Back in 1999, when I decided to become an actuary, I did not consider the possibility of living and working in far-flung places.
Back in 1999, when I decided to become an actuary, I did not consider the possibility of living and working in far-flung places. I thought that Madrid, my hometown, would always be my professional and personal base. Looking back, that idea could not have been more wrong. I have spent most of my life since then in London, Frankfurt, Brussels, New York and California. During this long journey, besides filling the coffers of removal companies and airlines, I have learned multiple lessons. A paramount one is that that we cannot escape globalisation.
Globalisation is the headline theme of the July edition of The Actuary. From the above, you can probably guess that this topic is extremely close to my heart. But more importantly, it is crucial for the actuarial profession. In this issue, we address globalisation from two adjacent angles: the dynamics of actuarial work in different markets, and how actuaries develop their careers globally.
We begin this journey by reviewing some statistics on the IFoA’s global footprint, while Jules Constantinou explains his vision for his tenure as president of the IFoA.
From there, we travel around the world. Thomas Johansmeyer provides an overview of catastrophe bonds, a wide-ranging market and Liz McMahon discusses global risks and their implications for insurers.
Then we move to high-growth markets: David Dror makes the case for micro health insurance in low and middle income countries, Ricardo González gives a grand insurance tour across Latin America and Tavaziva Madzinga discusses sub-Saharan markets.
On world-wide career development, Bradley Shearer brings inspiration from the lessons that fellow actuaries have learned on their journeys to the top of the profession. And Lewis Maleh shares his experience on how Brexit is shaping the recruitment landscape.
Enjoy the read!
Francisco Sebastian
Editor