What do Donald Trumps foreign policy and natural catastrophes have in common? Both have causes and consequences that are extremely difficult ?to understand, even for the most seasoned actuaries.
What do Donald Trump's foreign policy and natural catastrophes have in common? Both have causes and consequences that are extremely difficult to understand, even for the most seasoned actuaries. Understanding and explaining the dynamics of risk phenomena are core tasks of the actuarial profession. Many of us make careers out of it. In this issue we combine both topics; modelling and careers.
Although we tried, we could not find actuaries willing to share a model on president Trump's policy with us. However, this month, we include thorough discussions on models that fall within the realm of the actuarial profession. James Lay discusses recent developments in the natural catastrophe modelling arena, and how these benefit actuaries' understanding of those events. In our interview, Louise Pryor highlights the growing importance of environmental considerations in actuarial models. With impeccable timing, given the upcoming regulatory change, Justin Thomas and Amit Parmar walk us through the amendments in Ogden and their implications on the UK motor insurance industry. And Dalila Atiqah Hashim explains alternative infrastructure investment options in Asia, an asset class that continues to attract attention from insurers, pension funds and other institutional investors.
The other key theme this month is careers, which takes us through relatively unknown paths: Ruth Hendon and Vanessa Leung explain the sort of work that actuaries do at the Bank of England, a well-known institution off the mainstream actuarial route. And Evie Calcutt explains the role of the UK's Government Actuary's Department and the Centre for Global Disaster Protection. Beyond the public sector, John Scarrott provides insight on commercial skills. These have been sometimes underestimated by the profession but with growing utility in the actuarial toolkit, as the third and final part of the Routes to the Top series illustrates.
Enjoy the read!
Ps. Don't forget to visit the IFoA's volunteering page online! It is full of exciting opportunities for actuaries at all levels, including within The Actuary editorial team.
Francisco Sebastian
Editor