This video is of the GAAPS Actuarial careers fair at Heriot Watt University.
It was a busy, buzzing careers fair in Scotland with representatives from 14 major actuarial employers.
Employers discuss their actuarial training schemes, internships and company cultures as well as personal stories about their own careers and how they became actuaries.
The employers featured in the video are PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Aegon, Watson Wyatt, Aviva, Mercer and Hymans Robertson.
Students from Heriot Watt talk about the fair, their course and why they want to become actuaries.
In a world increasingly dominated by technology, it can be easy to forget the most fundamental thing. From pensions to insurance, investment to broking, the single most important asset of any company is the same as it has ever been. The human factor.
In his blog, Aaron Dodd discusses the importance of face-to-face contact and how it is integral to building strong relationships with clients.
At GAAPS we have always said that “It’s not just who you know, it’s how well you know them” and we always do whatever is necessary, not only to match the candidate to the career, but also the personality to the working environment.
A colleague and I attended breakfast with Mervyn King, Governor of The Bank of England.
The contents of the discussion must obviously remain confidential however, what we can say, is he felt that in terms of the economy, “There should be optimism for the long term and caution for the short term.”
The American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) has warned that the Healthcare Reform Bill contains language that “precludes data collection and aggregation across companies, limiting competition” potentially leading to a rise in premiums.
In general, as a condition of being licensed, property/casualty insurance companies are required to designate an entity to which they will report data for subsequent analysis.
These analyses of aggregated data serve several purposes and for some types of coverage, any single company’s own data, even for relatively large companies, is often insufficient to determine basic loss costs in multiple markets or to determine reasonable charges. Clarification of the legislation is needed as the bill does not specify what loss data may be collected and it is unclear about what actuarial activities are allowable
… Actuary has been ranked as ‘Top Job’ for 2010 by the Wall Street Journal.
Being in high demand is just one reason actuary landed at the top spot on a newly released study ranking of the 200 best and worst jobs in the U.S. in 2010.
The findings were based on five criteria: environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress.
The employers attending the GAAPS Actuarial – Imperial College Business School information session and reception on 15th February 2010 have been confirmed as:
A New Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Actuarial Foundation Report Identifies Benefits and Gaps with Retirement Planning Software.
Retirement Planning Software and Post-Retirement Risks highlights the need for more long-term retirement planning following the economic downturn. The report focuses on assessing the benefits and gaps with retirement planning software and provides recommendations to refine these tools to help individuals be more prepared for the future.
The report analyses 12 financial planning software programs and finds that s software packages need to better address key planning drivers such as: Longevity, unexpected events and risks, housing, social security and annuities.
US News have included actuaries within their list of the top 50 careers for 2010 and predict that the actuarial profession should have strong growth over the next decade.
