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
  • March 2012
03

Editorial: Lost in translation

Open-access content Monday 27th February 2012 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

Are we seeing the bigger picture when it comes to interpreting information? asks Deepak Jobanputra

2
Most people will be familiar with the saying "information is everything". It is amazing then that we see such a wide range of outcomes arising from the 'same' information worldwide. Much lies in the interpretation and methods used to derive results and conclusions from information.

At a personal level, when my children found out that I had taken the role of editor of The Actuary, they were excited and asked whether I'd be working with Peter Parker or Clark Kent. I had clearly built up a picture that actuaries are superheroes, which may be true of some readers, although others will have a different view.

In the context of information and interpretation, this month's edition brings the opportunity for some exciting debate. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is a relatively new but near ubiquitous acronym; we discuss the issues facing insurers and the requirement to engage with accountants to formulate an optimal view. Whether it is optimal is likely in itself to spark an intellectual debate among readers.

All too often, decisions are taken using averages and point estimates; yet the dangers of doing so aren't always understood or, worse still, are not considered. Such practices have evolved and so we take the opportunity to look at reserving using unified models that, as the author describes, are built on sound and simple, yet robust, principles - much like a spider's web.

We also look at the dynamics of pension trade-off options that individuals are offered by their pension plans and how the role of the actuary is fundamental in supporting such key decisions. The incorporation of the public interest in the requirements of the Actuaries' Code is a key component likely to prompt heated debate.

I have been pleasantly overwhelmed by your response to many of the letters, features and, in particular, the puzzles page in the previous edition. I urge you to continue to engage with your profession and I would reiterate something that I strongly believe in and which appears in our features interview - "We are debtors to our profession" and it is our duty to maintain and enhance our standing.

Deepak Jobanputra
[email protected]
This article appeared in our March 2012 issue of The Actuary .
Click here to view this issue

You may also be interested in...

2

Letters to the editor - March 2012

In which actuaries discuss mortality, monopolies and migration
Monday 27th February 2012
Open-access content
2

Soapbox: Is financial inclusion dead?

Roger Harvey believes the UK financial services community is failing to address the needs of those in poverty
Monday 27th February 2012
Open-access content
2

Insurance: Reserving - Bridging the gap on long-tail liabilities

David Odell puts forward a method to span the rift between uncertainty and best estimates
Tuesday 28th February 2012
Open-access content
2

European Commission 'should re-examine Solvency II'

KMPG has become the latest industry voice to raise concerns over the impact Solvency II rules could have on economic growth.
Tuesday 6th March 2012
Open-access content
2

Mercer gives qualified welcome to annuities code

The new insurance industry code of conduct for annuities is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to encourage pension scheme members to shop around for the best deal, according to Mercer.
Thursday 8th March 2012
Open-access content
2

Insurers give qualified welcome to Omnibus 2 vote

Insurers have welcomed MEPs’ decision to back a raft of amendments to the Omnibus 2 Directive in a vote in Brussels today, but said that several questions remain over exactly how the rules will affect the insurance industry.
Wednesday 21st March 2012
Open-access content

Latest from General Insurance

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
bl

'Takaful' models of Islamic insurance

Ethical, varied and a growing market – ‘takaful’ Islamic insurance is worth knowing about, wherever you’re from and whatever your beliefs, says Ali Asghar Bhuriwala
Wednesday 1st February 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

Latest from March 2012

Spreadsheet ISTOCK

UK pension funds post average 4.3% returns in 2011

UK pension funds recorded average returns of 4.3% last year the third consecutive year they have posted a positive return, according to figures published by BNY Mellon yesterday.
Friday 30th March 2012
Open-access content

'Urgent need' for insurance accounting standard

KPMG has urged the International Accounting Standards Board to finalise a new standard for insurance accounting as soon as possible.
Friday 30th March 2012
Open-access content

Airline insurance prices 'likely to remain stable'

Despite historically low levels of airline insurance claims last year, continuing high risk in the industry means prices are likely to remain stable for most airline insurance programmes, according to Aon Risk Solutions.
Friday 30th March 2012
Open-access content

Latest from formbuilder_item_removed

2

Implementing IFRS 17 Discount Curves: Theoretical and Practical Challenges

The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17 requires liability cash flows to be discounted at rates that reflect the characteristics of the cash flows, including their liquidity
Tuesday 3rd September 2019
Open-access content
2

Profit Emergence Under IFRS 9 and IFRS 17: The impact of choice of liability discount rate

With the IFRS 17 accounting standard, insurers need to understand the patterns of profit emergence that arise under the standard, and how current business and methodology decisions affect such patterns.
Wednesday 10th July 2019
Open-access content
2

Whitepaper: Aggregation and diversification of the IFRS 17 Risk Adjustment

This paper forms part of a series of high-level papers designed to provide an introduction to different features of the risk adjustment that should be considered in advance of implementation.
Tuesday 29th January 2019
Open-access content

Latest from inline_local_link

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 03

2

Book review: The End of Growth by Richard Heinberg

Tony Brooke-Taylor finds ‘lots of individual nuggets to stimulate thinking’ in Heinberg’s analysis of economic growth theory
Tuesday 28th February 2012
Open-access content
2

Arts: Money at the movies

Richard Elliott looks at how Margin Call measures up to the ultimate financial film
Monday 27th February 2012
Open-access content
2

CEO's comment: Marking the changes in member services

Derek Cribb explains how the Profession aims to achieve ‘excellent support’
Monday 27th February 2012
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Leading Insurer/Asset Manager – Pricing Actuary (Mortgages)

London (Greater)
Competitive
Reference
148750

Senior Consultant - Risk Settlement - Any UK Location - Up to £100,000 plus bonus

London / Manchester / Edinburgh / Remote
Up to £100,000 + Bonus
Reference
148832

Finance Transformation Actuarial student/Qualified Actuary

London (Central)
£50,000 - £75,000 depending on experience
Reference
148830
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