ACTUARIAL POST AWARDS FOR THE MODERN ACTUARY
2020 SPONSORED BY
ReMetrica Team
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Sponsored By
ReMetrica Team
THE ACTUARY OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Tom Durkin Lane Clarke Peacock As a partner Tom leads the insurance consulting practice, working across all areas of general insurance. He is also a Chief Actuary and an Independent Non-Executive Director (not for the same insurer!). Tom is most passionate about helping everyone to have opportunities to grow in their career and to play to their strengths. With a young family, he’s enjoyed some homeschool science “projects” this year and coding – from launching balloon rockets, to building their own dance mat computer game.
Michael Ingram Deloitte An Associate Director within Deloitte’s pensions advisory team with over 13 years’ experience. In recent years, he’s advised on projects that cross all aspects of the DB pensions world. Outside of work, he’s discovering how difficult it is to teach a 6-month-old puppy that it’s not okay to bark and chew the sofa whilst he’s on a Zoom call.
Laura McMaster Asta After joining Asta in 2018 Laura has been involved with oversight of all Asta’s managed syndicates, assessing pipeline opportunities, and leading Asta’s company-wide strategic initiatives as part of the Senior Management Team. Promoted to Chief Actuary in May 2020. Outside of work, Laura enjoys turning her hand to the practical – upholstery, millinery and dress making, superseded most recently by lego building with her kids.
Emma Stewart Lloyd’s of London Emma was appointed Chief Actuary & Head of Reserving for Lloyd’s of London at the start of 2020, making her Lloyd’s first female chief actuary and the youngest member of Lloyd’s senior leadership team. She has been passionate about enhancing the collaborative relationship between Lloyd’s and the market. Outside of the office Emma loves playing hockey and uses it to blow off some steam after a hard day’s work.
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GI ACTUARY OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Dorian Hicks Mazars A partner at Mazars leading the general insurance actuarial team and I feel honoured to be nominated for the title of GI Actuary of the year. This conversation, from a few years ago, illustrates how I like to work. I was convincing a client that their aspirations meant they were spending too much money on me and my team’s time. While seeing my point the client did tell me I would never make partner with that attitude. Fortunately for me, that turned out not to be true.
Laura Hobern Lane Clark & Peacock A Principal in LCP’s Insurance Consulting practice. She enjoys working with her clients and advising on a range of actuarial matters. Having worked in consultancy and directly for (re)insurers previously, she has broad experience covering topics such as reserving, pricing, mergers and acquisitions due diligence, portfolio analysis and management reporting. Outside of work Laura is kept on her toes by her very energetic and bossy (not sure where she gets that from!) 4-year-old daughter.
Richard Redding Sompo International Richard currently works for Sompo International as their Lead Calibration Actuary. Previously he held positions at StarStone, Enstar, Towers Watson, and EMB. Richard has shared ideas on risk model innovation through his blog (www.wellredd.uk) and by presenting at the Institute’s capital modelling seminar. Richard enjoys travelling with his wife and playing tennis but during the Covid crisis has had to make do with dreaming about the next getaway and playing online chess.
Nishika Sasdev QBE Nishika is an Insurance Risk Manager for QBE, leading the Validation and Challenge team. She was responsible for performing deep dives across any area of the business, to challenge existing processes, investigate problems or evaluate lessons learned in order to help the organisation. Outside of work, Nish is proud of climbing Mont Blanc and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as completing a marathon, 3 triathlons and cycling from London to Paris. Nish thinks she holds the record for how much cheese she can get through in a day and enjoys cooking and going for long walks around Kent.
INVESTMENT ACTUARY OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Jemma Arfield Barnett Waddingham The ever evolving nature of the investment landscape and real world challenges that our clients are facing, means that you always feel like you have more to learn and experience to gain. However, it is this very landscape that makes my career so fulfilling – it certainly never gets boring! When I am not at work, most of my time is spent running around trying to keep up with my adventurous (and occasionally mischievous) three year old son. He has also already managed to make unexpected cameo appearances in a few of my internal work calls.
