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An Introduction to the IAA

An Introduction to the IAA. Cecil Bykerk , President October 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Origins, mission and recognition. Founded in 1895 Restructured in 1998 to serve as worldwide association of professional actuarial associations. To encourage development of global profession

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An Introduction to the IAA

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  1. An Introduction to the IAA Cecil Bykerk, President October 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  2. Origins, mission and recognition • Founded in 1895 • Restructured in 1998 to serve as worldwide association of professional actuarial associations. • To encourage development of global profession • technically competent and professionally reliable • to ensure that the public interest is served • Not-for-profit, non-political, Non-Governmental Organization • on the Roster of the Economic and Social Council of the UN • on the Special List of the ILO

  3. Membership and representation • Full Member Associations: 63 • AssociateMember Associations: 26 • Assistingdevelopment of profession in 30 additional countries • Fullyqualifiedactuaries: 60,000+ in more than 100 countries

  4. Membership and representation • InstitutionalMembers: • International Association of InsuranceSupervisors (IAIS) • International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) • International Social Security Association (ISSA) • International Organization of Pension Supervisors (IOPS) • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) • Observer Member: • AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB)

  5. IAA Membership Requirements • For Full Member Association • Code of Conduct • Formal discipline process • IAA Education Guidelines and Syllabus • Formalprocess to adopt standards of practice, if and when national standards are created • For AssociateMember Association • Actuarial association not meeting all conditions above

  6. Relationship between IAA, Sections and Congresses • IAA: association driven, focusing on professionalism, standards, representation • Sections: scientific, research and practical arm • Congresses: a high point for both • Section Colloquia: yearly or biennially • Congresses: every 4 years • Next Congresses: March-April 2014 (Washington, DC – USA) ; 2018 (Berlin, Germany)

  7. Communication and Tools for Members • Communication is electronic: List servers • Quarterly Newsletters; Special Newsletter after each meeting • News releases to external audiences to inform of important IAA initiatives • Committee delegates and interested persons can join various list servers to participate / monitor work of committees

  8. Communication and Tools for Members (cont’d) • IAA Members’ Websitecontains: • specialized online translation tool in 8 pairs of languages • specializedsearchtool • Actuarial E-Library, specializedtopiclibraries • International EventsCalendar • Guidelines to facilitate participation of non-native English speakers and new delegates in work of IAA

  9. Potentially Difficult Issues

  10. Potentially difficult issues for a small Association • Governance • Education • Discipline cases • Standards of Practice • Promotion / marketing / engagement of relevant entities • Member engagement • Resources

  11. Governance: leadership, strategic direction, decision-making • Issues • Leader burnout • Few members willing and able to take on leadership roles • Decisions seen as having commercial implications • Decisions taken very personally

  12. Education – Basic and Continuing • Issues • Basic education materials • Current • Locally relevant • Exam creation, administration, grading • Professionalism course administration • Continuing education materials • Adequate scope

  13. Education – Basic and Continuing • Issues • Basic education materials • Current • Locally relevant • Exam creation, administration, grading • Professionalism course administration • Continuing education materials • Adequate scope

  14. Discipline cases • Issues • Finding a discipline panel • Experience • Relevant expertise • Clearly impartial (personal, commercial) • Cases are rare – new learning curve each time • Privacy of accused actuary

  15. Standards of Practice • Issues • Local actuarial market may not have sufficient experience in key areas to define the standard of practice • Local practitioners may not have adequate experience and perspective to draft the standards • Need a formal process for drafting and adopting SOPs

  16. Promotion, marketing, and engagement of other entities • Issues • Credibility • No long track record • Self-promotion • May require senior actuaries

  17. Member engagement • Issues • Early career actuaries not ready to volunteer their time for the association • Lack of employer support

  18. Association resources • Issues • Not enough people to do all the work • Heavy burden on a few people • Dues income not sufficient to cover necessary expenses • Inventing each program for the first time

  19. Potential Resources

  20. Leverage the IAA • Samples and models of documents such as standards • Local seminars • IAA Fund Professionalism seminar • IAA Fund Role of the Actuary seminar • IAA Section webinars • Advice & Assistance Committee – ask for help

  21. Leverage mature associations • Basic education • Educational materials • Examinations • Credential • Perhaps focus local effort on educating and testing regarding local laws, regulations, products, business practices • Standards (make local adjustments) • Seminars, including webinars

  22. Leverage the universities • Experts in education • Develop an appropriate credential path • Also a good mechanism for attracting additional students to the profession • May be able to bring in lecturers from around the world • Association may still need to cover some topics • Perhaps combine with internships at local insurance companies and consulting firms

  23. Regulatory support • Very helpful to have the regulator supporting the role of the actuary • Informally • Formally (laws and regulations) • We have found it very useful to have local regulators attend Role of the Actuary seminars

  24. Regulatory support • Very helpful to have the regulator supporting the role of the actuary • Informally • Formally (laws and regulations) • We have found it very useful to have local regulators attend Role of the Actuary seminars

  25. Seek an association mentor • Find a mature association willing to partner • Exam materials and administration • Credentials • Professionalism education • Continuing education (seminars) • Ongoing advice

  26. Seek some individual actuary mentors from mature associations • Mentor to your association • Provide ongoing advice and counsel • Help connect to other resources worldwide • Serve as a discipline panel when needed • Mentor to your members • Possibly connect your individual members with mentors around the world

  27. Regional partnerships • Pool your resources with other associations in the region

  28. Final thoughts • Even with a wide variety of resources, must have a core group of passionate leaders • Pursue ambitious but realistic goals • Begin involving the next generation of leaders

  29. International Actuarial Association Secretariat: Ottawa • www.actuaries.org

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