Speaking at the closing event of Actuarial Innovation in the Covid-19 Era

IFoA’s fortnight of seminars ‘Actuarial Innovation in the Covid-19 Era’ saw active participation from the actuarial profession and beyond.

In my presentation at the closing webinar (2020: The Year That Was), I expressed my pride in, and appreciation to the IFoA, and to the many individuals for their contribution in response to the pandemic crisis. The practicality, relevance, quality, depth, scope, range and recognition of our work marks the return of the IFoA and the profession to its public interest role in a visible and compelling way, and in a manner that counts and befits the historical reputation of the British actuarial profession.

As President of the IFoA, I could not expect more.

Reflecting on 2020, I highlighted some positive outcomes to encourage the profession to continue to step up to make a difference.

1. The uncertainty and crisis caused by COVID-19 aroused our ability to adapt to new ways of working. As an organisation, we acted with reflexivity in a global crisis. We listened to each other but more importantly, what was happening around us. We acted with agility and created what I would call ‘clumsy solutions’.

   The outcomes have exceeded our expectations. The IFoA leadership team would not have imagined achieving all these at the start of January 2020 when planning for the year. We would not have the confidence and courage to set such ambitious goals, if not for the impending crises surrounding us. We did what we did, hence we are here today.

2. 2020 was not just about responding to the Covid-19 crisis. There are still many issues confronting humankind such as the climate and loss of biodiversity crises; income, retirement and health security, ageing population, and fairness and so on.

   These issues are posing monumental challenges to mankind’s existence and sustainability, at the same time confronting the human systems of our time. Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic which is a common enemy of humankind, we will see greater conflicts of interests, and problems will be increasingly wicked. The actuarial profession will need to dig deep into our resources if we want to shift the dial and change the conversation in months and years ahead.

Watch the full event “2020: The Year That Was”and my presentation segments on my YouTube channel.