Newsletter

CONTENTS Page

Christmas Drinks and Charity Table Quiz 1

Results of CPD Survey 2

Fellowship Ceremony& Maths Tutorial Intiative 3

Round-up of Society CPD meetings 4-5

Reform of Defined Benefit Legislation 5

Solvency II Committee 6

Interview with Conor O’Neill 7

Gala Ball 8-12

Student News 13

Back Page 14

The President, Dermot Corry, hostedthe Society’s traditional Christmasdrinks on Monday 2nd in theDavenport Hotel. There was a greatturnout to celebrate the approach ofthe silly season and to enjoy a drink andan opportunity to catch up with friendsand colleagues in an informal setting.The finger food was particularly popular, and there was great excitementat the little cones of fish and chipswhich helps to show how easy we areto please as a profession.

Dermot gave a short speech wishingeveryone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and looked forward to continuing engagement with membersinto 2014. He was particularly appreciative of the huge volunteereffort that goes into making the Societyso busy and productive and noted that2013 has been another very strong yearfor the Society in that regard. He offered his thanks to all those whohad assisted the Society over the yearby taking part in committees and working parties or presenting atevening meetings and other Societyevents.

Following the Christmas drinks manymembers stayed on for the annualChristmas charity table quiz with 19tables taking part in a challenging andvery entertaining quiz. Last year’s champions had the honour of settingthe questions, led by the quiz-masterfor the night John Groarke. John, ablyassisted by Stuart Redmond, BernardLee and Niamh Crowley put together a tough but fair set of questions withplenty of cause for head-scratching andforehead slapping. Covering topics asdiverse as One Direction, the works of Eugene O’Neill, the geography ofMiddle Earth and the global consumptionof Kit-Kats, there was certainly somethingfor everyone. The fiendish anagramsround caused more heartache thanmost, and by the end of the quiz all

challengers had fallen by the waysidewith one team emerging as clear winners.

The winning team, consisting ofStephen G. Jones, Alan Tiernan andKevin Humphries (all from Zurich) andShane O’Byrne of Aviva romped hometo a comfortable victory. The prizes for winning the Christmas quiz aremanifold, but certainly the biggest honour is the chance to nominate thecharity that will receive the proceedsfrom the night. The victors nominatedSt Vincent de Paul to receive the€2,000 donation. Stephen then rounded things off by treating us to ahaunting medley of jingle bells and aSwansea City football chant. Of courseanother element of the prize for winning is to set the questions for nextyear’s quiz. We look forward to seeinghow well next year’s quiz will match thehigh standard set by John and his teamthis year.

Christmas Drinks and Annual Charity Table Quiz

DEC

MBE

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L to R:- Front Row: Bernard Lee, Dermot Corry (SAI President), Alan Tiernan, Kevin Humphreys, Stephen G Jones, Shane O’Byrne and Niamh Crowley. Back Row: John Groarke and Stuart Redmond

Pg 2 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

Results of CPD Survey The Society’s Professional Development& Research Committee recently surveyed Fellow and Associate membersto get members’ views on the Society’sprovision of CPD. Members were alsoasked to input into how the Society’sCPD programme should be developedin future. Almost 300 membersresponded – we would like to thankeverybody who took the time to complete the survey.

The results of the survey have beenanalysed by length of time qualified as well as the main practice areas.

Main Findings – from RecentQualifiers

• Membership profile (by practicearea) – 50% Life, 18% Non- Life and11% Pensions. Another interestingstatistic – 26% work in consultancy.

• Location: 93% are based in theDublin area.

• CPD meeting times: early morningand 6.30pm are preferred.

• Meeting formats:

– shorter meetings were preferredto full day or half-day events.

– A series of mini-events covering acertain topic did appeal to themajority (60%).

• Online CPD: CPD in variouse-formats were not of much interestto members if they were unavailableto attend an event.

• Reminders: Respondents were infavour of a reminder of a CPD event.

• Meeting Content:

– Strong preference for technicalapplication of actuarial skills(80%) with the usual format ofpresentation followed by Q&Apreferred.

– Soft skills featured highly forrecent qualifiers, Communicationand Management Skills were ofparticular interest. Small groupworkshops were preferred andwould encourage participants toask questions.

– A presentation of Research was of interest to 57% of recentqualifiers who responded(presentation followed by Q & A),this was closely followed bypresentations by “Other

Professional Bodies” (especiallyeconomists) – 56%.

– In summary, the Society’s currentformat of presentation followedby Q&A is the preferred formatfor recent qualifiers – however,there is demand for moretechnical topics to be covered.

• Volunteering for the Society:

– Majority of respondents were notmembers of Society committees /working parties (59%) - of thesehalf signalled that they would beinterested in getting involved.

– Time commitment andinexperience were the two mainreasons for not getting involvedin committees/working parties.

Main Findings – Applicable toall Practice Areas

• Location: Most respondents work in Dublin.

• CPD meeting times: – Varietyseems to be important. Earlymorning meetings and 6.30pmmeetings are preferred.

