Getting our voice heard
Promoting actuarial science and the value it brings to society is immensely important to our membership. Throughout 2021 we continued working with our members to influence government policy, build and maintain a strong reputation with our stakeholders, and ensure that the voice of actuaries was heard at the highest level.
Thought Leadership programme
Our Thought Leadership programme seeks to reposition the IFoA at the centre of societal debates, bringing together thought leaders within the profession with policy-makers, academics and thinkers to debate the key issues of our time.
The programme is structured into five strands, each linking to our Visions, Skills, Mindsets and Domains (VSMD) strategy.
Tan Suee Chieh, President of the IFoA 2020/21
‘‘The thought leadership series has been exceptional. It will help take the IFoA beyond its traditional boundaries.”
Thought Leadership attendee
Throughout 2021 our Thought Leadership series went from strength to strength as we continued to attract an impressive range of speakers – from economists and parliamentarians to academics and regulators –
who spoke on topics ranging from finance in the public interest to behavioural science. We were honoured to welcome influential figures, including Sir David Spiegelhalter, Andy Haldane and Sir Steve Webb.
In 2021 our Thought Leadership programme delivered:
52 individual live events
150+ speakers including academics, economists, politicians, regulators, commentators and business leaders, plus thought leaders from within the profession
Over 9,500 attendees across the whole programme
Average live event audience: 182
Attendees from over 90 countries
Actuarial innovation in the Covid-19 era
During the pandemic the actuarial profession stepped up like never before, offering its unique technical skills to analyse data, provide evidence-based information and contribute to public understanding of the pandemic.
Between April and May 2021, we ran 'Actuarial innovation in the Covid-19 era', a two-week event that comprised a series of webinars, panel discussions and a hackathon. The event drew on the broad range of activity undertaken by our members – including the IFoA Covid-19 Action Taskforce, the COVID-19 Actuaries
Response Group and the Continuous Mortality Investigation – and showcased the range of ways in which the actuarial profession had added insight and learning to the understanding and management of the pandemic.
The event also hosted our first hackathon, in which teams were asked to perform their own critical evaluation of the R number. The winning team came from Nepal and we were delighted to showcase their work in the September 2021 issue of The Actuary magazine.
UK parliamentary appearances
As future thinkers and experts in financial risk, our members are a trusted voice and are often called on to speak or give evidence in areas where they can offer expertise and insight. We work closely with our members to prepare for these occasions, helping them to inform the debate and speak out on matters of public interest where actuarial science can have an input.
In October 2021 we supported IFoA Fellow Simon Eagle when he attended the Work and Pensions Select Committee as an expert witness on collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes.
In February 2022 Council member Nick Spencer provided evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee to assist with their inquiry on 'Aligning the UK's economic goals with environmental sustainability'.
Ahead of these sessions, our Policy Team worked closely with Simon, Nick and the relevant committees to ensure that the IFoA message was clearly communicated to UK parliamentarians. This included providing background information, briefing documents and statistics for use during the session, and led to praise from those involved who commended our insightful evidence.
In 2021 we also:
Developed and launched the Frank Redington Thought Leadership Essay Prizes – a new initiative to encourage and recognise innovative thought leadership in fields of interest to actuarial science.
Welcomed Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, to Lincoln’s Inn, where he gave a speech on delivering policyholder protection in insurance regulation.
Provided over 30 briefings for IFoA external meetings, bilateral meetings with other actuarial bodies, Select Committee appearances and Thought Leadership sessions.
Attended the Labour and Conservative Party conferences where we hosted events with the Social Market Foundation on The hidden risks of being poor report and the Great Risk Transfer campaign.
Held 129 stakeholder meetings with organisations such as the UK Government Actuary’s Department, the Association of British Insurers and various delegates at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow.
These meetings covered a variety of different topics including the Great Risk Transfer, our Poverty Premium in Insurance report and long-term climate risks, helping to position the IFoA at the forefront of key policy debates and ensure that the voice of our members is heard by key decision makers and influencers.
Attended 94 external events, including sessions of All-Party Parliamentary Groups, think-tank organised policy debates, and the COP26 climate conference.
These events allowed us to engage with organisations outside of our usual sphere and to ensure we tapped into a variety of key issues and debates, providing us with an opportunity to share our views with a wide range of diverse stakeholders, and increase the profile of our and our members’ work.
