ENDORSEMENTS FOR THE MERGER
I have voted yes for merger because:
“I support the merger. It is important for great institutions such as the Faculty and Institute to evolve over time to fulfil the needs of the day. In our case we need to breed actuaries for a more demanding and more globally connected world, where we need to have a strong voice if we are to influence the regulators and accounting standard setters. This requires effective and decisive leadership of the profession, which the streamlined governance structure of the merged body will provide.”
Paul Thornton FIA, Institute President 1998–2000 and President–elect of the International Actuarial Association – appointment starts 1.1.2010
“At a time when wise and sophisticated counsel is so desperately needed in financial markets, it is absolutely essential that the actuarial profession is united in one coherent body. We are often accused of not making ourselves readily understood and one of the most difficult things for external audiences to understand is why we need two separate professional bodies.”
Paul Bradshaw FIA
“This is a crucial time for the financial services sector and for actuaries in particular. We need to focus our energies on rising to the external challenges our profession faces. Divisions and internal arguments only serve to act as unneeded distractions. It's time to pull together and face the future as a united profession.”
Ashok Gupta FFA
“Royal London has thrived from combining businesses north and south of the border and I believe the UK actuarial profession can too. The profession will be able to take advantage of future opportunities more effectively as a single, united body. The Chartered Actuarial Profession will have the influence necessary to guide public policy in financial and enterprise risk management and to promote actuaries and actuarial techniques, particularly in new areas of commerce. I'm voting for merger.”
Mike Yardley, Group Chief Executive, Royal London Group
“I believe there are very powerful reasons for combining the Faculty and the Institute. From an internal point of view of course we will realise considerable efficiencies but more importantly in my mind is the fact that we will at last be able to represent ourselves as one profession in the United Kingdom. I am very happy to support the merger and would urge others to do likewise.”
Trevor Matthews FIA, Chief Executive Officer, Friends Provident Group plc
“I fully support the merger and will be voting in favour, both as a Fellow of the Institute and as an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty. It is the culmination of years of work to bring the Institute and the Faculty closer together. I was delighted that we took some significant steps forward in this direction during my own Presidency many years ago. The time was not right then for a full merger, but now it is. We will be stronger as a united professional body, both at home in the UK and internationally.”
Chris Daykin, President of the Institute of Actuaries 1994–96
“I have voted in favour of the merger as I believe it will provide a stronger united voice for the UK profession, both domestically and internationally.”
Garth Griffin FIA, President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa
“We live in times when all institutions public, corporate and professional, are coming under scrutiny as never before. We have a paramount duty to organise the way we operate to ensure that we conduct ourselves to maximum effect in terms of our professional duties and the public interest. The best way to achieve this is through a merger.”
Alan Fishman FIA
“In many respects we are already have a single merged professional body and can see the merits of working together. Education and administration have been successfully integrated and the profession and those we serve have benefited from the consistency and efficiency that unification has brought. But we can improve the clarity of our communication by speaking with one voice and we can enhance the speed and effectiveness of our decision making by unifying and streamlining our governance structures. In a world which is changing at an ever increasing pace these are crucial steps to take if we wish to retain and strengthen our influence. Clients and customers, regulators, government bodies, other professionals, the media and the rest of the world at large will, I am sure, all respond positively to the creation of a unified Chartered Actuarial Profession. I support the merger proposals wholeheartedly.”
Matthew Annable FIA, Chairman of the PPI
“With the reduction in the number of major actuarial employers in Scotland, and the prospect of a significant diminution in the future numbers of overseas students, particularly from South Africa, the future of the Faculty is under obvious threat. Far better to merge now, from a position of relative strength, than to allow the Faculty to wither on the vine. This initiative is, I believe, good for actuaries in Scotland.”
Tom Ross FFA, Faculty President 2002–04
“From my perspective it is most important that the UK actuarial profession merges and presents a united front in Hong Kong and China.”
Stuart Leckie OBE FFA
“I support the merger, because it will strengthen the UK actuarial profession.”
Desmond Smith, Past President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and Chair of the ICA 2010 Organising Committee
“I believe this to be in the best interest for the future of the actuarial profession in the UK.”
Joubert Ferreira, Past President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa