Global demand for the services of UK-based actuaries is on the rise thanks to major regulatory change such as Solvency II and Basel II, consultants OAC have claimed.
According to the firm, British actuarial standards are highly regarded throughout the world. It named the UK as the 'home of the actuarial profession'.
It said the changing regulatory landscape has driven a large amount of international and domestic demand to the sector, giving the enterprise risk management skill-set of the actuary some prominence.
OAC said the number of actuaries working in ERM in the UK grew by 284% in the past year as more firms moved towards compliance. As other economic regions around the world adopt similar regulatory regimes, the firm said it expects this trend to continue to increase in 2014.
Actuaries working in investment management and general insurance have also increased by 10% over the past year, the firm added.
Colette Lurshay, OAC head of actuarial contractor services, said: 'The regulatory landscape and prevailing attitudes have changed markedly in the global financial services industry.
'More stock is now placed on robust and accurate risk management and contingency planning making the actuary's unique skill-set even more important than it once was.'
OAC also praised the fact that firms across the globe were looking for UK-based or UK-trained actuaries.
The firm said: 'Actuaries who have been trained or worked in the UK are seen as among the best by firms looking to recruit actuarial support due to the rigorous standards used to train actuaries in the UK.'
It added that the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) had seen a growing number of applications from people overseas to become an actuarial student in the UK.
According to the IFoA, 54% of its students are based overseas and 40% of its members work outside the UK.
