Council held its first meeting of the 2018/19 sessional year in Edinburgh on 18 July and welcomed its newly-elected (and re-elected) members.
IFoA president Jules Constantinou chaired the meeting, which focused on 'setting the scene' for new and existing Council members, so that Council could consider its priorities in the coming 12 months and identify what its objectives for the year should be. This followed two days of induction for new Council members, focusing on the IFoA's priorities and good governance.
An overview of the IFoA, its structure and its strategy was provided in the early part of the Council meeting. This provided a framework in which the other business of the meeting could be considered. The IFoA's performance in the business year to date, against both its Corporate Plan and its annual budget, was then reviewed, as was the work carried out to date on the IFoA's annual review of its risks and risk framework.
Presentations were given on a number of the IFoA's key areas of focus, including the Kingman Review of the Financial Reporting Council (and our response to the Review's consultation); progress towards consultation on the proposed IFoA monitoring framework; and the proposed introduction of the Chartered Actuary designation. Developments in these areas will be reported regularly on the IFoA's website, and will continue to be matters of priority for Council in the coming months.
We held a deep-dive review into the Research and Thought Leadership Board, with a focus on providing guidance on how funding models might be structured going forward, and what an appropriate level of funding or underwriting from the IFoA would be. Our discussion of these topics helped identify two key questions. First, how does the research subject matter support the IFoA's strategy and help us get to where we want to be as a professional body? Second, how can we ensure the board focuses on those areas of research that will help actuaries equip themselves for future challenges? The board will look further into these questions, and Council will review a more definitive proposal on research funding at a future meeting.
Council considered the results of the Management Board's annual effectiveness review and agreed the board's objectives for 2018/19. Council also considered the results of its own annual effectiveness review, and identified a number of areas for improvement in the coming year.
Lastly, Trevor Spires was approved as the new independent chair of the IFoA's Audit and Risk Committee, effective immediately.
We will be holding a strategy day in London on 18 October 2018 to focus on some of the key issues facing Council in the coming year and beyond. Our next formal meeting will take place the following day.
Our minutes are available here and you can contact us at [email protected]