Anthony Ellis Hymans Robertson Anthony is a Fellow of the IFoA and the Head of Investment Consultancy at Hymans Robertson. He has overall responsibility for delivery of the firm’s investment advice to clients and he is the lead consultant for a number of Hymans largest clients. Outside of work Anthony spend his time with his young family and has used his extra free time gained from less travelling during lockdown to take up running and to add a puppy to the two cats and 10 chickens already in the Ellis household.
Adam Gillespie XPS I am a Partner at XPS with over 20 years’ experience of advising pension scheme trustees and sponsors. I was a Scheme Actuary for several years, but over the last 10 years have moved to specialising in investment consulting. I am proud to say that I started off as an XPS graduate – perhaps less proud that this was in the late 1990s! Outside of work, before Covid-19 I used to enjoy travelling to hot climates and watching cricket (ideally at the same time!).
PENSIONS ACTUARY OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Greer Flanagan Hymans Robertson A little over a year ago my daughter (then aged 3) asked what I do at work. How could I explain what a DC pensions actuary does to a young child? I told her: “When people are older they stop working. But they need to have enough money to buy food and clothes and maybe even go on holidays. My job is to help make sure they have enough money to do those things.” She was happy enough with the answer and resumed eating her lunch. But the act of simplifying my job to it’s very basic definition had a huge impact on me. I realised just how important my day job was and the impact it has on a very large number of people. And so my passion for driving better member outcomes in retirement was renewed.
Paul Hamilton Barnett Waddingajm My favourite thing about being a pensions actuary is seeing my client’s realisation – that point when I have helped them to understand a complex issue for the first time. I sit on Barnett Waddingham’s Management Board, Actuarial Consulting Board, and Talent Management Board. My proudest work moment this year was being shortlisted for Mentor of the Year at the Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards, which was based on feedback from my colleagues.
Andrew Watcham Deloitte I’m a Scheme Actuary in the pensions team at Deloitte. I’m fortunate to have a varied role, which includes advising some of our largest (and smallest) trustee clients, working on the ground-breaking Deloitte Pensions Master Plan proposition, and leading the PPF levy consulting team. Outside of work, I’m a father to a very active toddler, and my other half and I have another child due at the start of 2021. Other than pensions, I like beaches, savoury baked goods, and interesting drinks.
LIFE ACTUARY OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Karen Brolly Hymans Robertson I am Head of Products in Hymans Robertson’s Life and Financial Services team which gives me the opportunity to work with our clients on their product development and customer related projects. My actuarial knowledge has been broadened further by joining the IFoA’s Life Board. In my non-actuarial role as an amateur vinologist, I have unfortunately not been able to visit any vineyards recently. However, my learning has also not stopped in this area and I have continued to keep up my knowledge of this important subject with regular samplings from around the world.
Emma Hutchinson Canada Life Started her actuarial journey in University College Dublin, where she graduated with a 1st Class Honours in Actuarial and Financial Studies in 2011. Emma’s consulting career has seen her working on multiple M&A deals, insurance business transfer schemes and Solvency II projects for UK and European life insurance and reinsurance companies, asset managers, pension providers and the UK regulators. Outside of work, Emma is an avid traveller (or was until Covid-19) and enjoys cooking, running and skiing.
Simon Johnson Rothesay I am Chief Actuary for Rothesay, a position I’ve been lucky enough to hold for almost three years now. I am immensely proud of what we’ve delivered this year despite the obvious challenges everyone has faced. This year has seen a lot of doom and gloom (and Zoom!) but the support of my colleagues and contacts across the industry has made it a lot easier. Away from work I enjoy spending time with my wife and three daughters, as well as enduring the ups and downs of being a Newcastle United supporter.
Alice Piper NFU Mututal I became a Fellow of the IFoA in 2007 and am currently the Life Chief Actuary at NFU Mutual. This is my first role with a Mutual and a composite. It is also my first role with a firm which distributes its business through its own network of agents. All of this has provided excellent opportunity to expand my knowledge and widen my experience. My husband and I are hobby smallholders growing a selection of fruit and veg as well as keeping numerous animals (all pets!) and honey bees – it is a rule in our house that every meal must include our own produce!
