Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • December 2020
President Comment
Opinion

Reclaiming our soul

Open-access content Wednesday 2nd December 2020
Authors
Tan Suee Chieh

Our profession was brought forth from pondering the unknown, chance and the uncertainty of lifespan

web_p5_Tan.png

Over time, it extended to the probabilities of morbidity, the expectation and risk of investment returns, and many other fields – always with a tilt towards the problems of the day. To peer into the unknown necessarily requires thought leadership – this is our soul.

The Vision, Skillsets, Mindsets and Domains (VSMD) strategy is about reclaiming our soul and giving it voice. We must create room for new values. To face the digital revolution, we will need curiosity, adaptability and a growth mindset. Meanwhile, COVID-19 has exposed the systemic risks that threaten society – erosion of institutions, planetary degradation, inequality, health security and Big Tech governance. To tackle these issues we will need courage, imagination and judgment.

Our profession’s values of accuracy, cautiousness, consistency and reticence held us in good stead when we worked within stable, linear and reliable systems, before the emergence of computer power. Compliance and linearity will shortly be the reserve of machines – but our role remains relevant, as this approach is inadequate for addressing today’s systemic risks. Uncertainty is the space in which actuaries’ imagination and judgment can shine. We will be informed by machines, not replaced by them. 

During the past two decades, we have been too immersed in fixed Gaussian models as the basis for problem solving and risk management. Today, Knightian uncertainty looms. In this world, it is time to reclaim our spirit: to think systemically, not just systematically; to adopt multiple framing, rather than fixed framing; to conceive of possibility, rather than just probability; to act courageously and imagine what is possible, rather than just predicting trends.

This is a great opportunity for the profession to return to the soul of our forefathers. We must ask, ‘What is going on here?’ and find a response in the spirit of enquiry, discovery and invention. 

Tan Shee Chieh is president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

ACT Dec20_Full.jpg
This article appeared in our December 2020 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Also filed in:
President Comment
Opinion

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Qualified Risk and Change Actuary

London (Central)
£Upon Application
Reference
120978

Newly Qualified Reporting Actuary in a Reinsurer

London (Central)
£75,000
Reference
120981

Pricing Manager - CONTRACT

London (Greater)
Up to £110,000, Fixed Term Contract
Reference
120980
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2021 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited, Level 5, 78 Chamber Street, London, E1 8BL. Tel: 020 7880 6200