senior actuaries involved with the profession (both pre and post-merger) discuss the evolution of the IFoA and the actuarial community. Former IFoA President and chair of the session, Jane Curtis will be joined by fellow past Presidents Ronnie Bowie, Paul Thornton and immediate Past President Tan Suee Chieh, as well as Sally Bridgeland, the first management Board Chair post-merger. They will reflect on the progress the profession has made in the last few years, the drivers for change in the years ahead and the steps actuaries will need take in order to remain relevant and influential. Drawing on their extensive experience and vast contributions to the profession over the last few decades, the panel will debate why actuaries need to adapt and move into wider areas - and how the IFoA’s VSMD strategy can support this reinvention. Panel: Jane Curtis, Paul Thornton, Tan Suee Chieh, Sally Bridgeland and Ronnie Bowie

Behavioural Science Series with Dr Anthony Hodgson: Systems Thinking & Tragedy of Consciousness
We have entered the global age which is invalidating most of the assumptions upon which our success up till now has depended. For example, in the global planetary society there can be no externalities. Although there is increasing clamour for new ways of thinking, sadly, our attempts to invent such new ways remain trapped in the same historical set of assumptions. The result is that we are faced with three tragedies. Firstly, the tragedy of the commons; secondly, the tragedy of horizons; thirdly, the tragedy of consciousness. In his talk Anthony Hodgson will concentrate on the tragedy of consciousness, as he believes it is that which seriously exacerbates the other two. He will elaborate on three aspects of this third tragedy. Firstly, the way our brilliance at managing the complicated blinds us from seeing how to manage the complex. Secondly, the way our quest for rationality has blinded us to our real presence in the world and our effect on it. Thirdly the way cultural conditioning is preventing us from releasing the creativity that he believes we have to mitigate and transcend our predicament of which the climate emergency and the pandemic are but symptoms. The anticipatory governance and global perspective that we need requires us to be present as conscious beings, to develop other ways of knowing to complement our rationality and the creation of reflexive transdisciplinary cultures in which a whole systems inclusive approach is the norm. Following his presentation, Dr Anthony Hodgson will be joined by Dr Erica Thompson, Senior Policy Fellow at the LSE Data Science Institute and Nico Aspinall, Chief Investment Officer at B&CE for a panel discussion around the themes of the session The panel will be chaired by Tan Suee Chieh.

Presidential Speaker series Interview with Patrick Poon

Europe Town Hall

IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor would like to invite you to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) virtual Europe Town Hall, hosted by John Taylor with IFoA Council Members Alan Rae, Jennifer Hartley, Maribel Vasquez Flores and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann. Given the restrictions on being able to meet our European members face to face, this Town Hall will be an opportunity for you to engage with the IFoA, hear the vision for the future of the profession, our member value proposition work, employer engagement, the IFoA in Europe, and our ongoing response to COVID-19. John, Alan, Jennifer, Maribel and Stephen would also really welcome the opportunity to hear and respond to your questions during this session which can be submitted in advance during the registration process.

Behavioural Science Series with Keith Grint - Wicked Problems, Clumsy Solutions and Leading Change

Keith Grint is Professor Emeritus at Warwick University. In this event, Professor Grint will outline how the nature of some of the problems we face within our own businesses and organisations - particuarly those around governance, culture and change - range from the complicated to the complex (wicked). He will share his insights on how these issues manifest themselves and how we can resolve them through various solutions: solutions which may themselves be ‘clumsy’. Following his talk, Keith will be joined by Nick Spencer and Angela Darlington for a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Finance in the Public Interest with John Kay, Sir Paul Collier, Andy Haldane and Louise Pryor

Finance in the Public Interest - Actuaries in the Public Interest

Panel discussion with - Ashok Gupta, Lucy Saye, Nico Aspinall and Nick Silver

Finance in the Public Interest with Sir Paul Collier

Sir Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. From 1998–2003 he took a five-year Public Service leave during which he was Director of the Research Development Department of the World Bank. He is currently a Professeur invité at Sciences Po and a Director of the International Growth Centre. He has written for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural resources rich societies; urbanisation in low-income countries; private investment in African infrastructure and changing organisational cultures. Paul has authored numerous books, including The Bottom Billion (Oxford University Press, 2007) which in 2008 won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes and in May 2009 was the joint winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book prize; Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places (Vintage Books, 2009); The Plundered Planet: How to reconcile prosperity with nature (Oxford University Press, 2010); Exodus: How migration is changing our world (Oxford University Press, 2013); and The Future of Capitalism: Facing The New Anxieties (Penguin Books, 2018). His latest book, co-authored with John Kay, is Greed is Dead: Politics After Individualism (Penguin Books, 2020). In 2014, Paul received a knighthood for services to promoting research and policy change in Africa.

