Trailblazer

What motivated you to pursue an actuarial
career and what contributed to your decision
to become an actuary?
I soon learned at Cambridge that I was an intelligent
person studying maths while there were many there
for whom it was their first language! But I could
organise teams, events, etc. So I looked for a route
into management, which the actuarial profession
offered.
Has the profession changed much since you
first came aboard?
Yes and not necessarily for the better.
You have been very involved in the profession,
sitting on the Council of the Institute of Actuaries
and the GIU Board. What excites or
intrigues you about the actuarial world?
My involvement started soon after qualification;
marking exam scripts; acting as an examiner, writing
the first course for the (then) new general insurance
exam. Only on semi-retirement did I feel I had the
time to seek election to Council and give proper
commitment to it. My subsequent experience confirms
that it is more difficult or senior managers,
rather than consultants, to be released to give time
to serve on Council. This is a pity.
How can actuaries make their mark within
the profession?
I am not sure young actuaries should set out to do
this. Rather they should aim to make their mark by
doing good professional work with the profession
benefiting from their lustre. But early on it is worth
getting involved in work groups, the exam system etc
but do not over-commit. There is a great camaraderie
amongst actuaries and you can learn a lot
from others with different experience.
The interesting issues currently for the profession
are demographic the ageing populations in the
developed world and global warming. I am sure that
the response to global warming has to be a smaller
human world population. Notably this is difficult to
plan for and probably why demographers are
excluded form the big discussions around global
warming .My view is it will happen and better for us
to plan it than for the planet to plan it!
As well as being an actuary you are a chartered
director and ran the UK life and unittrust
businesses of Commercial Union. Do
actuaries make good managers and what can
the profession do to ensure that we turn out
fellows that are capable of running companies
as well as valuing liabilities?
Some do make good managers: some do not. But then some make good academics and others, myself
included, never will. It is beneficial that we do have a range of talents. I think that the key attribute we need
is the ability to think conceptually. This does not
mean we have to be mathematical, though that is
one discipline that does teach conceptual thinking.
What we do need is to ensure we bring in students
with broad interests and keep them involved with
the profession after qualification.
I worry that we are taking too narrow a view of
CPD. I suspect my career would have been little different
if I had left the profession after qualification. ‘I
qualified as an actuary’ would have been as relevant
as ‘I am an actuary’. CPD as now designed would
have probably have encouraged me to leave.
So what does the Cdir qualification involve?
A chartered director must be a member of the Institute
of Directors, have three years’ experience as a
director, pass an exam covering the following topics,
and demonstrate effectiveness as a director.
The exam topics are:
? Role of the company director and the board
? Director and the law
? Finance for non-financial directors
? Strategic business direction
? Effective marketing strategies
? People mean business
? Leading strategic change
Tell us about your work as a non-executive
director.
I have a number of different non-executive directorships,
which provides a lot of interest and different
challenges. The key is to make the effort away from
board meetings to understand the issues facing the
company and its executive directors.
What advice do you have for actuaries trying
to break into wider fields?
I return to the idea of conceptual thinking. There are
many areas where that and our training will add value.
To do so, you need to be interested in the area of
work and humble enough to learn what the problems
are and disciplined enough to think through the
possible solutions. But without the ability to communicate
to non-actuaries you will achieve nothing.
Do read the late Peter Clark’s presidential address
on communication. Of your many career accomplishments, what
do you consider the most satisfying?
Giving 94 pints of blood! Almost everything else is as
part of a team.
Are you proud of your profession?
Sometimes. Pride is that funny thing being both a
virtue and a ‘deadly sin’.
Do you feel your background as an actuary has
positively affected your career?
It is contacts within the profession that have been the biggest benefit but we are all individuals first and
actuaries second.
What is the most important lesson you’ve
learned in business?
Always brief the boss and delegate downwards. Not
the other way round!
What do you do to relax?
Play chess; sail when I can get on someone else’s
boat(!); read widely, especially biography.
What words of wisdom would you like to
share with aspiring actuaries?
Team success is more rewarding and lasting than
individual success.
What mark or legacy would you like to leave
on the world?
I am not that arrogant to wish to leave a mark but I
could hope that some will think the world is a marginally
better place because I passed through it.