Since our previous update in September, the IFoA has been working with members, volunteers and partners to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Leadership and culture
The IFoA responded to the Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC)’s Menopause Impact Survey, as well as encouraging members’ employers to take part. Following the launch of its report Menopause in the Workplace: Impact on Women in Financial Services (bit.ly/Menopause_Finance), the FSSC’s survey will show how the sector is building menopause awareness across the workplace, and how firms are supporting employees experiencing menopause transition.
DEI at the IFoA
The IFoA celebrated National Inclusion Week with a series of daily activities and resources for colleagues, including a six-part blog series (bit.ly/NIW_Share) from IFoA education actuary Sally Calder. Sally’s popular and well-received blog series looked at autism and neurodiversity in the workplace from a personal perspective, covering topics including neurodiversity and creativity, and how to support neurodiverse people.
DEI in our community
The IFoA partnered with the Institute for Public Policy and Research to host a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on 26 September. Former chair of the General Insurance Board Sameer Keshani led a discussion on the poverty premium in insurance, alongside Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth MP, Treasury Select Committee member Emma Hardy MP, and Martin Coppack of Fair By Design.
We continue to work closely with the FSSC, having signed up to its Access, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment in April. We are monitoring its DEI workstream, with a particular focus on projects investigating how financial services firms are developing and implementing menopause programmes and policies, and how to develop neurodiversity initiatives.
The IFoA’s Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) is supporting its members through DEI specialist reviews this year, with QAS accredited firms audited on the scheme’s DEI sub-outcome. Firms receive tailored recommendations on their policies, procedures and DEI practices, and guidance on how to go above and beyond the schemes’ DEI sub-outcome requirement.
Supporting members in their work
The 2022/23 Actuarial Mentoring Programme (AMP) launched in October with the support of the IFoA, the Pensions Investment Corporation and the IFoA Foundation. The AMP is a cross-company mentoring initiative that is designed to improve diversity and inclusion within the actuarial profession.
You can find out more about how the IFoA is putting DEI at the heart of its work in our DEI Strategy bit.ly/IFoA_DEIStrat
