Mr Peter Clark This is Me

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1. 1. ::: Actuarial Appointments - Resource Centre :::

   www.actuarialappointments.com. - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/7/2007   Last Visited: 5/7/2007

   Interview With Mr Peter Clark, President Of Institute Of Actuaries:
   ...
   There is a need for actuarial bodies to sell the relevance and importance of actuarial services to the insurance industry in the region as well as globally, said the President of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK, Mr Peter Clark.
   
   In an interview with Asia Insurance Review, Mr Clark said the liberalisation of global financial markets worldwide as well as the critical challenges faced by insurers have presented immense opportunities for actuaries. The profession is increasingly becoming global business, no longer confined to certain regions or economic blocs, he added.
   
   He stressed: "The actuarial profession has, due largely to the pressures of globalisation, begun to accept new challenges in the developed as well as fledging insurance sectors throughout the globe."
   
   Need For Benefits Of Actuarial Support To Be Promoted
   
   Mr Clark urged governments and actuarial associations in the region to take active steps to promote the actuarial profession, and the benefits of actuarial support to the insurance industry. "The role of the associations is to explain to the insurance industry why they need actuaries," he pointed out.
   ...
   In explaining what needed to be done, Mr Clark echoed the need for government and industry support. "The two main groups that need to be convinced of these benefits are the regulatory authorities and insurance companies."
   
   He added that once these groups are convinced of the benefits that actuaries can bring to their operations, the factor of salaries to be paid to these actuaries could be addressed. Describing it as a domino effect, Mr Clark said: "Salary levels have to be looked into and adjusted to reflect the benefits actuaries bring. This will help attract people to the profession, and in turn solve the problem of the acute shortage of actuaries in the market."
   
   Global Shortage Of Expertise
   
   Elaborating the need to address the global shortage of actuaries more effectively, Mr Clark suggested that more incentives should be introduced to encourage university and college students to participate in actuarial studies and enter the profession upon graduation. "In the long run, the acute shortage of qualified actuaries could lead to poor profitability because of a lack of understanding of the financial dynamics," he warned.
   
   "If there is no change in mindset and attitude, the role of the actuary would be marginalised and the profession would be regarded as just a technical academic subject," he added while highlighting that "in reality, with the immense changes taking place in the market worldwide, there are opportunities for the role of actuaries to be widened and for actuaries to offer their expertise and advice on all these changes and help people understand the implications".
   
   Mr Clark noted that unlike in developed economies where qualified actuaries were found working in both life and non-life insurance sectors, actuaries in Asia were mostly engaged by the life companies.
   
   Emphasis On Effective Communication
   
   Mr Clark, who was appointed President of the Institute in September last year, has over 30 years of experience in the actuarial profession. He revealed that during his term as President, his key areas of focus would be on improving communication, culture and companionship within the profession, as a common stereotype is that actuaries are poor communicators.
   
   "It is important that actuaries communicate more effectively the value of what actuaries can do to a broader public and give each other the wholehearted backing, should insurance companies belittle or marginalise the work they do," he added.
   
   The Three Stages In The Life Of An Actuary
   
   Elaborating on how the stereotype came about, Mr Clark said that there are three stages of the actuarial profession. "The first stage involves learning the technical language and jargon. The second is using the jargon, and in the third stage, you avoid the use of the technical language and communicate the meaning to the layperson. Too many actuaries stop at level two and use too much actuarial jargon. It's important that actuaries are able to explain themselves.
   
   "Mr Clark suggested that in order to solve this problem, the industry should start at the root of the issue - in universities - and introduce communication modules within actuarial courses. "But the key hurdle is that actuaries have to recognise the importance of effective communication. Most of the time, actuaries believe that their role is just to present the statistics.
   
   " With trends indicating that more women are joining the actuarial profession, Mr Clark is confident that the problem of communication will slowly diminish. "At the moment, women account for more than 40% of the industry's new entrants. This is a very positive trend as intrinsically women tend to be better communicators and this will help in our goal to improve communication."
   
   Establish Credibility
   
   Pledging the Institute's commitment to the region, Mr Clark noted that Asia has been developing at tremendous speed and is definitely a key interest to the Institute.

2. 2. www.frb.co.uk

   www.frb.co.uk/cgi-bin/dmr5?acc - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/1/2000   Last Visited: 9/8/2007

   Peter Clark elected Chairman of EU actuaries
   
   President of the Institute of Actuaries Peter Clark was elected Chairman of the Groupe Consultatif des Associations d'Actuaires des Pays des Communautes Europeennes for a one year term of office.

3. 3. News Archives

   www.hotclaim.com/news/news01ma - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/11/2001   Last Visited: 6/5/2001

   : INDIAN insurance companies can have a higher stock market exposure provided that they have a strong solvency margin , which can protect companies from the negative impact of volatility , said Institute of Actuaries ( UK ) president Peter Clark. Mr Clark is also the chairman of the European Actuarial Association.
   
   At a time when all European bourses are experiencing an overall slump , UK insurance companies have an almost 50 per cent investment exposure in the stock market and consider their stock market investments to be both safe and profitable , he said. Speaking to The Financial Express , Mr Clark , who was in the city to sign a mutual recognition agreement with the institute's Indian counterpart , said that among the three segments of investment including real estate , debt and stock market , UK insurance companies earn most of their returns on stock market trading.
   
   Though the annual return on a particular year may come down because of the slump during the year , the average return remains high from the stock market , he said.
   
   However , he lauded the quality of Irda's new insurance regulations in the country. On the role of actuaries in an insurance company , Mr Clark , who is the chief actuary of the UK-based Sun Life Insurance Company , said that though an actuary was an employee of the insurance company , he or she had an independent role to perform in the company. We have a very high standards for monitoring the efficiency of a practicing actuary , he said. According to him , efforts are on by different international actuarial bodies to develop a ‘global common principle' for the profession. Both wish to facilitate global trade in actuarial services by providing criteria for the recognition of qualified actuaries from other organisations. The UK institute has offered a number of facilities to fellows of the ASI. The UK institute will givefellowships to ASI fellows if they meet some conditions , like :. * Have attained fellowship of ASI by final examination in its examinations conducted in November 2000 or later , including subject-specific exemptions granted by the ASI for examinations of the UK institute. * attest that he or she wishes to pursue actively the profession of an actuary in the UK or the Republic of Ireland or to advise on UK or Irish insurers.