CEO's comment: Raising the profile

This month it is time for change in the Profession's public affairs team, with Paul Reynolds taking the helm as our new director of public affairs. He joins the Profession from the Pension Protection Fund, where he was director of corporate affairs, and has extensive experience in corporate communications within a range of complex environments and cultures.

 
Paul Reynolds will be leading the team in building on the progress made in 2011/2012 and will work with our volunteers to create a public affairs programme with energy, traction and impact.

I'd like to thank Paul Atkinson, interim public affairs director, for the strong foundations he has put in place. The public affairs and consultations committee, formed in line with the governance and infrastructure proposals within the public affairs strategy, endorsed by the Council and the management board last year, will naturally play a key role.

We made a good start last year in recruiting a new team, creating better governance processes and building more efficient relationships with key stakeholders and policymakers, particularly in pensions. We also had some early successes with the media. But we know there's still a lot more that can be achieved. Through the delivery of an integrated communications strategy, we will look to raise the profile of the Profession further and improve our influence on public policy matters.

As well as supporting our international strategy by playing an active and productive part in the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and The Groupe Consultatif Actuariel Européen, we will also be working to increase our media profile by leveraging research, events, consultation responses and presidential activity.

There will be a more proactive stakeholder engagement programme, targeting government, politicians, special interest groups, peer organisations and the media, to ensure we deliver on our commitment to inform debate. In particular, we will continue to improve the quality, timeliness and impact of our inputs into public policy consultations.