Finance in the Public interest with John Kay

John Kay is one of Britain’s leading economists. His interests focus on the relationships between economics and business. His career has spanned academic work and think tanks, business schools, company directorships, consultancies and investment companies. For twenty years, he wrote a regular column for the Financial Times. His witty and authoritative style has won a wide following for his books and articles which have been recognised by numerous awards and prizes. Forty years after he co-authored The British Tax System with Mervyn King – a book which went through five editions – the two authors have come together again with a very different subject. Radical Uncertainty will be published by the New Bridge Street Press in March 2020.

The Patrick Poon Presidential Speaker Series - Sarah Gordon, CEO, Impact Investing Institute

In this talk, Sarah Gordon (Chief Executive Officer of the Impact Investing Institute and former business editor of the Financial Times) will make the case for why pension funds should be looking to invest sustainably and with impact. Referring to the Institute’s work on pension trustee fiduciary duty, she will ‘bust’ some of the myths that perpetuate around impact investing for pension funds, and talk about how considering impact can be a way of managing risks and identifying opportunities. 

Presidential Address 2020: Tan Suee Chieh

Presidential Address 2019: John Taylor

Presidential Update January 2021: Tan Suee Chieh

Presidential Address 2020: Tan Suee Chieh

Presidential Address 2019: John Taylor

IFoA AGM 2020

Two UK Town Halls were hosted by Tan Suee Chieh, with IFoA’s Immediate Past President, John Taylor, President Elect, Louise Pryor and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann.

UK Town Hall (08:30-09:30)
UK Town Hall (10.00-11.00)

India Town Hall

Hosted by IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor with IFoA Council Member Mahidhara Davangere and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann.

MENAP Town Hall - hosted by IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor with IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann.

Sub-Saharan Town Hall - hosted by IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor with IFoA Council Members Mukami Njeru, Prosper Matiashe and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann

This webinar discusses the general implications of GDPR for actuaries, both those operating in the UK and internationally.

Webinar: Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure by Russell Picot, Specialist Advisor

Climate change is possibly the largest challenge facing humanity and actuaries can play an essential role in creating the systematic change needed to keep within a 2-degree scenario. Nico Aspinall, Chair of the IFoA’s resource and Environment Board is joined by Russell Picot, Specialist Advisor to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure to give IFoA members an overview of the Task Force’s work and how tackling the major public policy challenge posed by climate-related risk is relevant to our profession.

The Carrot, the Stick and Strategies for Success: Harnessing the Power of Diversity and Inclusion
Monday 13 February 2017

Following the success of The Elephant in the Room last year, the Diversity Advisory Group (DAG) is delighted to announce its latest event – a panel debate which discusses tried and tested strategies to harness the benefits of a diverse workforce.
Our panel consists of individuals at the forefront in this area and includes Lord Michael Hastings CBE, KPMG International’s Head of Citizenship; Suki Sandhu, Founder and CEO of OUTstanding and Audeliss, and Co-Founder of UPstanding; and Angela Darlington, Group Chief Risk Officer, Aviva. Our experts will share advice, strategies for success and tackle the trickiest questions the audience care to throw at them.

EU Referendum, lower migration is detrimental for the State Pension system – but can be mitigated

How could ‘Brexit’ or ‘Bremain’ impact people’s pensions, investments and insurance?

Asia Conference 2015

A discussion session providing a rare chance to share experiences and consider how to tackle issues. Subjects ranged from ways to permeate old boys’ networks, how diversity is about more than gender, and why women still struggle to progress to the top and leave the profession far earlier than men.

Enjoy presenting
Part 1 (length 00:08:59)
Part 2 (length 00:08:47)

Enjoy networking
Part 1 (length 00:06:50)
Part 2 (length 00:07:11)