Life insurance is one of the traditional and largest areas of practice for actuaries.
Actuaries work within life insurance in various roles including:
- designing and pricing contracts
- monitoring the funds required to provide the benefits promised
- recommending bonuses to be added to with-profit policies
- providing expert advice on investment
- getting involved in the planning and marketing of products
- advising on strategic risk measurement
Life is the largest of the IFoA’s 8 practice areas. It’s integral to the IFoA in all of its key areas of influence: research, continuing professional development (CPD), public affairs, and regulation.
Research working parties
Explore all the IFoA’s active life research working parties.
Join a practice board or sub-committee
Life Board
The IFoA’s Life Board is a member-led board of senior volunteer actuaries that actively influences the environment in which life actuaries practice. It advises the IFoA on important life issues and sets key objectives annually. The board operates within a terms of reference laid out in the IFoA’s governance manual.
Further information for volunteers, including tips on how to chair a meeting, can be found in our Volunteer Information Pack.
Membership is drawn from a broad cross-section of the life insurance community to ensure full coverage of all life insurance-related issues. Its current members are:
- Burcin Arkut (Chair)
- Joshua Waters (Deputy Chair)
- Matthew Ford (Council Representative)
- Richard Schneider (Chair of Life Research Committee)
- Michelle Lister (Chair of Lifelong Learning Committee)
- Vacancy (Chair of Life Standards and Consultations Committee)
- Clarence Er
- Maddalena Facci
- Tom Kenny
- Rob Merry
- Natalia Mirin
- Elaine Murphy
- Saurabh Sehra
- Dhwani Shah
- Tim Stedman
- James Tufts
- Mudi Ugono
- Janice Zhong
The Life Board and its subcommittees are committed to ensuring that their members are educated and practice in an environment of the highest standard. The board and its subcommittees are responsible for:
- developing topics for member-led research working parties and helping push through research outputs like sessional research papers, presentations, or articles in the British Actuarial Journal
- pushing forward timely CPD opportunities and events, ensuring all life members have access to CPD of the highest standard
- helping to shape IFoA responses on consultations
- raising issues of strategic interest to the profession
Specialist sub-committees
The Life Board has oversight of and is supported by the:
- Life Research Sub-committee
- Life Standards and Consultations Sub-committee
- Life Lifelong Learning Sub-committee
- Life Conference Organising Committee
The Life Research Sub-committee ensures a strong research output in the life practice area through member-led research.
It oversees all research in the life practice area, including:
- identifying, promoting, and fostering new opportunities in member-led research
- launching and monitoring the progress and needs of up to 20 member-led research working parties
- fostering cross-practice research activity where there are overlapping interests
- supporting the development of the annual conference programme
- represents the life community on the Research and Thought Leadership Committee
Membership
Membership is drawn from a broad cross-section of the life community to ensure a spectrum of specialties and topics are investigated.
- Richard Schneider (Chair)
- Kruti Malde (Deputy Chair)
- John Dalmaris
- Kenneth Leung
- Henry Li
- Cathal Lillis
- Peter Towers
Terms of reference
The sub-committee operates within a terms of reference (47.2 KB PDF). The terms of reference are laid out in the IFoA’s governance manual.
The Life Standards and Consultations Sub-committee ensures that regulation relating to life insurance is kept up to date and that appropriate guidance is available to members in the life community.
The sub-committee also:
- considers consultations that have been delegated to it and drafts responses as appropriate, and in accordance with the IFoA’s consultations process
- raises awareness on any issues of importance that may not already be captured
- provides information and assistance notes (IANs) and non-mandatory resource material (including questions and answers, scenarios, case studies, and information bulletins) to provide guidance to members in the life community
Membership
Membership is drawn from a spectrum of senior actuaries with experience in addressing policy issues, and maintaining standards.
- Joshua Waters (Chair)
- Greg Douglas
- Mudi Ugono
- Waqar Ahmed
- Hannah James
- Philip Latto
- John Hoskin
Terms of reference
The sub-committee operates within a terms of reference as laid out in the IFoA’s governance manual.
The Lifelong Learning Sub-committee (Life) ensures that education and CPD requirements are coordinated and constantly evolving for the benefit of life actuaries and all members.
It oversees all education and continuing professional development (CPD) needs and is responsible for the:
- development of the life CPD programme and forward event planning
- monitoring and evaluating events
- oversight and guidance of the Life Conference organising committee
- working with the Education Board on developments in the life practice area that impact on the examination syllabus and education needs of members
- reviewing of core reading in accordance with the annual timetable
The sub-committee is supported by the IFoA Communities Team and Education Actuary Colin Thores.
Membership
Membership is drawn from a broad cross-section of the life community to ensure a spectrum of specialties and topics are represented.
- Michelle Lister (Chair)
- Varun Sood (Deputy Chair)
- Zubair Arshed
- Ian Boyd
- James Gillespie
- Cath Hodges
- Kristi Hristakev
- Philip Tervit
Terms of reference
The sub-committee operates within terms of reference (86.2 KB PDF). The terms of reference are laid out in the IFoA’s governance manual.
The Life Conference Organising Committee oversees the Life Conference.
- Zubair Arshed (Chair)
- Kishan Patel (Deputy Chair)
- Nicola Draper
- Lincoln Egwuekwe
- Alexander Harding
- Andrew McCredie
- Giada Milocco
- Alan Newton
- Sarah Nubeebuckus
- Nicholas Reilly
- Sameer Sheth