SOFTWARE OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Fusion KMG KPMG Fusion® is an online modelling tool developed to support trustees and pension scheme managers transform their approach to risk management. The tool provides instant information about defined benefit pension schemes and their financial positions to help dynamic decision making and the efficient production of accounting disclosures.
FUSION
Radar XPS Radar is an intuitive, web-based tool that provides real-time information and modelling functionality to pension scheme trustees, corporate sponsors and advisers. The recent addition of Radar’s sophisticated journey planning functionality has been described as a “game changer”.
ReMetrica AON Insurers are demanding more value from their investment in capital models. To create a more sophisticated and robust platform, Aon developed ReMetrica Version 7 which is helping to transform the role of actuaries by introducing a new more efficient and scalable way of working.
Skyval PwC PwC’s leading online pensions platform, Skyval, is designed to enable trustees, sponsors and advisers to share and manage analytics related to the funding, investment and risk of their defined benefit pension funds, all in one place.
Re-metrica
EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS AIG We are the UK life insurance business of global insurer AIG. We have an entrepreneurial, inclusive and flexible working culture with over 300 employees nationally delivering double-digit growth in the last two years. The team of 25 driven, passionate people have a strong work-life balance ethic. They have a reputation for being competitive especially in the company’s annual Steps Challenge for Health and Wellbeing month.
AON Aon empowers organisations and individuals to secure a better future through innovative talent, retirement and health solutions. We advise, design and execute a wide range of solutions that enable clients to cultivate talent to drive organisational and personal performance and growth, navigate risk while providing new levels of financial security, and redefine health solutions for greater choice, affordability and wellness.
Barnett Waddingham Barnett Waddingham is proud to be a leading independent UK professional services consultancy at the forefront of risk, pensions, investment and insurance. Our primary focus continues to be providing the personal, quality, tailored approach that has driven our success and has led to our high level of client retention.
Hymans Robertson Hymans Robertson provide independent pensions, investments, benefits and risk consulting services, as well as data and technology solutions, to employers, trustees and financial services institutions. At the forefront of our industry, we’re influencing the way it works.
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RECRUITER OF THE YEAR 2020 FINALISTS Bill Burton Goodman Masson In 2014 I joined Goodman Masson, at that time we were just starting our venture into the GI Actuarial market to complement our well-established teams across Life, Pensions and Investments. Since then, I have forged successful relationships with many of London’s top insurance companies and have helped build Goodman Masson’s brand in the GI market which is now a core part of our Actuarial offering. Outside of work I enjoy playing and watching most sports and travelling whenever possible. 2020 has also revived the geek in me and I have been playing a lot of online chess.
Cathy Carroll Bolton Associates With 14 years actuarial recruitment experience, I then joined Bolton Associates 6 years ago. I knew Zoe Bolton would support me in finding a balance between being a mum and having a successful recruitment career. One of the loveliest parts of working in my role for so long is that I have had a ring side seat watching some of the graduate actuaries that we helped start their careers, progress into roles in the upper echelons of the organisations we recruit for. When I’m not working, I love spending time with my family and working with Stemettes, a charity that encourages females into STEM subjects.
Adam Goodwin Star Actuarial Futures I am very passionate about my job and how much of an impact it can make to an individual’s career. I get immense satisfaction helping candidates make important career moves that they hadn’t necessarily thought about before my call, and I’ve become somewhat of a go-to agent for clients with hard-to-fill assignments that require extra commitment and perseverance in order to find the right person.
Sarah Robins Oliver James I have worked for Oliver James for over nine years, dedicated to placing Actuaries, Data Scientists and Pricing candidates into the UK General Insurance retail market. Without a doubt, working with people is what drives me and is easily the best part of my position as Principle Consultant at OJ. Away from work my 8 month old and 4 year old keep me on my toes! I also love the outdoors, especially since moving to the countryside 3 years ago.
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