We are running into that time of year when red and green start to dominate shop windows as traders rush to stock up for Christmas.
We are running into that time of year when red and green start to dominate shop windows as traders rush to stock up for Christmas. It is a time to assess how the year has gone, and to come up with resolutions for the coming one.
Personally, I am pleased to see that The Actuary has successfully covered its strategic goals for the year. Our ultimate aim is to help readers stay abreast of developments in the profession, with a strong educational leaning. We have an increasingly diverse group of readers, so we aim to balance global and UK themes, as well as traditional and emerging ones.
The current issue is a good example of the combination of themes we aimed for. We have looked at the future, learning about emerging risks with Patrick Raaflaub; I am a huge fan of the prospective analysis in the SONAR report, which provides insight on topics of great interest to most people, actuaries or not, such as the consequences of sleep deprivation and technology's impact on our general wellbeing.
The push for womens' equality has continued to flourish in 2018; Kate Smith makes an important contribution, walking us through the gender gap in UK pensions and its causes. Meanwhile, blending past and present, McAleer and Wardle discuss the transition to the cashflow driven approach to investments that DB pension funds are increasingly implementing.
Moving out to the global space, David Dror discusses crop insurance in India; while this affects millions of people, most of us are unfamiliar with it, and it is a great example of how actuaries can make a significant difference to society.
Finally, Ronald Poon-Affat and Jonathan Hughes kick off our fintech series, distilling the competitive advantages that insurtech companies hold. Over the coming months we will be learning more about this area, in order to help us become better equipped to steer our careers through coming change.
Enjoy the read!
Francisco Sebastian
Editor