Our Thematic Review Programme (TRP) is based on collaboration between the IFoA, our members, and the organisations for which they work.
We have a devoted Actuarial Review Team in place to undertake reviews on topics identified as having the potential to provide useful insight into the work of our members. The Team's work will be supplemented by specialist actuarial advice that will be obtained from time to time, for example to assist with reviews on specialist topics.
The TRP will involve review of how work is being carried out in practice by actuaries, including review of the work itself, which will allow the IFoA to share useful learning and good practice with members and their employers. The IFoA hopes that the benefits to organisations will include enhanced information about the quality of the actuarial work upon which they rely to make significant decisions.
Current and planned reviews
You can find up to date information on the current and planned Thematic Reviews page.
Form of reviews
The form of reviews will depend on the particular theme and will involve a mixture of smaller targeted and larger scale reviews. It is expected that, for many of the reviews, the format will involve a site visit and interview with a member of the Actuarial Review Team and/or a review of particular work. There may also be scope for reviews to be carried out by providing documents to the IFoA for a desk based review and/or for them to be done by video or telephone conference.
Outputs from reviews
The outputs of the reviews will be used by the IFoA to ensure its standards, guidance, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) events, and qualifications are as effective and relevant as possible, helping it to safeguard the reputation of the profession and serve the wider public interest.
Published Thematic Review Reports
Read our first Thematic Review Report – Pensions: actuarial factors used to calculate benefits in UK pension schemes.
Webinars
Recordings of our webinars are available for members on the IFoA's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
Identifying themes
The thematic reviews will potentially apply to any area of actuarial work and themes will be identified using a range of sources, including:
- ongoing risk analysis undertaken by the IFoA’s Regulation Board;
- the Risk Perspective document published (and renewed from time to time) by the Joint Forum on Actuarial Regulation;
- the risk analysis work carried out by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in determining the scope of the specific Technical Actuarial Standards (TASs);
- insights shared with the IFoA by regulators with an interest in actuarial matters including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FRC, Prudentuial Regulation Authority (PRA), and the Pensions Regulator (TPR); as well as
- the IFoA’s other regulatory activities (including its disciplinary process).
It is anticipated that thematic reviews will not be restricted only to UK work but might have a wider geographic scope.
Contact Details
For more information please contact the Actuarial Review Team
Level 2, Exchange Crescent · 7 Conference Square · Edinburgh · EH3 8RA
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Events calendar
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Behavioural Science Series with Keith Grint - Wicked Problems, Clumsy Solutions and Leading Change
19 April 2021
Wicked Problems, Clumsy Solutions and Leading Change -
Dr Catherine Donnelly will present the basics of the structures for pooling longevity risks and summarise recent research results in this area in addition to outlinging future research around this topic. This is work under a research programme funded by the IFoA's Actuarial Research Centre, called 'Minimizing longevity and investment risk while optimising future pension plans'. -
Professional Skills Training Webinar - 21 April 2021
21 April 2021
Climate-Related Risk - This free to view webinar on Climate-Related Risk is the first in a series focusing on some of the ‘Hotspots’ identified in the JFAR Risk Perspective bringing the Risk Perspective to life with practical illustrations and insights from subject experts from the IFoA and other Regulators -
Recent decades have seen institutions, such as employers and financial services, give people more choice and flexibility, but these freedoms have come with more responsibilities. Individuals are now responsible for managing more of their own financial risks, from ensuring they put enough money into their pension to securing affordable protection to be financially resilient.
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Actuarial Innovation in the COVID-19 era
This event is online.26 April 2021 - 7 May 2021
Join us for this brand new IFoA webinar weries comprising of a fortnight of webinars, panel sessions and a hackathon, that showcase the range of ways in which the actuarial profession has added value, in the public interest, to the understanding and management of the current and future pandemics through insight and learning. -
This event is now temporarily closed on Monday 26 April, but the session will be repeated on Tuesday 27 April, 09.00-10.30. Please click here to register your place.
