We are pleased to announce the launch of our first review, under the Thematic Review Programme initiated in September 2019. The review will look at examples of actuarial advice provided during the review of transfer values and commutation rates for UK private pension schemes.

During March and April 2020 we will be accepting submissions from organisations employing Scheme Actuary Practising Certificate holders. We are seeking examples of actuarial advice relating to the setting of transfer values and commutation rates for our review of Actuarial Factors in Pension Schemes. To find out more, including how to contribute to the review, please get in touch with the Review Team by emailing reviews@actuaries.org.uk. We would love to hear from you.

As well as collecting examples of advice from across the pensions industry, the Review Team will be asking organisations to provide benchmarking information on these two types of actuarial factor.

From the information gathered, we plan to demonstrate the quality of this type of actuarial work, to identify best practices and potentially to make recommendations on changes to training, education and standards.  We will also provide specific personalised feedback to participants, in the context of the practice across the wider industry.

The IFoA’s Senior Review Actuary, David Gordon, commented:

“I am excited to launch this first Thematic Review and would like to thank in advance all the organisations and individual actuaries who are planning to take part. I am looking forward to exploring the range of advice given by actuaries in this key area of public interest”.

 

The other Thematic Review currently planned for launch during 2020 is on the role of actuarial advice in pricing of specific GI products, with further updates on this expected during Q2 2020.

The Thematic Review Programme has been introduced as part of the Actuarial Monitoring Scheme, following the 2018 consultation on proposals to introduce the monitoring of the quality of actuarial work.