Ahead of a member vote later this year, President Matt Saker writes on the proposed new Chartered Actuary designation. He explores how the proposals ensure no one loses out and why Council hold this to be a crucial step forward for the actuarial profession.
Members may be aware that, over a number of years, we have been discussing the introduction of a Chartered Actuary designation for qualified actuaries, listening to your views along the way.
These discussions reached an exciting and critical milestone in June 2022, when Council voted to support a proposal to introduce two new designations for IFoA qualified actuaries – ‘Chartered Actuary (Associate)’ and ‘Chartered Actuary (Fellow)’.
This November we will take the bye-law change to a member vote. As your President I want to outline why I believe this is a crucial step forward for you and for our profession.
The introduction of the Chartered designation will make a crucial distinction between IFoA actuaries and others practising actuarial work, and truly reflect your status across the world. The use of the word ‘actuary’ is not currently protected. For the first time, this change will create a fundamental distinction between IFoA actuaries and those who call themselves actuaries but have either lapsed their IFoA membership, are not qualified, or in some cases have had no formal actuarial training.
With the introduction of the Chartered designation, members will also be able to fully benefit from the opportunities presented by our Royal Charter, and the global recognition and respect that this brings.
It is important to stress that this change will not have any impact on where the bar is set for Associate and Fellowship of the IFoA. The rigour and quality of our qualifications will not change, so there is only upside, in terms of enhanced nomenclature, with no downside to the proposals for any of our members.
Employers have also told us that rebranding as ‘Chartered Actuary’ will give our qualifications global appeal. Further, these designations will broaden the relevance of IFoA actuaries across all industries and sectors, and therefore encourage non-traditional actuarial employers to use actuarial qualifications more flexibly in their businesses. This will enhance the employer proposition for future graduates and enable us to attract a broader range of graduates to the profession.
Finally, I believe that the new designations will protect and enhance the profession overall for the future. This reflects the IFoA’s strategic aim of repositioning the profession and ensuring that we remain at the forefront of the curve.
As actuaries diversify into new sectors and spheres, we need to consolidate recognition for the profession outside of our tight traditional actuarial sphere. While Fellowship will remain the IFoA’s gold standard qualification, IFoA Associate members are already recognised as qualified actuaries in established actuarial employment sectors. But the qualification is less recognised in potential new employment sectors, such as data analytics, cyber risk, sustainability, and health and care.
By introducing the chartered designations, we want to establish the title ‘actuary’ for our members more strongly in these sectors and highlight the relevance of their skills to the ever-changing needs of employers.
In summary, I firmly believe that with the two new Chartered Actuary designations, everyone will benefit, from actuaries and employers to graduates and society itself.
I encourage all members to support this move by voting in favour of the proposal this November.
