TOMORROW'S ACTUARIES

Developing Tomorrow's Actuaries: a Global Perspective

Developing Tomorrow's Actuaries: a Global Perspective

Professional conduct

As a professional ? the actuary is normally assumed to have the knowledge ? skills ? and judgment that persons who seek actuarial advice do not have. Actuaries are normally expected to provide counsel and services that are in their clients' interest and consistent with the public good. Such counsel is best imparted in an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidentiality ? an optimal condition for professional advice. (Whelan ?2002)

Persons receiving such advice are likely to have greater confidence if they know that the actuary is bound by standards of conduct developed and enforced by the actuarial profession.

In recognition of a profession's collective obligation to the public ? standards of professional conduct may impose requirements that are stricter than those required by ethical considerations or by legal prescriptions. Professional conduct requires competence ? integrity ? objectivity of a high order ? and a commitment to service. These are necessary to assure users of actuarial services that they will receive the benefits of sound actuarial judgment on such important issues as the financial stability of insurance ? pensions ?(trowbridge ?2004) and other benefit programs. Only qualified actuaries may be in a position to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable advice in these complex areas. The profession ? as well as the individual actuary ? is responsible for the soundness of actuarial advice ? since it is ultimately the profession ? and not the individual actuary ? that may be called upon to demonstrate that services provided by the members of the profession are being delivered with competence ?(tong ?2006) integrity ? and independence. The profession can do this only if it has promulgated standards of professional conduct that are broadly accepted by the membership and are enforced by appropriate disciplinary procedures. The actuarial profession thereby acknowledges the full extent of its responsibilities to the public.

As circumstances change ? the actuarial profession from time to time reviews its standards of professional conduct as well as its disciplinary machinery and brings them into line with current thinking. (Stearns ?2005)

Professional qualifications

The quality of professional performance rests not only on a mastery of the underlying fundamentals and principles of the profession ? but also of currency in the relevant aspects of the rapidly growing information and special skills needed to solve problems ? as well as on sound business judgment based on experience. (Slud ?2006)

Professions themselves ? or the regulatory bodies charged with their oversight ? normally require a demonstration of a mastery of the underlying fundamentals ? principles ? and practices of the technical aspects of professional practice before applicants can be admitted to membership or to practice in the profession. Such professional credentialing has usually required not only the successful completion of ?(hickman ?2004) and testing on ? a prescribed curriculum of professional topics ? but also the meeting of certain experience requirements.

As technology and practice have advanced ? the specialized areas of practice within a given profession have tended to multiply ? ...