Council’s fourth and final meeting of the sessional year took place by video conference on 9 June. This meeting was a chance for us to look back at the past year and forward to the next.
A key pillar of the IFoA’s 2020–24 strategy is fostering a vibrant global community. The Markets Development Group presented on the progress of the international strategy this year. We were pleased to hear about the work that is taking place to grow our influence globally and provide a valuable experience for all members, wherever they happen to be.
Aligned with this is a current effort to review our overall membership model and ensure it is sustainable and fit for the future. This project is considering various options to ensure that we remain relevant and continue to deliver the best for our members.
In line with our strategic commitment to repositioning the profession, Council agreed the proposed changes required to the IFoA’s Constitution, which will allow Fellows and Associates to add the ‘Chartered Actuary’ designation – one that will, by law, be available only to our members. We’ll be telling you more about this in the coming months, and the changes will be put to a member vote in due course, as will changes to the Disciplinary and Capacity for Membership Schemes, and to the way Honorary Fellows are appointed, both of which were also agreed by Council.
With business needs evolving, Council also considered and offered guidance on the UK property strategy. While IFoA employees are making smart use of our ‘hubs’, moving to smaller spaces will allow us to decrease one of our key costs, a saving we hope to use to benefit members.
A working group of Council members had been tasked with examining opportunities to streamline or clarify the IFoA’s governance, and presented a Speaking Up Charter. This would not place any new obligations on members or create new processes, but will hopefully make it clearer where individuals can take their complaints and reassure them that they will be listened to.
Trevor Spires, chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, presented his annual report of the committee’s work, highlighting that the IFoA’s external auditors had found no control issues during the audit of the IFoA’s accounts this year, which we were very pleased to hear.
Following the updates to the Regulatory Governance last year, Council received an update on the working of the Regulatory Appointments Committee and agreed some changes to its governance.
Finally, we thanked members of Council who were stepping down at the Annual General Meeting: Gilli Engel, Jennifer Hartley, Prosper Matiashe, Tan Suee Chieh, Cynthia Yuan, Steven Yu, Alan Rae and Andy Rear. Their contributions to and hard work on Council are greatly appreciated.
- Council’s next meeting will take place on 28 September 2022. The minutes of our meetings are available at bit.ly/2u1gmx9 and you can contact us at [email protected]
