Actuaries chief seeks quicker development

RONNIE Bowie, president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, has claimed that the profession is at a unique moment in its history and has called for a step change in the pace of the development.

In his first presidential address, he said that the merger of the Institute of Actuaries and Faculty of Actuaries should create more streamlined and effective decision making.

"We must define better what it is that the actuarial skill-set brings to modern business and, at the same time, we need to define better what is the role of our new professional body."

He said actuarial expertise must be combined with trust and that this trust had to gained through the behaviour of actuaries.

"Bolstered by professional ethics and by an innate sense of public interest we are prepared to speak up when we feel it necessary," he said.

"Most actuaries I meet want to do the right thing because it is the right thing, not because rules and regulations tell them to."