Actuaries have a lot to offer biodiversity management over the next decade as the world develops more depth to its response to this global challenge. This sessional offers an opportunity to learn about this emergent risk, to contribute to our thinking as a profession and help us develop the next steps forward.
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Western Europe Town Hall
28 April 2021
IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor would like to invite you to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) virtual Western Europe Town Hall, hosted by John Taylor with IFoA Council Members Alan Rae, Jennifer Hartley, Maribel Vasquez Flores and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann.
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Mis-estimation risk is a key element of demographic risk, and past work has focused on mis-estimation risk on a run-off basis. However, this does not meet the requirements of regulatory regimes like Solvency II, which demands that capital requirements are set through the prism of a finite horizon like one year. This paper presents a value-at-risk approach to mis-estimation risk suitable for Solvency II work -
Finance & Investment Virtual Conference 2021
Available to watch globally in May.10-12 May 2021
This year's Finance and Investment Virtual Conference takes on the timely theme of ‘resilience’, something we have all learnt a lot more about in the last year! Our diverse range of talks will explore the theme of resilience in a variety of ways including in building robust investment portfolios, in the incorporation of ESG factors, in govern -
Central and Eastern Europe Town Hall
14 May 2021IFoA Immediate Past President John Taylor would like to invite you to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) virtual Central and Eastern Europe Town Hall, hosted by John Taylor and IFoA Chief Executive, Stephen Mann.
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Wearables in insurance: a win-win opportunity
14 May 2021
This talk will explore the potential benefits that wearable tech can bring to health & protection insurers and their customers. The traditional approach of integrating wearables into insurance has largely focused on measuring steps and using rewards-based incentive programs to encourage more activity. -
Join us for this talk with Professor Sir Adrian Smith as part of the 'Dr Patrick Poon Presidential Speaker Series'. Professor Smith joined The Alan Turing Institute as Institute Director and Chief Executive in September 2018. In November 2020, he became President of the Royal Society, in addition to his leadership of the Turing. He is also a member of the government's AI Council, which helps boost AI growth in the UK and promote its adoption and ethical use in businesses and organisations across the country. He received a knighthood in the 2011 New Year Honours list. -
CILA 2021
Available to watch globally in May.19-21 May 2021
We continue to live in a world of global uncertainty. Survival depends on our ability to simultaneously navigate through the diverse root-causes, ranging from: the consequences of Climate Change; on-going financial consequences of the COVID pandemic; or self-imposed changes in regulatory requirements and accounting standards.
Wicked Problems, Clumsy Solutions and Leading Change
Dr Catherine Donnelly will present the basics of the structures for pooling longevity risks and summarise recent research results in this area in addition to outlinging future research around this topic. This is work under a research programme funded by the IFoA's Actuarial Research Centre, called '
Climate-Related Risk - This free to view webinar on Climate-Related Risk is the first in a series focusing on some of the ‘Hotspots’ identified in the 
Join us for this brand new IFoA webinar weries comprising of a fortnight of webinars, panel sessions and a 
Mis-estimation risk is a key element of demographic risk, and past work has focused on mis-estimation risk on a run-off basis. However, this does not meet the requirements of regulatory regimes like Solvency II, which demands that capital requirements are set through the prism of a finite horizon like one year. This paper presents a value-at-risk approach to mis-estimation risk suitable for Solvency II work
This talk will explore the potential benefits that wearable tech can bring to health & protection insurers and their customers. The traditional approach of integrating wearables into insurance has largely focused on measuring steps and using rewards-based incentive programs to encourage more activity.
Join us for this talk with Professor Sir Adrian Smith as part of the 'Dr Patrick Poon Presidential Speaker Series'. Professor Smith joined The Alan Turing Institute as Institute Director and Chief Executive in September 2018. In November 2020, he became President of the Royal Society, in addition to his leadership of the Turing. He is also a member of the government's AI Council, which helps boost AI growth in the UK and promote its adoption and ethical use in businesses and organisations across the country. He received a knighthood in the 2011 New Year Honours list.