WHY A NEW NAME?
A new name is part of our opportunity to better communicate the role of the members and membership body, and to express the unity of the single, joined entity.
Process
The process of naming the new organisation began as part of the members' survey conducted between November 2008 and January 2009, in which all members of both the Faculty and the Institute, including Associates, Fellows and Students, were asked to express a view on the name. (A summary of the survey findings can be found here). The findings were considered first by a work strand as part of the overall merger project then by Joint Councils as a whole. While the majority of members told us that the choice of name would not affect their support for merger, deciding the name proved the most contentious aspect of the project.
Many members rejected the idea of using the existing names together, i.e. Faculty and Institute, as they believed this would be a cumbersome and rather gratuitous compromise when what was required was a fresh start reflecting the opportunity to raise the profession's profile. The most popular names that emerged from the survey were: Institute, Profession, Society and Association.
Using just the name Institute, while popular with a certain cross-section of the membership was considered ill-advised as it would give the mistaken impression that the merger was a takeover rather than a new body formed from the joining together of its predecessors.
After consultation with members and research by the work strand, a number of suggestions were presented to the Joint Council in February and March. The five serious contenders were;
- Chartered Academy of Actuaries
- Chartered Actuarial Profession
- Chartered Association of Actuaries
- Chartered Institute of Actuaries
- Chartered Profession of Actuaries.
On 29 April the Joint Council chose the Chartered Actuarial Profession from a shortlist of two.
Criteria
The criteria for naming included:
- Differentiate from other similar member organisations eg Society of Actuaries, Association of Consulting Actuaries
- Suitable acronym both for the organisation and the individual designation (the Chartered Institute of Actuaries was rejected on this basis, since it would have produced the acronym CIA, which is already used by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries)
- Clear and simple, and easy to pronounce
- Memorable
- Free of negative connotations
To download the long-list of names in PDF format, click here.
Rationale
The rationale for the new adopted name was as follows:
Chartered: Makes reference to the conferring of a Royal Charter to set the organisation apart from trade bodies and affirm the profession's long, fine heritage. This was very well received in survey focus groups as people believed it communicated kudos without arrogance/elitism. Many members welcomed the opportunity to use the label Chartered Actuary.
Actuarial: Does what it says on the tin: what we are and what we do. Most people make reference to being an actuary rather than quoting their membership body or initials.
Profession: Provides clarity and continuity to external stakeholders as we are already widely known as The Actuarial Profession. Profession infers our commitment to professional conduct, emphasis on training and world class qualification.