Good Morning everyone and first of all Happy 2012 to each one of you!!
Here at GAAPS we kicked off the New Year with a lot of enthusiasm… one of the many reasons being because our Australian branch Executive Director, Mr Tony Snoyman, got an entire page in the Actuary magazine!
I guess you’ve always wondered who are the faces behind the GAAPS brand and who are the people working at GAAPS desks…
Well, here you have the chance to find out more about our fantastic team!
A new points system for Australian immigration has been proposed by the Immigration Minister. The early signs are that it will make it easier for Actuarial professionals to qualify.
The current system currently awards Actuaries fewer points than many trade occupations – something that the Immigration Minister is keen to change.
The proposed new system would remove this occupational weighting and replace it with a system much more focused on qualifications, experience and English language ability.
Degree qualified Actuaries would only need one year of experience to meet the general entry requirements for this occupation. Then, they would be assessed on a points system for age, English language ability, experience and other factors.
Furthermore, there is a shortage of Actuaries in Australia. So much so, that the state government of New South Wales has included the profession on their list of occupations that they wish to attract.
Although the new system has yet to be signed off and would not come into effect until July 2011, we think many of the proposed changes are likely to be introduced.
We would like to thank Commonwealth Immigration for providing us with this information.
If you are interested in moving to Australia, register with www.gaaps.com for actuarial opportunities down under.
Posted in Australia, Immigration, International
Tagged Australia, Immigration, Points
Register or update you details on the GAAPS website for the chance to win a Kindle 3G.
From 1st December 2010 till 31st January 2011, all eligible entrants who register or update their details on the GAAPS website will automatically be entered into a free prize draw.
Due to the restrictions of gaming laws entry to the prize draw is limited to residents of the UK and Australia. There will be future events for international participants. If you do not live in the UK or Australia it is still worth registering so that we will be able to notify you of these events.
The competition is open to actuaries and those with ‘an actuarial connection’ over the age of 18. You will need to demonstrate your ‘actuarial connection’ when completing your registration.
Entry is subject to the full terms and conditions. There will be two separate prize draws, one for UK residents and one for Australia residents.
Download the full terms and Conditions (UK).
Download the full terms and conditions (Australia).
Click here to register.
Posted in Australia, Events, Odds and Ends, UK
Tagged Actuary, Australia, Competition, Kindle, Prize Draw, UK
Actuaries are included on the new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) for migration to Australia that has been published by the Australian Department of Immigration.
Search for Actuarial Jobs in Australia
Download our Top Tips for Australia
The Australian Government has released the final report of the Cooper Review into the governance, efficiency, structure and operation of Australia’s Superannuation System.
The review was commissioned in May 2009 to provide recommendations on how to make superannuation simpler, safer and more efficient.
Key points that are likely to be of interest to actuaries include:
Commissions based on insurance in Super Commissions will be banned on all insurance products in super.
There will be a ban on self insurance other than for defined benefit funds.
There are new capital requirements for super funds.
APRA is being given increased powers.
There are minimal changes to SMSFs.
A Code of Trustee Governance is proposed as nearly all the issues looked at in the Review link back to trustee governance in some way or other.
Standard product and investment reporting and detailed financial and operational info on websites.
MySuper should be a whole of life product and include a retirement phase.
Risk Management on Liquidity is being increased.
There are several recommendations for Defined Benefit plans.
The full review can be downloaded here.
Last week Dr Kaye attended the annual gathering of Australian actuaries.
The president of the Australian association gave a very usefull and infrmative talk and the dinner following the presidential address was equally enjoyable.
Everyone present participated in the discussions; informal comparisons with the other exams systems aroud the world were commented on on and ideas for ongoing networking events were suggested.
Dr Kaye said that “These gathering of the Australian actuaries are one of the highlights of my year.”
Much credit must go to Samantha Hu for arranging such a delightfull evening.
Posted in Australia, Events, Institute of Actuaries of Australia, Networking, UK
Tagged actuarial exams, Australia, Events, Networking
The Actuarial Profession is an international profession and the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries has agreements for the mutual recognition of qualifications with the following organisations:
* Actuarial Society of India
* Actuarial Society of South Africa
* Canadian Institute of Actuaries
* Casualty Actuarial Society
* Groupe Consultatif (Europe)
* Institute of Actuaries of Australia
* Institute of Actuaries of Japan
* Society of Actuaries
Additionally, the CERA (Charted Enterprise Risk Actuary) qualification is a truly international qualification which can be awarded by the individual institutes.
Posted in Actuarial Qualifications, Actuarial Societies, Actuarial Society of India, Australia, Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), India, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, Institute of Actuaries of Australia, International, Odds and Ends, Risk, South Africa, UK, USA
Tagged Australia, Canada, Casualty Actuarial, CERA, India, International, Japan, Mutual recognition, Qualifications, Society of Actuaries, South Africa, The Actuarial Profession
The Institute of Actuaries of Australia has announced changes to the designation of ‘actuary’.
As of the New Year, students will be able to describe themselves as ‘actuaries’ after completing Parts I and II, an Investments bridging course, a Professionalism course and the Practical Experience Requirement (PER)*.
Current associates will be able to describe themselves as ‘actuaries’ after they have achieved the PER and attended the Professionalism course.
Fellows will need to pass the relevant Part I, II and III exams and attend the Professionalism course.
*The PER is a achieved by completing three years’ relevant full time experience in the financial services sector.
With Australia’s unemployment rate remaining steady at 5.8%, and positive sounds from the Asian and US economies, there is definitely positive sentiment in the air about the improving global economy. This seems to have many of our clients thawing out their recruitment freezes from September 08, and bringing a mixture of new and replacement roles to the table. Read more on the Travel GAAPS blog
Posted in Australia, Great Links, Immigration, Odds and Ends
Tagged actuarial, Actuarial jobs, Actuary, Australia, vacancies
From the July 2008 Newsletter from Commonwealth Immigration – information regarding changes to immigration for Canada, Australia and the UK:
From Canada: Priority processing for skilled workers (at the discretion of the Minister for Immigration) will now be allowed, ensuring that candidates are put into place in a more timely manner.
A consultation process has now been initiated where all Canadian provinces and employers groups will be invited to give their views on the types of skilled workers that should be prioritised to meet with Canada’s skilled labour shortages. This consultation process is likely to take several months.
From Australia: A new processing centre has been opened in Brisbane that will handle General Skilled Migration visas. This is to assist in the volumes of visas now expected as a result of an increased target set by the government.
The Brisbane Skilled Processing Centre (BSPC) will not be fully operational for a few more months but it is hoped that it will help reduce the current backlog of applications at the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre (ASPC).
More information about working in Australia can be obtained by phoning our Australian office at +61 (0)7 3112 2657.
From the UK: The new Post-Study Work category has been introduced. This will replace the International Graduate Scheme, allowing overseas students with degrees from UK universities to remain in the UK to work for up to 2 years after graduation (1 year more than the IGS).
Posted in Australia, Immigration
Tagged Australia, Canada, Commonwealth, graduates, Immigration, labour, Post-Study, skilled, UK, visas, work permits
