I visited South East Asia, Hong Kong and China in early May with our President, David Hare, joining me in China. Member and CPD events were held, and the feedback was very positive. These events are a great opportunity to meet our members in the region and I look forward to more in the future.

We are pleased to report that we have been awarded a business licence in China, the first actuarial association to receive such a license.  This enables us to better serve our members in the region.

During my trip I also visited Myanmar and the Philippines. In Myanmar meetings took place with the Deputy Finance Minister, the Education Ministry, Myanmar Insurance (the state insurer and regulator), and eight of the country’s newly formed insurance companies.

We will be building on the momentum from these meetings during the coming year and will continue our active engagement with our members in China and SE Asia.

Exam registration for the first CAA exam session, Module 0 closes on Friday 18 June.

It has been many years since the IFoA offered a new membership qualification. The aim of CAA is to provide an internationally recognised credential for professionals working alongside actuaries, and to extend actuarial knowledge to a broader reach of technical and analytical roles in the financial services industry. As well as a level of technical expertise, the qualification develops wider skills such as communication and professionalism.

Within a month of launch, the IFoA had already seen interest from over 30 countries, confirming the global appeal of the CAA.

We would like to draw your attention to the following deadlines as the closing date for registration draws closer. Study material is available, for those considering taking Module 0 with us in August.

• 18 July 2014 by 17:00 (UK time) Exam registration deadline - you must complete the online registration by this date
• 21 July 2014 by 17:00 (UK time) Exam payment deadline - you must have completed the payment for your exam by this date
• 25 July 2014 by 17:00 (UK time) Exam centre booking deadline - you must have booked your exam with Pearson VUE by this date

You can read more about the CAA and its benefits, how it fits within the global market and how the CAA can help you in your career by viewing our web pages.

At the time David Hare and Derek Cribb were visiting Beijing, China during their May trip, the IFoA was granted a business license in Beijing, making it the first and only international actuarial association with a legal presence in the country.

Derek Cribb, Chief Executive, said;
“Having legal status in China is immensely important to the IFoA as it will enable us to take the support we provide our members and students in the region to another level.

“China has experienced a great deal of change and growth in recent years and with it a demand for quality actuaries.  The high standards that IFoA membership represents, and our commitment to work in partnership with the China Association of Actuaries, local regulators and leading academic institutions, should have real impact on the development of actuarial science in the region.”

The picture above is David and Derek cutting the red ribbon at the opening of the Beijing office. Our Beijing office address is: 6F, Tower 2, Prosper Centre, 5 Guanghua Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing China 100020.

President and CEO of the IFoA David Hare and Derek Cribb visited Beijing, China during their SE trip in May. As part of the trip, David, together with the CRO of Metlife in Beijing Mr. Zhang Ge and the first FIA in China Mr. Zhao Xiaoqiang held an event together at Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE). IFoA have been having close links with CUFE for the past 20 years and both Zhang Ge and Zhao Xiaoqiang were past graduates from CUFE.

The event was part of a series of presentations arranged for students at CUFE. It focused on the experiences of being appointed actuary and the responsibilities held as a senior figure in the insurance companies. David was the first to share his experience as the appointment actuary at Standard Life and now a partner at Deloitte. Zhang Ge and Zhao Xiaoqiang then shared their success stories with the students.

David Hare and Derek Cribb also visited University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing. UIBE is the first university in China having obtained all 8 CT subjects exemptions from the IFoA. David and the president of the UIBE signed an exemption agreement.

On 10 June, Xiao-Xuan(Sherwin) Li, the Career Ambassador for China region, visited Beijing Technology and Business University in Beijing. He made a presentation to the students about China's Risk-Oriented Solvency System(C-ROSS) and its impact on China insurance industry.

He introduced the background and the latest development of C-ROSS to the students and compared C-ROSS with the international counterparts such as EU Solvency II, US RBC and Japan RBC.

The audience showed great interest in the topic of C-ROSS and there was a lively exchange with the speaker during the Q&A session.

3-5 December, EICC, Edinburgh

The Momentum conference is aimed at nearly and newly qualified actuaries across all practice areas. The key themes of this year’s conference are: Looking to the future; Adapting through change; Transition and evolution and Career development in non traditional areas. More information will be available shortly, which you can view on our website.

On 9 May 2014, David Hare, president of IFoA and Derek Cribb, CEO of IFoA attended a joint IFoA and New China Life Insurance event in Beijing, China during their China and SE Asia visit.

More than 35 local IFoA members and New China actuarial team attended the event, which was opened by Chief Actuary of New China Life, Mr. Gong Xingfeng. David was first to give presentation on The Management of UK with profits Funds), detailing the features of UK with profits, their managements, especially the roles of the board and the regulators in the UK. Afterwards, the partner of PwC in the Asia Pacific region, Mr Jin Peng presented a similar talk on China’s with profits funds and lessons can be learnt from the UK. Before closing, David also presented qualification prize to the newly qualified Emma Wang in China. The event closed with an animated and lively discussion among IFoA members.

New China Life is the third largest insurance companies in China and one of the 4 insurance companies which are listed in the stock market.

The picture shows David Hare awarding a prize to the newly qualified Emma Wang.

The IFoA is seeking to increase and formalise its international presence. To achieve this, the following volunteer opportunities are available for IFoA representatives at the International Actuarial Association (IAA):

IAA – Insurance and Accounting, Education and Practice Subcommittee
IAA – Insurance Regulation (Deputy)
IAA – Professionalism
IAA – Non-Life Working Group (new group)

All interested members should log on to the volunteer vacancies webpage to find out more about these and other volunteer opportunities, or contact Debbie Atkins, Head of Volunteer Engagement.

There are a variety of different volunteering opportunities within the IFoA no matter where you are based in the world.

Please view the volunteer vacancy page on our website to see more information on the roles and how you can get involved.

Volunteer vacancies

• Become an Exam Counsellor within the Education department;
• Become a member on the Beijing Conference Programme Committee 2015;
• Become a Career Ambassador and help promote the work that actuaries do;
• Join the reserve list for the 400 club.

International Board

The IFoA’s International Board supports the delivery of the IFoA’s international strategy through the provision of strategic proposals, the facilitation of effective communication on international matters and overseeing the IFoA’s international representatives. At its last meeting board members conducted a ‘deep-dive’ in to international regulation by the IFoA and will do the same for member support at the next meeting.

Should you have any queries about the work of the International Board please contact Rebecca Deegan.

Washington IAA Council and Committee meetings

The IFoA has responded to the recent IAA consultation on ISAPs 5 and 6, which pertain to ERM, the response can be found on our website.

The IAA is undertaking a significant review of its governance. It is encouraging all of its committees to produce a work-plan for the year ahead. This will feed into a dashboard, which is underway, to help to define the IAA’s goals from the top down.

The IFoA is looking forward to welcoming our colleagues from across the world to the September IAA meetings in London.

For those who pay by card, changes are coming to the way you pay for your exams.

From Monday 14 July we will no longer be accepting any card details on the September exam entry application forms.

Many of you already book your exams online via the website, and we would like to encourage everyone paying by card to do the same. This is the quickest, easiest and most efficient way to book your place.

Ways to pay from 14 July 2014
• Book and pay online for your exam
• Pay by BACs or cheque by completing and sending us an application form

If you experience any problems booking your exams online, please call the Education Services Team on: +44 (0)1865 268207 who will be able to take your booking over the phone.

We are working towards making all our education services bookable online, and we will keep you updated as we change our processes in other areas.