IFoA opens Quality Assurance Scheme globally

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is excited to announce that its prestigious Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) is open for applications worldwide. The global accreditation scheme is designed to provide a level of assurance around an organisation’s commitment to high quality actuarial work. It is open to any organisation employing one or more actuaries.

QAS was first launched in the UK in September 2015 and there are now around 25 percent of UK-based actuaries working for a QAS accredited organisation. In order to test how the QAS worked outside of the UK market, the IFoA ran a successful pilot in 2017 in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

Marjorie Ngwenya, IFoA President, said:

“This is a big milestone for the QAS as its reach and recognition continue to go from strength to strength. The hard work and commitment of those organisations which have gained the QAS accreditation, both in the UK and in Asia, has enabled us to shape and refine our offering. We have ensured we can provide a rigorous and robust scheme that works for a global market.

There has been significant interest in QAS and take-up has been strong. Organisations really value the opportunity to demonstrate that they maintain and apply high quality policies and procedures to their actuarial work.”

The IFoA will be awarding the QAS to the first successful non-UK organisations from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore at the IFoA Asia Conference in Bangkok on May 11 2018.

Garth Jones, Group Chief Financial Officer, AIA Group, said:

“QAS accreditation fits very well with our company operating strategies and people development initiatives.  It provides a valuable external validation that we are living our operating philosophy to ‘Do the right thing in the right way’ and distinguishes us among our peers”.

Geoffrey Kuhn, Senior Vice President: Aon Center for Innovation and Analytics, said:

“Receiving the Quality Assurance Scheme accreditation from the IFoA is a testament to the rigorous standards we at Aon set ourselves. As the tools we use, the processes we employ and the challenges our clients face grow ever more complex, our commitment and focus must always be on our clients and the quality of our actuarial services, and we’re proud this accreditation recognises that”.

Hassan Scott Odierno, Partner, Actuarial Partners, said:

“As a smaller consulting firm in a developing country we lack the name recognition of the larger players. Having an independent party review our practices and processes has allowed us to provide confidence to our clients and has also given us actionable suggestions for improvement.  We have actuaries qualified under IFoA as well as SOA and CAS and have found the process and suggestions equally useful for all of us.  This accreditation will allow us to continue our efforts to extend into new markets with confidence that our practices and processes are of a global standard.”

-ENDS-

Contact:
Sonia Sequeira, Media Relations Manager
Tel: 07525 592 198
Email: sonia.sequeira@actuaries.org.uk

Notes to Editors

About the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is a royal chartered, not-for-profit, professional body.

Research undertaken by the IFoA is not commercial.  As a learned society, research helps us to fulfil our royal charter requirements to further actuarial science and serve the public interest. 

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. They also advise individuals, and advise on social and public interest issues.

Members of the IFoA have a statutory role in the supervision of UK pension funds and life insurance companies. They also have a statutory role to provide actuarial opinions for managing agents at Lloyd’s of London.

Members are governed by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. 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 actuaries in society.

The IFoA is available to provide independent expert comment to the media on a range of actuarial- related issues, including enterprise risk management, finance and investment, general insurance, health and care, life assurance, mortality, and pensions.