IFoA response to the article in The Times on 12th July 2023

By now, many of you will have seen the article in today’s edition of The Times which outlines the grievance that was raised by a senior employee to the IFoA about the behaviour of a senior volunteer, which was independently investigated and upheld. We do not know the source of the story, but we do take any breach of confidential information very seriously and will investigate the matter thoroughly. In the interests of transparency, we are publishing our full statement to The Times which is available on our website.

As senior leaders of the IFoA we want to communicate with you all a few key points about the case and our response. We are all proud of our organisation and the way that members and executives collaborate every day to advance the actuarial profession. This partnership is strong, however in this rare situation a senior volunteer behaved in a way that was found to be inconsistent with our values. We commissioned an independent investigation led by a highly experienced investigator, accepted the findings in full, and apologised to the employee in writing. We have also actioned the recommendations made as a result of the investigation. We would not hesitate to investigate any future allegations of bullying or behaviours inconsistent with our values in the same way – the IFoA has to be a safe place for its employees and members.

The senior volunteer has made serious allegations that the investigation stemmed from cultural and racial biases. We strongly reject these allegations and any suggestion that the grievance or investigation were in any way driven by cultural or racial differences. There is no basis whatsoever for these unfounded assertions. As an organisation, we are committed to making sure the demographics of our leadership, membership, and employees are more reflective of our wider society, and while our work in this area is ongoing we are proud of the progress we are making.

The events surrounding the investigation of the grievance and the subsequent postponement of the AGM and Council elections are complex and we are satisfied that appropriately robust and fair processes have been followed throughout. The situation has highlighted a number of limitations in our rules and procedures which we will actively address through the forthcoming governance changes.

One significant limitation is the powers that were available to our Nominations Committee at the time they were asked to consider whether there were grounds to stop the senior volunteer from standing for re-election. The Nominations Committee acted within its Terms of Reference and within the very limited and constrained powers conferred on it by Council. It did not have a general power or responsibility to assess whether election candidates were ‘fit and proper’ and would have exposed the IFoA to significant legal risk had it sought to do so. More particularly, the nominations form which applicants were required to complete only required them to declare certain formal findings and proceedings which did not apply in this case. In short, the committee’s hands were tied by the limited process and powers prescribed to it. The IFoA stands fully behind the important role undertaken conscientiously by its Nominations Committee and does not recognise the strong reaction reported in the media.

There has been some speculation that this situation has led to paralysis at the IFoA. This could not be further from the truth. We did have to postpone our AGM and Council elections because of this issue, but the elections have been subsequently opened, the AGM, for which we have to give 60 days’ notice, has been set for 6th September and our Annual Report has been published. While this situation has been ongoing, Council has passed extensive changes to our governance, we have held our landmark IFoA Conference, we have published a thought leadership paper on climate scenarios and celebrated our 175th anniversary to name but a few milestones. Our day-to-day work in supporting our members has continued uninterrupted and is as active as ever.

We are united as senior leaders in working with our members in taking the IFoA forward and shaping the future of the actuarial profession.

Yours sincerely