Kelvin Chamunorwa highlights the international appeal of actuarial skills and considers the expanding geographic reach of the profession
According to Robert Peston, economics editor for BBC News, Arsenal's Emirates football stadium in London could seat every actuary in the world. This is hardly scoop of the year, but it is a striking fact when I consider the wide geographic reach of our relatively small, but growing, profession.
One of the furthest places from London, Wellington in New Zealand, is home to many actuaries and I recently found out about an actuary doing work in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The buzz of the World Cup has been unavoidable, though unlike in 2010, it's not because of the sound of the controversial vuvuzelas! It is fitting, therefore, that in this World Cup year, the articles in The Actuary this month cover topics in each continental region that is represented by the teams taking part in the tournament. This includes contributions from a number of actuarial students on our website - each future actuary provides insight into the local matters they face in their work and how they find study and life in their country of residence.
Actuarial skills travel, and they are being applied to address financial risk issues all over the world. In the case of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, membership is increasing and the pace is faster outside its UK base. I believe that this will be compounded by the new Certified Actuarial Analyst technical qualification that was launched in May.
One of the aims of the new IFoA president, Nick Salter, is testament to the need to adequately serve an increasingly dispersed membership. I interviewed Salter to find out more about his plans for his term as president and asked for his thoughts on a range of other important issues for our profession.
Wherever you are, I hope that you enjoy reading the material in this edition, including the international supplement online