IFoA Board

Lord Currie has over two decades of non-executive and chair experience. He is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords and is currently chair of the Advertising Standards Authority and a council member of the European Policy Forum. Lord Currie was previously founding chair of Ofcom (2002-2009) and founding chair of the Competition and Markets Authority (2012-2018) as well as serving as chair at the University of Essex (2011-2018) and the Alacrity Foundation (2010-2013). Lord Currie has also held non-executive board positions at Royal Mail Group plc (2009-2012), and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (2004-2019). He was also Professor and Dean at Cass (now Bayes) Business School (2001-2008).

Until recently, Paul was a senior advisor at the Hassana Investment Company.

He is an Honorary Professor of Actuarial Science at the University of Kent, and a Visiting Professor at Heriot Watt University Dubai. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, for whom he has acted as a volunteer for many years. He also helped design and wrote the textbook for the profession’s Enterprise Risk Management subject.

Paul has chaired a number of actuarial boards, committees and working parties, and served as Honorary Secretary for the Institute of Actuaries prior to its merger with the Faculty of Actuaries. Paul is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, the Royal Statistical Society and the Royal Society of Arts.  In addition, he is a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary and a CFA Charterholder. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bristol.

Under the new governance reforms, he is the first President of the IFoA elected to serve a two-year term.

IFoA Fellow Kudzai Chigiji has a broad range of experience in life insurance, healthcare, digital product development, social security and banking. Her current roles include Independent non-executive director at Letshego Holdings Namibia and Letshego Bank Namibia, and Expert Member at Movement Health. Prior to that, Kudzai held a variety of roles including Chief Operating Officer at Ovation Solutions, an employee benefits tech start-up, and Consulting Actuary in healthcare and banking organisations across Africa.

IFoA Fellow Tony O’Riordan has wide experience in life assurance and pensions, investment management, non-life insurance, private equity. He currently holds non-executive director roles at Mercer Global Investment, MetLife Europe and Aviva Insurance Ireland. He is also board chair at St James’s Place UK. Previous to this, O’Riordan held a variety of roles most recently as CFO at New Ireland Assurance.

IFoA Fellow Andrew Rear is currently a non-executive director at insurance technology companies in the US and UK, and an adviser to technology-focused private equity. His last executive role was as CEO of a P&C insurer and insurtech investor. He has also been a non-executive director of insurance companies in Australia, South Africa, Belgium, UK and US; and chairman of a global software company.

IFoA Fellow Hitesh Shah is currently a non-executive director at SCOR Reinsurance Asia Pacific and chair of the audit and risk committee. He is also Vice President and Council member at the Singapore Actuarial Society. Shah’s past work includes being a consultant in special projects for both start-ups and large firms including Prudential Financial and Aviva. Previous to that he was Chief Marketing Officer at Manulife, Aviva and Prudential; and a Partner at Deloitte.

Sheila Kumar’s extensive career encompasses both non-executive roles and senior executive experience both in the public sector and in and with professional membership bodies and in professional regulation. As a non-executive this includes being a Council member and Chair of the ARC at the General Dental Council. She is also the CEO of a specialist regulator in the legal services sector. Since moving away from a career in legal practice she has led strategic projects in Whitehall and held senior roles in various sectors including at the Law Society of England and Wales and at the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Aaron Porter has a portfolio of non-executive board, trustee and advisory roles across a range of sectors. Board roles include as chair of the BPP University Board of Directors, deputy chair of Goldsmiths University of London, on the Council of a Statutory Healthcare Regulatory, trustee of a London theatre, chair of a specialist higher education college and a school governor.

Paul joined the IFoA on 6th January 2025 from the Royal Society of Chemistry where served as chief operating officer.

Paul is an experienced senior leader in the professional body and not-for-profit sectors. As chief operating officer at the Royal Society of Chemistry, he oversaw the work of 700 staff serving 60,000 members and delivering £70m of annual revenues. Paul’s previous roles have included director positions at City & Guilds and University of Cambridge Assessment. Paul is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and holds an MBA. He is a Freeman of the City of London, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and, the Royal Society for the Arts.