Daniel Smith

The Actuaries Institute (the Institute) today formally announced the appointment of Daniel Smith as 2014 Institute President. He will be joined by former Actuary of the Year Estelle Pearson as Senior Vice President, and Lindsay Smartt as Vice President.

Mr Smith, Ms Pearson and Mr Smartt will work with incoming Institute CEO David Bell to promote the Institute’s key policy priorities for 2014, reinforce the actuarial brand and educate businesses and government around the long-term value actuaries can add across a broad range of challenges.

“Actuarial education and training provides a unique mix of skills which places actuaries in a strong position to become the risk managers of choice for business, governments and society as a whole,” Mr Smith said.

“As well as maintaining a strong representation in traditional areas such as insurance, Actuaries are increasingly shifting into non-traditional areas such as banking, data analytics, media strategy, natural resources and public health. These will be key areas we address in 2014 supported by refreshed education and development programs.”

The Institute’s policy agenda spans the insurance and superannuation sectors but also demographic change / retirement incomes policy, natural disaster management, health and disability, data analytics, banking and risk management

“The Institute’s key policy priorities for 2014 include ensuring the profession’s voice is heard on the critical issues being considered by the Financial Services Inquiry, offering practical solutions to better manage the social and economic impacts of natural disasters and health funding, as well as continuing to help navigate Australia’s longevity debate,” Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith is a Member of the Institute Council and is a Director of actuarial consulting and analytics firm Taylor Fry.  Mr Smith takes over from former President John Newman.

Ms Pearson, current Councillor of the Actuaries Institute and a Managing Director of actuarial and insurance consultants, Finity, has been appointed Senior Vice President this year. Ms Pearson will be Institute President in 2015.

The Institute also confirmed the appointment of Lindsay Smartt, current Member of the Council of the Actuaries Institute as Vice President.

The post Actuaries Institute announces new leadership team appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Australians need to plan for longer retirement.

The Actuaries Institute (the Institute) warns Australians need to be financially prepared for many years of retirement. The warning comes in response to the latest headline life expectancy rates released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which projected ‘life expectancy at birth’ age for men of 79.9 and 84.3 for women. (ABS media release can be found here).

According to the Institute, these ‘reported’ life expectancies focus on reported life expectancies at birth, but those that have already reached age 65 can expect to live longer than the population average and allowing for improvements in longevity will increase this further. The Institute’s own calculations suggest that it is, in fact, more likely that the life expectancy of those aged 65 now will be 86 for men and 89 for women.

This means that 65 year old males need to fund on average 21 years of retirement, and 65 year old females will need to fund on average 24 years of retirement.  And, as these are average figures, some people will live much longer.  In fact, the Actuaries estimate that one in three 65 years olds will live past 90 and one in five will live past 95.

“Most people don’t realise how long they might live. Understandably many people base their retirement plans on the published life expectancies. However in reality, with rapid advances in medicine and the dramatic improvement in life expectancy, it is quite conceivable that in the coming years half of all healthy 65 year olds will live past 100,” said Mr John Newman, President of the Actuaries Institute.

It is important that retirees consider whether their savings will fund these lengthy retirement periods.  Those relying purely on ABS averages are likely to run out of money, meaning that they may face a significant portion of their retirement years in an uncomfortable financial situation.

Actuaries making headway in longevity debate but still more work to do

The Institute has been vocal on the issue of longevity risk (the risk of people outliving their retirement savings) for some time. In September 2012 the Institute released the white paper “Australia’s Longevity Tsunami, what should we do?” which emphasised the need for urgent retirement policy reform in the face of Australia’s steep and continuing rise in life expectancies.

Since the launch of the paper and subsequent government consultations, the Institute has welcomed changes announced in the May 2013 federal budget, which removed the inequitable tax treatment of deferred lifetime annuities and allowed them the same tax treatment as current income streams.

“We’ve made an important step in placing the urgent issue of longevity risk firmly on the agenda. We are focused on improving education on this issue, to ensure future generations have a better a chance of planning for their retirement adequately, and we also strongly recommend lifting the pension age, in line with increases in life expectancies” Mr Newman concluded.

The post Actuaries warn of retirement underfunding risk appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The Actuaries Institute (the Institute) has named Mr Adam Driussi, Co-founder and Director of the Quantium Group as the 2013 Actuary of the Year. Announced last week at the Institute’s annual Volunteers Cocktail Party in Sydney, the Actuary of the Year award is bestowed on an actuary who has brought credit to the profession, and made a key contribution to business, the community, government or the profession during the year.

The use of big data and data analytics has become increasingly important to business over the last decade. Forward-thinking entrepreneur, Mr Driussi, has been at the forefront of this growing trend. Together with his business partners, Mr Driussi has successfully transformed Quantium Group over 10 years from a small consultancy to Australia’s leading data-driven strategy business and is now one of the largest employers of actuaries in the country.

Institute President John Newman described Mr Driussi as an outstanding actuary who has dedicated himself to advancing the actuarial profession in a different field.

“Adam is now one of Australia’s leading players in data analytics, a field which is fast becoming a highly attractive new practice area for actuaries. Outside of his own career success, Adam goes above and beyond for his profession. He is always generous with his time to speak at conferences for the Institute and other actuarial events and is a strong ambassador for actuaries in the wider business community,” he said.

Mr Driussi was among a group of shortlisted candidates who have all demonstrated significant contributions to the profession and was chosen as the Actuary of the Year by a panel of senior actuaries.

Previous recipients of this prestigious award include Estelle Pearson in 2012 for her major contribution to the actuarial profession and the insurance industry for more than 20 years Fred Rowley in 2010 for his work developing the first globally recognised Enterprise Risk Management qualification (CERA) and Munich Re’s Kaise Stephan in 2009 who was the first actuary to swim the English Channel and raised over £80,000 (A$122,787) for a children’s hospital.

Commenting on the accolade, Mr Driussi remains passionate about demonstrating the value actuaries can add to the broader business community across a range of different sectors.

“As businesses increasingly recognise that data and analytics are key enablers of business performance, there is an opportunity for the actuarial profession to take a leadership role in helping businesses realise this value.  Actuaries can bring a huge amount of value to businesses by harnessing the potential of this data across a very broad range of industries,” Mr Driussi said.

New Fellows welcomed across range of industries

Mr Newman also congratulated the 60 actuaries recently welcomed as new Fellows of the Actuaries Institute – the highest level attainable in the professional body.

“This professional qualification is highly regarded both in Australia and overseas, recognising the rigorous education and study undertaken and the special analytical and strategic skills the profession has to offer,” said Mr Newman.

The Institute’s new Fellows work in a range of sectors, primarily in banking, investment and fund management, risk management, life insurance, health insurance, general insurance, superannuation and wealth management. The actuarial profession also has good female representation at senior levels, with 37% of new Institute Fellows this year being women.

“There are growing opportunities for qualified actuaries to make a significant contribution in the modern commercial world and there is a strong demand for the actuarial skill across a range of industries. The fastest growing areas for new employment are in banking, risk management, general insurance and of course, data analytics,” said Mr Newman.

The post Data analytics pioneer Adam Driussi named 2013 Actuary of the Year appeared first on AdviserVoice.