Opinion

Each issue of The Actuary brings new highlights, and every time I think: we won’t be able to top that.

A side effect of the coronavirus is that it has turned our friends, family, colleagues and others we may normally interact with face-to-face into potential threats – hence the need to stay at home as much as possible.

Letters from this month

It may not surprise you that my interview and onboarding process with the IFoA was incredibly thoughtful and thorough.

Since the start of my presidency, I’ve had the rare privilege of being able to monopolise this page of The Actuary.

COVID-19 and the virus that causes it, coronavirus, have caught the world by surprise, and currently much of the global population is under lockdown to try and contain the spread.

The Terminator is coming!  At least that's one potential vision of the future, invoked by Boris Johnson at the UN last year while he speculated about artificial intelligence (AI). We can certainly debate how realistic that vision is, and what the possible timescales might be.

This edition of the magazine focuses on data science and its applications, which will be a recurring theme for the IFoA.

Most actuaries work in industries and organisations that help to protect people against various risks. But will this continue to be true in an age of freedom, choice and individualism?

Welcome to the 2020s, and my first issue as editor of The Actuary. It is an honour and a pleasure to be here.