Finance and investment webinar programme 2026-27: call for speakers and content

The Finance and Investment Lifelong Learning Sub-committee invites proposals for our webinar programme running March 2026 to February 2027. 

We are looking for engaging, insightful speakers who can share fresh perspectives, provoke thoughtful discussion, and offer practical takeaways for our members.

You might have a topic that you yourself would like to present (possibly with a colleague), or you might like to propose an inspirational speaker or topic.

We are looking for topics and sessions that: 

  • Are delivered by a range of diverse and professional colleagues, that bring either a UK, EU, or global perspective.
  • Are delivered by experts in their field, both actuaries and non-actuaries.
  • Showcase results from working parties, where there has been new or further developed research.

Submission deadline is close of business on 5 January 2026.

Topic ideas

Our audience spans actuaries, investment professionals, risk specialists, consultants, policymakers, and academics, across the UK and internationally. The aim is to deliver high-quality sessions that reflect the breadth and depth of modern finance and investment practice.

Topics of particular interest include (but are not limited to):

  • Market outlook and investment strategy in a changing economic environment
  • Sustainability, responsible investment, stewardship, impact investing
  • Climate finance, biodiversity, nature loss, carbon footprint, addressing inequalities
  • Capital management, risk, and solvency considerations for insurers and investors
  • Developments in asset valuation, ALM, and portfolio construction
  • Technological developments, such as data science, AI, and data analytics on financial decision-making.
  • Soft skills such as leadership, team management, mental health
  • Regulatory developments and their implications for finance and investment actuaries, such as Solvency UK, IFRS / UK GAAP, FCA, funded re-insurance, credit and liquidity risk 
  • Private markets, infrastructure, and alternative asset trends
  • Emerging fields and non-traditional roles for finance and investment actuaries   
  • Investment strategies for pension schemes, emerging trends in long-term savings
  • End game strategies for pension schemes, and the options available as schemes mature

The webinars will be available for booking in our events calendar 

Past webinars are stored on the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)

Proposal details

If you are interested in submitting a proposal, we recommend an approximately 200-word summary of your chosen subject, including:

  • An overview of the material that you intend to cover
  • Key outcomes or knowledge that attendees will take away 
  • Target audience and assumed knowledge level
  • Format of your session (for example interactive live presentation, debate, panel session, pre-recorded presentation)
  • Any other relevant information.

An example of a good submission is shown below.

We encourage submissions to clearly demonstrate how they will engage with their online audience, to make their sessions as interactive as possible. 

Deadline: 5 January 2026 (please feel free to apply sooner)

An example of a good submission:

Why isn’t machine learning (ML) used routinely in reserving as it is in personal lines pricing?

Although there is widespread interest in ML, we see the same questions come up time and time again on difficulties and obstacles to incorporating ML into reserving. These are topics of substance with no single, easy answer and include questions such as:

  • why use ML for reserving in the first place?
  • how do you get your stakeholders (including auditors) on board with using ML?
  • how can we research and apply ML techniques if we don’t have access to granular transactional data?
  • how do you incorporate judgement or external information into an ML-based reserving process
  • are actuaries going to be replaced by data scientists?

In this session we will have a panel discussion featuring various members of the Machine Learning in Reserving Working Party (MLRWP) and we will discuss these points and others. The MLRWP has shared many of our findings and material in talks and on our blog.

This will be delivered online and will be a high-level session rather than a technical one. It should be of interest to actuaries at all levels with an interest in ML including senior actuaries and team leaders who are interested in using ML in the reserving process and may be asking many of these same questions.

Submit your proposal

The committee curates and develops the CPD event programme that enables our members to learn at the forefront of professional and market developments. It will carefully review all submissions.

We greatly appreciate your interest in raising topics contributing to the professional development. Thank you for helping shape the future of finance and investment learning and for contributing to the professional growth of the IFoA community.

If you have queries, please contact eventmanagement@actuaries.org.uk