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
  • August 2019
08

Drilling down into data

Open-access content Thursday 8th August 2019 — updated 5.50pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

John Taylor, new president of the IFoA, shares his views on the ways in which the actuarial world is being affected by the inexorable rise of data science

2

It's been suggested that, in their approach to Big Data, actuaries are 'the original data scientists'. What, in their essentials, do actuaries have in common with data scientists? 

When I heard actuaries described as 'the original data scientists', I really liked the phrase. It captures the essence of what actuaries have been doing for centuries. If you look back at the pioneers of the profession, they were analysing what at the time were large data sets to do with longevity, trying to find the truth and insight in them and then extrapolate into the future. Then if you look back just a decade or two, actuaries did similar things around stochastic asset models - again, trying to make projections into the future. And that's the essence of what data scientists try to do. The tools and technology used have moved on massively, of course, but the fundamentals of trying to extract truth and insight from data, and then using that to infer something about the future, are the same.

Why are actuaries so well placed to explain data science? And can data scientists learn from actuarial practice?

What actuaries bring is a sense of business context, commercial value, and what it all means for their client - be it a pension scheme, an insurance company, or the ultimate end-user, the consumer. Having that sense of business context, as an overlay to the raw insights that a data scientist may bring, makes those insights more useable and valuable to the client.

The IFoA plans to launch a data science certification. What will be its scope and what will members who undertake it gain?

There's an appetite among IFoA members to learn more about data science, and so we are about to launch a certificate in data science, available to all members of the actuarial profession. They'll be able to choose from a set of five modules that cover disciplines such as data visualisation, artificial intelligence and machine learning. They can choose the order in which they would like to do them, and those who complete the set of five will be awarded the certificate. From this, actuaries will get a much greater appreciation of the art of the possible in data science. 

The traditional fields for actuaries have been insurance and pensions. Now actuaries are appearing in agriculture, healthcare, climate change initiatives and even ride-sharing app development. How does this reflect the way data science is developing?

Data science is empowering for actuaries; it bestows the ability to re-engineer what they do in traditional fields, and gives them a platform to move into wider fields. The underlying driver behind this is that other industries, which haven't been so accustomed to dealing with data, are now being deluged with it. And they don't really quite appreciate how to derive value from it. Bringing in a profession that's long been expert in dealing with that data, and getting insight out of it, is a tremendous opportunity for those industries - even for creative industries, such as advertising. The 'Mad Men' of TV series fame are being replaced by the 'Math Men', as advertising becomes much more data-driven about defining individual segments and offering bespoke propositions - and actuaries are getting involved in that kind of innovation.

What makes the contribution of the actuarial profession so uniquely valuable to the emerging field of data science?

As professionals immersed in a business context and in understanding the impact companies can have with end-users, actuaries are well placed to add value and utilise the insights data scientists can generate. Let me give you an example. I know an actuary who works in insurance, and who is looking at new ways to deliver services to existing clients - and that's about understanding individual customers at a very small level of detail, and looking for trigger points when they might be receptive to new service offerings. This approach is really transforming the take-up rate for services.

The IFoA's Certificate in Data Science will be launched in spring 2020. We are seeking to create a library of actuarial data science case studies. The aim is to support the delivery of the certificate and provide those taking the certificate with opportunities to maintain and evaluate their knowledge through the CPD process. Case studies may be set in the traditional actuarial domains, or in new and emerging areas, and could include some practical opportunities for members to engage with data science techniques in the workplace.

