Opinion

Welcome to this special ‘risk’ edition of The Actuary. For many of us, the first thing we think of when we see the word ‘risk’ is risk-based capital.

As the new sessional year gets under way, it’s a pleasure to welcome Matt Saker as president, and to work with him and our leadership to continue with the strategy agreed by Council.

It’s a huge honour to take up the role of president of the IFoA.

This has been quite a year so far – like most years for the IFoA, I am finding out

Congratulations to the newly-elected (and re-elected) Council members, and Matt Saker for his inauguration as the new IFoA president.

This month marks the turn of our sessional year, with the AGM, our change of president and new Council appointments. It’s a time for looking back and looking forward, as well as an important checkpoint, demonstrating our accountability to our members.

This is my final column as president – I can’t believe the year has gone so quickly! It’s been a year of ups and downs, as COVID-19 has continued to be an influence, but I’d like to focus on the good things that will make it a year to remember for me.

As we approach the end of the academic year, I am proud to present this special issue of The Actuary focusing on education and careers.

March saw the second anniversary of the UK’s first COVID-19 lockdown, in common with much of the rest of the world

During the past year or so I have spoken about how much the world, the actuarial profession and the IFoA have changed throughout my career. I’ve seen fax take over from telex, only to be displaced by email and the web. Instant messaging and video calls are normal, rather than sci-fi fantasies. Spreadsheets appeared, dominated, and now compete with more powerful data analytic tools. It really is a different world today, and yesterday’s skillset isn’t adequate to deal with it.