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
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • May 2021
Opinion

Swift but steady response

Open-access content Wednesday 5th May 2021
Authors
Dan Georgescu

In Aesop’s fable ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, the hare’s natural running speed is undone by his character flaws, while the perseverant tortoise wins the race through dedication and hard work.

Dan

This month we celebrate the work of the COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group (ARG), a collective formed at short notice in March 2020 to highlight the dangers posed by the emergence of a novel virus, and which over time has transformed into a leading authority for information about the latest research related to COVID-19, summarised in short weekly bulletins. The working model that evolved allowed the group to react at speed to events, demonstrating that actuaries can provide timely as well as sound analysis, publicly challenging fallacies and misinformed narratives.

ARG’s work has been widely praised, and Matthew Edwards and Stuart McDonald give us a summary of some of its most memorable bulletins on p19. Despite its fast reactions, the group has managed to steer clear of pitfalls, successfully combining the positive attributes of both the traditional actuarial tortoise and the nimbler hare – possibly providing us with a blueprint for the actuary of the future.

Other highlights include an article from Cobus Daneel and Jon Palin on the challenges of producing the latest CMI mortality projections model when faced with the exceptional nature of mortality in 2020 (p16). Thomas Bernhardt and Catherine Donnelly describe their research, funded by the Actuarial Research Centre, on the relative merits of pooled annuity funds and how they could be an attractive alternative to lifetime annuities and income drawdown in providing a retirement income for life (p30).

Finally, the latest in our series of In-depth articles is from Raj Saundh, Alex Davis and Alex Mockridge, who consider what is next for the equity release mortgage market (p26).

I hope you enjoy the issue.

Dan Georgescu, Editor 

[email protected]

ACT May21_Full LR.jpg
This article appeared in our May 2021 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in:
Opinion

You might also like...

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

Latest Jobs

Senior Underwriting Risk Manager

London (Central)
£85K-£95K + Benefits
Reference
124386

Reserving Manager (Contract)

London (Central)
£1200 - £1400 per day
Reference
124385

Life Actuary - Contract - IFRS 17 Financial Impact

England, London / England, Bristol / North Yorkshire, England
£900 - £1150 per day
Reference
124384
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

© 2022 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