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
  • July 2012
07
Interviews

On my agenda: Angus Macdonald

Open-access content Thursday 5th July 2012 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Sonal Shah discusses actuaries and academia with the editor of the Annals of Actuarial Science

2
The profession's international research journal, the Annals of Actuarial Science, has had a makeover. Now published by Cambridge University Press, it has been redesigned to improve readability and clarity.

Launched in 2006 and originally self-published, the AAS is aiming to make its presence known in a small field of international academic journals. It has a new editorial board and is seeking to improve links between actuaries and academics.

Editor Angus Macdonald tells the Actuary about his hopes and plans for the future.

What are the developments since publishing the journal with Cambridge University Press (CUP)?

The most obvious change has been the new format, designed to be in keeping with best practice among academic journal publishers. CUP has also been pro-active in improving and increasing the marketing reach of the AAS - for example, its inclusion in some of its packages subscribed to by libraries.

What are the key future plans for the journal?

The long-term aim is for the AAS to be a leading actuarial journal, with a broad range of authors and readers worldwide. This will require the AAS to be accepted into one of the citation indices used as a yardstick by universities and authors. Over time, I expect the AAS to grow beyond two editions per year.

Which topics are you hoping to cover?

The target will always be the most interesting questions of the day. Just now, longevity, solvency and enterprise risk management are attracting the greatest interest.

How do you ensure quality and accuracy?

Every paper received is subject to peer-review by relevant experts. The peer-reviewers advise me on the originality and quality of the paper, and make a recommendation on whether or not to publish. Improvements often have to be made before a paper can be published.

In what ways is the research utilised by actuaries and how could it be more widely used?

Actuarial and financial research tends to be highly applicable. A good example is mortality and longevity research, which has strongly influenced models used by life insurers and pension funds. Another is stochastic models for general insurance reserving. The focus of the AAS is on applicable work, so the bigger the readership, the more actuaries will be able to find new approaches to help their work.

If resources were unlimited, what research project would you pursue and why?

I would be interested in the lessons to be learned from the securitisation of credit risk (CDOs and CDSs) to avoid problems arising from the securitisation of mortality risk, should that ever take off in the capital markets.

What impact could the application of the research have on wider society?

Securitisation played a significant role in the current crisis, although it was only one part of the story. Avoiding anything similar happening if mortality risk is securitised in a big way would certainly be of great impact. However, it would be hard to measure because success would mean something not happening!

—

Describe the focus and involvement of the international editorial board.

The editorial board has been recently appointed, and includes distinguished actuaries from all over the world and all actuarial traditions. I consult them on both individual questions, such as selecting peer-reviewers for particular papers, and on broader questions, such as increasing the impact of the AAS. I hope they may influence leading authors to choose the AAS as a journal of choice for their work.

Does globalisation increase opportunities to work with other professions?

The actuarial profession is already global in scope, partly because mathematics crosses national boundaries. But there are opportunities to collaborate with other professions and disciplines. Take the new chartered enterprise risk actuary (CERA) qualification. Risk management is emerging as a new profession, and actuaries should contribute through research in the AAS and in other ways.

What makes a successful research paper?


It should be about a real problem and make a worthwhile step towards a solution that will potentially advance practice. And it must be readable; even scientific articles have to tell a story. Some of the best and most useful papers are reviews by experts surveying the state of the art in a broad area of interest.

Are actuaries sufficiently engaged with academia?

The amount of engagement varies across the world, partly because of different traditions in the education of actuaries. In my time at Heriot-Watt, I have seen a great increase in the interaction between academia and the profession, which is very welcome. Of course, we can always do more.

What advice would you offer an actuary looking to move from financial services to academia?

Be absolutely sure that you are doing it for the right reasons - because you have a passion for research and education. The image of academic life as leisurely is a complete myth.

What has been your greatest professional challenge?


Probably the early years of my research on genetics and insurance. It was a completely open field and a great opportunity to be the first to achieve something, but also rather scary as I had to commit all my research time without knowing whether any useful models or answers would be found.

Curriculum vitae

Angus Macdonald graduated in mathematics from Glasgow University. He joined Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society and qualified as a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA) in 1984.

In 1989, he moved to Heriot-Watt University, obtaining a PhD in 1995 and being appointed professor in 2000. He also served on the Faculty Council from 1998 to 2007. In 1999, he set up the Genetics and Insurance Research Centre.

He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2006, became editor of the Annals of Actuarial Science in 2008 and was awarded the Finlaison Medal by the profession in 2011.


The Annals of Actuarial Science is available online at journals.cambridge.org/aas

This article appeared in our July 2012 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

Q&A Australia: Ilan Leas

Ilan Leas has spent the past eight months working in the field of reinsurance at Swiss Re, based in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that he spent six years working in the UK, having moved from South Africa
Friday 6th July 2012
Open-access content
2

Q&A Singapore: Alex King

Alex King has spent the past six months working as head of marketing at Pacific Life Re, Asia. Based in Singapore, he provides a unique insight into the working and cultural practices
Friday 6th July 2012
Open-access content
2

Q&A India: Nisha Khiroya

Nisha Khiroya works as director, specialising in liability-driven investment, at F&C Investments. Here she recounts her past experience of moving to Mumbai and what she enjoyed so much about her overseas secondment
Friday 6th July 2012
Open-access content
2

An Indian summer for actuaries

Jagbir Sodhi highlights the rapid growth of the Indian economy, in particular the insurance sector, and explains why the country reveres the actuarial profession to almost celebrity status
Friday 6th July 2012
Open-access content
2

Q&A Portugal: Arti Sodha

Arti Sodha has been working as a pensions actuary at Towers Watson in Lisbon over the past seven months. Here she offers an insight into her daily life working in the Portuguese capital
Thursday 28th June 2012
Open-access content
2

Q&A Canada: Dean Stamp

Dean Stamp currently works in corporate actuarial at Manulife Financial, based in Toronto. He has spent the past 13 years working overseas, and provides an insight into his experiences of life and work in Canada
Friday 6th July 2012
Open-access content
Filed in
07
Also filed in
Interviews
Topics
Careers
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Reserving Analyst

London (City of)
Negotiable
Reference
149485

Senior GI Modeler - Capital and Planning

London (Central)
£ excellent
Reference
149436

Risk Oversight Manager

Flexible / hybrid with a minimum of 2 days per week office-based
£ excellent
Reference
149435
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

© 2023 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