Competition
Bayes ‘Best Young Actuary’
By Zaki Khorasanee, senior lecturer at the Bayes Business School.
The Bayes Business School is holding a competition to find the ‘Best Young Actuary of 2023’. A prize of £500 will be awarded to the winner, with smaller cash prizes for outstanding achievers.
The competition is open to actuarial students who have passed (or gained exemption from) CM1 in the 2021 or 2022 calendar years. Entrants will be invited to take an online exam at the start of June, testing their ability to answer queries on topics connected with investment, savings, loans and life policies. Submissions will be judged by a panel of qualified actuaries, selected by Bayes.
To help entrants prepare for the exam, they will be invited to join an MS-Teams group giving them access to study material, including specimen exam questions and solutions.
Why enter? As an actuarial student, you might find the thought of taking yet another exam unappealing – but the rewards of taking part should not be underestimated. You will be attempting to acquire those very skills that separate you from the actuary with years of professional experience: the ability to analyse a problem from the real world, correctly apply the theory required to solve it and provide a jargon-free explanation to the client.
Even if you fail to win a prize, you will have practised skills essential for your career advancement. And if you do deliver an outstanding exam submission, you will have accomplished something beyond the ability of most actuarial students at your level.
In addition to prizes, we will send outstanding achievers a letter of commendation, acclaiming them as budding superstars of the profession.
How to enter
The online entry form is at www.bayes.city.ac.uk/best-young-actuary
You will be required to attach evidence that you have passed CM1 in 2021 or 2022.
Dei
Black Actuaries Network
By Chika Aghadiuno, chair of the IFoA Diversity Action Group
Visible role models, mentors, supportive networks and historical reference points are essential to reach and encourage talent to and within the profession. It has been pleasing to see the growth of employee networks for different minority groups, including multicultural networks. Within the IFoA, the Actuarial Mentoring Programme, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy and the scaling up of various outreach activities all have a role to play.
I am proud to have helped launch a network for UK-based black actuaries. I have been around long enough to be aware of being part of this small but growing cohort. There are established actuarial networks in the US and other geographic regions and, of course, across different industries and professions, such as lawyers and the police. While these networks all serve different purposes, there is a gap in the UK actuarial profession – which we are hoping to fill.
The UK Black Actuaries Network is in its infancy. As it grows, its focus will be developed and include:Supporting each other, including prospective students
- Advocacy
- Knowledge sharing
- Developing careers and connections
- Celebrating the different cultures represented
- Engaging with allies.
Image Credit | Alamy
