October 2013

Advancing actuarial science together

Research and thought leadership

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Working in partnership with universities

For over 150 years the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has had strong relationships with universities and academic centres of excellence.

As a Learned Society, the IFoA puts the advancement of actuarial science at the heart of its activities for its members and for the public interest. Actuarial research is essential to who we are as a profession and is a vision it shares with you.

A key objective of the IFoA is to support and promote research and knowledge exchange with its members, external stakeholders and research communities throughout the world. The IFoA view this as being vital to the long term sustainability of actuarial science.

To support this aim, universities can apply to carry out the IFoA’s funded research projects, access its extensive library resources, submit articles to its two journals and gain access to the wealth of practitioner knowledge that exists through its 25,000 members around the world.

Find out more on the following pages of the IFoA website: www.actuaries.org.uk/research-and-resources

Accessing funded research projects

The IFoA has an extensive research programme, typically comprising over 100 initiatives at any one time. These reflect its eight key practice areas:

• Life insurance

• General insurance (non-life)

• Pensions

• Health and care

• Finance and investment

• Risk management

• Mortality and morbidity studies

• Resource and environment.

As part of this, the IFoA commission and fund selected research that seeks to:

• Advance actuarial science as a subject;

• Support practicing actuaries; or

• Help to inform evidence-based public policy development.

The IFoA strongly encourage universities to respond to its calls for research and have worked extensively with universities on the delivery of high quality and relevant research. The key benefits for universities are:

• Advancing and promoting the university’s international research profile

• Carrying out research that has impact

• Gaining practitioner input from IFoA members

• Providing a platform for dissemination

• Raising its profile amongst the IFoA global membership base and wide stakeholder network

• Cultivating and strengthening links with industry and community engagement.

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Recent projects have included research on:

• Pensions and retirement planning

• Long term care

• Mortality studies

• Resource and environment

• Discount rates.

To find out about the IFoA’s recent and current calls for research, please visit the IFoA website: www.actuaries.org.uk/calls-and-current-projects

Or please contact research@actuaries.org.uk if you would like to be alerted to any future opportunities.

“The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has provided funding for ongoing research in state-of-the art reserving methods. This funding was of enormous importance to the overall success of our research” Professor Jens Neilsen, Cass Business School. City University London.  

Working with the IFoA member community

The research that IFoA’s own members carry out on a voluntary basis through working parties and other projects is central to its research and thought leadership agenda. With over 700 members engaged in over 70 working parties, there may be a group of IFoA members researching an area that overlaps with your or your colleagues’ research interests and may be able to supplement your research with the practitioner’s view.

For you, connecting with the IFoA members’ research could range from:

• Joining a working party, sharing knowledge between practitioners and academia

• Making an informal contact with practitioners with a common interest

• Attending an IFoA event or conference where the research is disseminated

• Accessing the digital archive of working party research papers and presentations.

“As an active non-member on the Mortality Research Steering Committee I have organised a workshop and edited an issue of the Longevity Bulletin. I’ve found it challenging but very rewarding in engaging with actuaries.” Professor Carol Jagger, Newcastle University.

From time to time, IFoA working parties also look to employ research assistants from the academic community for small pieces of work to support the development of their research topics.

To find out about practice areas, current member working parties and exchanging information with a working party, please visit: www.actuaries.org.uk/practice-areas/pages/practice-areas

If you would like to volunteer to join a working party, or receive an alert when future vacancies are posted, please view the volunteer vacancies section of the IFoA website: www.actuaries.org.uk/members/pages/volunteer-vacancies

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Knowledge transfer from the IFoA member community

IFoA events provide a platform for thought leadership and research to be shared and discussed amongst its members and wider stakeholders, including universities. These will typically include:

• The sessional research meeting programme, including a Spring and Autumn lecture from an external speaker

• Open Fora

• Residential conferences

• Local regional events around the world.

Some of these events are free and mostly open to all. The sessional meeting programme is filmed and freely available to view at: www.actuaries.org.uk/events

The research of the IFoA is also disseminated in digital and paper form through:

• Its two journals, the “British Actuarial Journal” and the “Annals of Actuarial Science”

• The Longevity Bulletin, which focuses on recent developments in longevity studies

• Our website

• Its third party publications, such as “The Actuary” magazine.

