12 September 2012
On Tuesday evening, we were delighted to welcome over 50 business leaders, academics and MSPs to a reception at the Scottish Parliament to celebrate the new Actuarial Research Centre (ARC).
Our host MSP, Mark McDonald, welcomed the audience and outlined some of the areas where the Profession has already been interacting with politicians at the Scottish Parliament and said that they would welcome any input from the Profession, which aligns to our public affairs objective.
Minister for Local Government, Derek Mackay MSP, emphasised the importance of actuaries in industry today (not least for the security of his own pension).
President elect, David Hare (in the right of the picture), thanked the main engineers of the ARC, the Scottish Board, and suggested that it was fitting that this centre is set up in a month that marks 250 years since the birth of actuarial work in life offices (at Equitable Life). The first Director of the ARC, Professor Andrew Cairns (in the left of the picture), then outlined his vision for the centre - one of collaboration with business, developing the academic disciplines and developing researchers that will be an asset to industry.
Mention was also given to Hymans Robertson and Partnership, who have agreed to fund a large proportion of the first two PhD students. Overall, this felt like a fitting start for such an exciting project.
If your organisation might be interested in sponsoring future PhD students or other smaller projects, please contact Professor Andrew Cairns at A.J.G.Cairns@hw.ac.uk to find out more.