Richard Foulds, Lead Recruiter at IGA Talent, considers the pros and cons of the proposed new designation for IFoA actuaries: Chartered Actuary.
In November the UK’s actuarial professional body, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), will be asking members to vote on adopting a new professional designation – Chartered Actuary.
Through my work in recruitment I speak with a lot of actuaries, either helping them to hire actuarial specialists into their teams, or to look for new opportunities themselves. I like to keep up to speed with changes that are happening in the market; it’s important for me to keep on top of key issues, as well as market gossip, and I have a pretty strong understanding of how the market is feeling.
It’s fair to say that I’ve picked up on a fair amount of confusion (and concern) around the new proposed ‘Chartered’ title, and what it really means within the profession.
And this is completely understandable.
Most of the actuaries I work with – indeed, the vast majority of those accredited by the IFoA – have worked extremely hard, often for five+ years, to achieve the grade of IFoA Fellow (either as FIA or FFA), or Associate, and benefit from the career opportunities that these qualifications give them access to.
I’m often asked the question: “Why do we need this, when we’ve already got AIA or FIA?”
Within the UK actuarial system, qualifications fall into two camps: Associates and Fellows.
Associates are those who have studied to a certain level, accompanied by an accepted level of working experience. They are deemed to meet the international standards for practising as an actuary – Associateship is itself a high professional benchmark within the profession.
Fellows are those actuaries who have studied to a higher level, specialising in certain sectors, and with additional working experience to support this academic achievement. Fellowship is a legal requirement for certain regulatory positions, and is often held by actuaries in senior roles.
Actuaries are predominantly associated with the insurance and pensions industries. Their training and ability to quantify the various risks encountered within these sectors enable the sectors to exist and thrive. Actuaries have been synonymous with these markets for over 260 years, and most people understand how the qualifications work.
But over recent years, we’ve seen actuaries apply their valuable skills in other fields, where data analytics and risk management expertise can also have a significant impact. This includes business strategy, data analysis, sustainability, and even retail.
In these areas, there’s often less awareness of the distinction between actuarial grades, or how much expertise and commitment achieving and maintaining an IFoA qualification entails. There is a very real risk of the ‘Actuary’ title losing its value.
Looking for a long-term solution to this, the IFoA has looked at other industries, and identified Chartered status as an ideal solution for its members – a badge of honour, universally recognised within the UK and internationally, and already in common use across other professional sectors.
It seems odd that it hasn’t been introduced before.
Back in 2018, the IFoA floated the idea of renaming an Associate Actuary as a Chartered Actuary – with Fellowship as an add-on. Unsurprisingly, a consultation suggested a lot of discomfort and push-back among the membership. People were concerned that these proposed titles would make it less clear who was the more qualified actuary, especially in the wider industries, significantly damaging the more qualified ‘Fellow’ status.
The IFoA responded to these concerns with the current proposal – for two grades called ‘Chartered Actuary (Associate)’ and ‘Chartered Actuary (Fellow)’.
The reality is that these new titles won’t really change anything.
Yes, it’s a change of letters to notice on a CV, but that’s nothing new within the profession – we’re all used to seeing actuarial exam modules change, and although it can be a little confusing to start with, it doesn’t take too long to get used to this. (I still sometimes find myself translating between the new and old exams – and even older exams (100s, 200s, etc anyone?!)). Plus the profession is littered with new acronyms that need to be decoded – SII, IFRS17, ORSA, ICA, ESG (both kinds), PRA, FRC, YMCA (I might have mixed that one up), etc.
But this qualification will make no difference to a firm’s hiring demands. Everything will stay the same, with the same rigorous assessment of education, experience and skills that the candidate possesses. And for those industries where actuaries are a relatively new addition, they can hire with the security and peace of mind that a Chartered Actuary is held to a very high level of standard. It might just help to open up those tangential opportunities for the actuarial profession – to turn those employers looking for expertise in data modelling in less typical fields away from cheaper, unaccredited, unregulated candidates in favour of expertise with a royal stamp of approval.
Also the IFoA has even made provision for those who don’t like the new designation to stick with the old. Whether this adds further confusion is yet to be seen.
IGA Talent loves being a part of this profession, and we truly recognise the value that all actuaries – Associates and Fellows – bring to our markets. We wholeheartedly believe that the job title of ‘Actuary’ needs to be protected as a mark of quality, and only held by prestigiously qualified, highly scrutinised, and proven professionals. We understand there are arguments on both sides regarding the introduction of the Chartered Actuary titles and whether it will be the ‘silver bullet’ that achieves everything the IFoA has set out to achieve.
Many members have already made up their minds on the matter – either deeply objecting or keenly in favour. It’s clear that there are also many more who are on the fence. Their question is perhaps weighing up the risk to their individual brand with the potential for the wider profession.
All that I ask, and strongly encourage our actuarial network to do, is just make sure that you have your say and use your vote – whichever way you choose.
IGA Talent are a consultative recruitment agency for whom business relationships matter more than numbers. They have bases in UK, Ireland and Switzerland and their specialist actuarial division provides recruitment services to insurers, consulting firms, InsurTech businesses and reinsurers across the globe.
