CERA: The globally recognised risk management qualification - the UK reaches 400

The CERA Global Association (CGA) is pleased to announce that Melanie Baylie has become the 400th person to earn the prestigious CERA (Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary) credential.

Melanie is a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and an Associate Consultant in the Retirement and Investment Business at Aon, Manchester.

Frank Sabatini, Chairman of the CERA Global Association, is delighted to congratulate Melanie on this significant achievement and recognise this important step forward for global risk management. “There is a global demand for skilled enterprise risk management professionals. CERA is one of the most comprehensive and rigorous enterprise risk management qualifications available.”

Melanie said: “I am very excited to be CERA qualified, especially as I’m the 400th UK actuary to hold the qualification. I believe that this qualification will continue to grow in the UK, and internationally, and I’m proud to be part of this group of enterprise risk management professionals.

I completed the MSc in Actuarial Finance at Imperial College London where I attended Malcolm Kemp's lectures on Enterprise Risk Management, as well as guest lectures which discussed ERM in a diverse range of real life practical situations e.g. pensions, investment consulting, asset management, insurance, Government Actuary's Department etc. These lectures gave me a good understanding of the technical aspects of ERM, but most interestingly how badly things can go wrong for businesses that don’t have a sufficiently robust ERM framework in place. These lectures also made it apparent how important risk management is to a broad range of actuarial roles. It became clear that clients would expect risk to form part of any key discussions, and this is an area that I have seen develop during my time at Aon. In particular, I have seen a renewed focus by pension trustees on implementing effective de-risking investment strategies, and increased interest from sponsors on how to achieve greater certainty on the level of future contributions, for example by running liability management exercises.

The CERA qualification demonstrates to clients that I am committed to helping them manage their risk, and that I have the appropriate expertise to do this. I’m certain that my career will benefit from holding the CERA qualification.”

For more information about becoming a CERA or how employing a CERA can benefit your business, visit the website www.ceraglobal.org

ENDS

About the CERA credential and The CERA Global Association

The CERA Global Association grants actuarial organisations the right to award the global CERA credential to individual actuaries who have satisfied the requisite education and training requirements. Organisations are first subject to a rigorous review of their proposed CERA program, ensuring it meets the Association’s demanding standards. Currently organisations in Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the US are authorised to award the CERA credential.

The CERA was initially established in the United States by the Society of Actuaries in 2009. In 2009, 14 national associations from 12 countries joined to create the global CERA credential that addresses the growing need for highly qualified risk professionals, especially in the finance sector.