More details, including how to apply, are at bit.ly/23JRCTb

 

This article appeared in our August 2019 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

Extreme insight

How can behavioural models help predict policyholders reactions to unfamiliar situations? The Policyholder Behaviour in Extreme Conditions working party discuss
Monday 5th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Cyber insurance payout rate hits 99%

A whopping 99% of claims made on cyber insurance policies were paid out in the UK last year, according to research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Friday 9th August 2019
Open-access content
2

The workforce of tomorrow

A group of employment professionals specialising in insurance and finance discuss emerging recruitment trends. Chris Seekings reports
Tuesday 6th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Interview: Douglas Anderson

Douglas Anderson talks to Stephen Hyams and Henry Mungalsingh about longevity risk management, actuarial careers and what it means to be an entrepreneur
Tuesday 6th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Universal health

Ricardo González gives an analysis of healthcare systems around the world
Monday 5th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Turning the tables in Ireland

Emmet Thornburgh and Shane Prendergast explore the mortality experience of Irish insured lives, on behalf of the Demography Committee of the Society of Actuaries of Ireland
Monday 5th August 2019
Open-access content

Latest from Technology

gc

Free for all

Coding: those who love it can benefit those who don’t by creating open-source tools. Yiannis Parizas outlines two popular data science programming languages, and the simulator he devised and shared
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content
ty

Data detective

Heard about the chatbot ChatGPT? Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, says Arjun Brara – and could soon be used to refine ESG ratings and expose greenwashing
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content
td

Brain power

The latest microchips mimic cerebral function. Smaller, faster and more efficient than their predecessors, they have the potential to save lives and help insurers, argues Amarnath Suggu
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content

Latest from August 2019

163600

Millions of middle-aged workers 'flying blind' into retirement

Millions of middle-aged UK workers do not know how much they have saved into their pension or what they will need for a comfortable retirement, research by Aviva has found.
Friday 30th August 2019
Open-access content
2

Quarter of UK population to be aged 65 or over by 2050

A quarter of UK citizens will be aged 65 or over by 2050, up from around one in five today and one in six back in 1998, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has predicted.
Thursday 29th August 2019
Open-access content
2

GMP equalisation now a top priority for pension experts

Guaranteed Minimum Pensions (GMP) equalisation has soared up the ‘to-do list’ for pension professionals in the UK following a landmark Lloyds case late last year.
Wednesday 28th August 2019
Open-access content

Latest from small_opening_image

2

COVID-19 forum for actuaries launched

A forum for actuaries has been launched to help the profession come together and learn how best to respond to the deadly coronavirus sweeping the world.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Travel insurers expect record payouts this year

UK travel insurers expect to pay a record £275m to customers this year as coronavirus grounds flights across the world, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed.
Wednesday 25th March 2020
Open-access content
2

Grim economic forecasts made as countries lockdown

A sharp recession is imminent in the vast majority of developed and emerging economies as the deadly coronavirus forces businesses to shut down across the world.
Tuesday 24th March 2020
Open-access content

Latest from 08

2

Getting on board

Seamus Creedon explains the important role played by non-executive directors and the opportunities this creates for actuaries
Monday 5th August 2019
Open-access content
2

As good as a rest

Could sleep patterns be a predictor of ill health, and if so, what does this mean for health insurers? Nicola Oliver looks at the evidence
Monday 5th August 2019
Open-access content

Latest from Data Science

gc

Free for all

Coding: those who love it can benefit those who don’t by creating open-source tools. Yiannis Parizas outlines two popular data science programming languages, and the simulator he devised and shared
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Open-access content
il

When 'human' isn't female

It was only last year that the first anatomically correct female crash test dummy was created. With so much data still based on the male perspective, are we truly meeting all consumer needs? Adél Drew discusses her thoughts, based on the book Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
Wednesday 1st February 2023
Open-access content
res

Interview: Tim Harford on the importance of questioning our assumptions

Tim Harford speaks to Ruolin Wang about why it’s so important to slow down and question things from emotive headlines to the numbers and algorithms we use in our work
Wednesday 30th November 2022
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Actuarial Contract Opportunities - Life Insurance

United Kingdom, Ireland and Remote
Competitive
Reference
148599

Pricing Manager (Mid-Corp)

London (Central)
£75000.00 - £90000.00 per annum
Reference
148749

Head of Insurance Pricing Risk

London (Central)
£100000.00 - £130000.00 per annum
Reference
148748
See all jobs »
 
 
 
 

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