Publishing your research

The IFoA offer global dissemination of research work carried out in universities. The two actuarial journals it publishes are an important outlet for the research that you undertake within your university departments:

• “British Actuarial Journal” – primarily aimed at practitioners

• “Annals of Actuarial Science” – focused on publishing high quality academic articles from round the world.

The editorial teams of both journals welcome the submission of high quality and relevant papers in life insurance, non-life insurance, pensions, health insurance, finance and investment, econometrics, health and care, resource and environment, insurance economics and financial risk management.

In addition to the journals, opportunities also exist for universities to showcase research at IFoA events as well as through the IFoA website.

Published by the Staple Inn Actuarial Society, “The Actuary” magazine is issued to over 25,000 of its members world-wide. According to a recent survey of IFoA members, The Actuary is the key channel for informing them about new research.

“The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries supported the work of the Global Sustainability Institute on Limits to Growth and its possible implications for investments. The publication of the report enables our academic institution to achieve real impact with our research.” Dr Aled Jones, Anglia Ruskin University.

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Our library resources

To complement the library services that you may already access through your own university, the IFoA’s library is able to offer a specialised service, which includes:

• A unique library catalogue containing key actuarial publications and articles

• Digital resources with access to thousands of journal articles, eBooks and databases

• Support from librarians, who can help to trace books and articles for you

• A large historical archive of old and rare titles which chart the history of actuarial science back to the 17th Century.

Should you find yourself near the IFoA’s London or Edinburgh offices, there is a physical library space that can be used for quiet study or accessing some of the resources on site.

For further information contact: libraries@actuaries.org.uk

Actuarial Research Centre

In 2012, the IFoA established the Actuarial Research Centre (ARC) as a joint project with the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA), with the purpose of furthering actuarial science and providing a bridge between academia and business through the sponsorship of PhD projects.

Research is intended to be relevant, innovative and practical. The first two PhD students have been sponsored by the IFoA and corporate sponsors, which has not only provided access to funding but also access to a wealth of industry and practitioner knowledge and advice. In line with the IFoA’s public interest role, all key outputs will be open to all to support other researchers and practitioners.

The vision for the ARC is to support and fund a larger network of PhD students around the world, ensuring the longevity of cutting-edge actuarial research within university communities.

“The role of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in setting up the ARC has raised engagement with the business community to a new level, with projects under way that will deliver both significant practical and academic benefits.” Professor Andrew Cairns, Director of the ARC.

For more information about ARC please visit: www.actuaries.org.uk/arc

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Supporting actuarial research communities

Beyond the ARC and funding PhD studentships, the IFoA has a broader international commitment to supporting research communities in universities.

This includes:

• Providing travel grants for academics throughout the world to attend conferences and other events in the pursuit of their research

• From time to time providing grants to support research in areas identified by university departments

• Providing industry exposure for MSc students, such as running events to showcase dissertation topics.

“Thanks to funding support from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries I was only then able to attend the Actuarial Teachers’ and Researchers’ Conference in Oxford to meet one of my main research contributors.” Dr Catherine Donnelly, Heriot Watt University.

Get connected

The Research and Knowledge team at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries supports and promotes the research activity of the profession. Meet the team:

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To sign up to our e-newsletters, enquire about submitting a journal article, receive alerts for research calls, connect with a relevant group of practitioners or just have a conversation with our team about your research interests, please get in touch: research@actuaries.org.uk

URL for research: www.actuaries.org.uk/research

URL for calls and current projects: www.actuaries.org.uk/calls-and-current-projects

Sarah Mathieson Head of Research and

Knowledge

Kevin McIver Research Relationship

Manager

Kay Henderson Research Programme

Manager

Chiara McCormack Research Project

Manager

John Anderson Research Project

Manager

Lorraine Atherton Research and

Knowledge Assistant

David Hood Librarian

David Raymont Librarian

www.actuaries.org.uk© 2013 Institute and Faculty of Actuaries