A day in the life of a unit-linked actuary (Stirling)

Speakers:  Robert Whitehouse and Craig Smith

Robert and Craig are actuaries working within oversight functions supporting unit linked fund propositions.  These investment propositions are a key area for their respective companies.  Robert works as Unit Linked Actuary for Royal London and Craig is Unit Linked Actuary for Standard Life. 

As part of their day jobs, they also sit on various industry working groups. For example they currently sit on a unit linked Investment Association/ABI working group and were both active in the expansion of the ABI Guide to Good Practice for Unit Linked Funds (a document providing minimum standard guidance to the unit linked industry).   Craig also led a working group for the profession looking into unit linked funds. Both have given presentations at various actuarial conferences.

About the event:

Robert and Craig share a strong view that unit linked funds can be misunderstood from a risk perspective, and there are many complexities which require consideration in the day to day operation and management of  a unit-linked business. It is noticeable that this part of our industry has seen an increase in regulatory queries, whether that be UK thematic reviews, specific Company questions or EIOPA queries.

The aim of the talk is to share some thoughts on why this might be happening by outlining some of the current key considerations for a unit-linked actuary. Topics discussed, at a high level, during this session will cover:

• Fund structures and operational complexity
• Regulatory challenge and current focus areas
• A liquidity challenge – Property Funds post the EU Referendum
• Tax in pension funds
• PRA Rulebook and the “Prudent Person Principle”
• Close Matching under Solvency II and Unit shorting