• Reminders: Outlook invitation andemail reminders popular.

• Meeting formats:

– Preference for 2/3 hour eventseither in the morning or earlyevening. There seemed to bevery little preference for full dayevents.

– Series of Mini events coveringpractice specific topics aimed atcross practice audience.

• Meeting styles – Presentationfollowed by Q&A are still preferredhowever, some more interactionwould be preferable includingopportunities to ask questionsonline (anonymously!) during theevent, contact speaker afterwards orreceive slides in advance. Workshoptype events were popular for sometypes of meeting such as for softskills session. Soft skills presentationsshould be relevant for actuaries’ reallife situations.

• Meeting Content – There was astrong preference for technicalapplication of actuarial skills followedby research and presentations fromother professional bodies such asmedical or legal professionals,economists or academic research.

Popular soft skills werecommunication, management,project management, conflictresolution, efficiency andeffectiveness.

• Volunteering for the Society:Time commitment is the mainreason people gave for notparticipating in more committees or working parties with someappetite expressed for shorter termfocus groups.

Next StepsThe Recent Qualifiers Committee arecurrently analysing the results anddeveloping CPD events for early in the New Year taking account of the feedback received from the survey.

The Professional Development &Research Committee will shortly hold ameeting with the Chairs of the PracticeCommittees to progress the planningof the 2014 Calendar of Events and toincorporate as many suggestions aspossible from the survey.

The Professional Development &Research Committee is keen to enhancethe Society’s CPD programme andwould welcome views and suggestionsfor the CPD Calendar at any stage. If you are interested in presenting orhave comments and/or suggestions,please email Mary Butler at:mary.butler@actuaries.ie

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 3

Fellowship Ceremony – 7th November 2013

I suspect that for many of us, ourtrigonometry and co-ordinate geometryskills are a little rusty at best. That hasnot deterred 25 of our members to volunteer to provide maths tutorials for higher level leaving cert students as part of an exciting new initiative promoted by the Society. The projecthas been developed by the Communications Committee of the Society, with AidanRedmond chairing the leadership groupof Aoife Brady, Ann O’Keeffe, AoifeO’Hora and Robert Meaney in gettingthe tutorials up and running.

The idea was first mooted in early2013, and at the GraduationProgramme in March we had 7 peoplevolunteer to be involved. Considerablework has gone on behind the scenes toaddress the logistical issues (includingthe necessary Garda vetting), and todevelop suitable course materials. Withpreparations at an advanced stage the Society started the process of communicating with schools, and putout a wider call to members for more

volunteers. We now have 25 volunteersand 16 leaving certificate students havealready signed up for the tutorials fromthe first two schools contacted.

A key distinguishing feature of the project is the focus on students whootherwise might not be in a position to avail of extra tuition. This has beenachieved with the support and assistance of Junior AchievementIreland and by focusing on theDepartment of Education’s DEIS list of schools. The DEIS list (DeliveringEquality of opportunity In Schools)focuses on schools requiring additionalfunding. By targeting the tutorials atthose schools, the Society can providea valuable resource in promotingstrong mathematics skills, as well asmaking a difference to the individualstudents taking part.

The intention of the project is to provide free tutorials to higher levelstudents where the affordability ofgrinds might be more challenging.

The tutorials will take place in theDavenport Hotel commencing in lateJanuary and running until May from6pm to 8pm on Thursday evenings.The format is likely to involve 4-5 tutorsper session taking the class through aseries of sample questions and providinghands-on assistance to individuals and smaller groups of studentsthroughout the evening.

It sounds like a great initiative and one that could make a big difference to the leaving cert students taking part.We thank all the volunteers for theirtime and effort and wish everyone taking part the best of luck in makingthe project a roaring success.

Back to row L – R: Eamon Flannelly, Orla Vaughan, Paul Campbell, Michael MurphyNext row L- R: Bridget MacDonnell, Paul Marron, Aisling Marron, Brendan Guckian, Colm Erett, Michael Vesey Second row L-R: Lisa Sheppard, Grace Buckley, Kate Kingston, Patrick Kelly, Judith DoneganFront row L – R: Cian O’Reilly, Eoin Larkin, Dermot Corry (SAI President), Jennifer Johnston,James Cunningham

Maths Tutorial Initiative

During his speech to 19 newqualifiers, the President of theSociety, Dermot Corry, said thatone of the most enjoyableSociety events is the FellowshipCeremony. This is the occasionwhen new qualifiers togetherwith their families and friendsjoin the President, Council members and representativesfrom the universities to celebrate their success. As Dermot presented each of them with their Fellowshipparchments, he encouragedthem to proudly use the designatory letters FSAI. Bydoing so he said they would behelping to raise the profile andawareness of the profession inIreland.

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Round-up of Society CPD meetingsDemography Forum – October 3The Society’s Demography Committeeran a Demography Forum in theDavenport Hotel in early October. The presentations for the day covered a range of topics of interest primarily tolife and pensions actuaries:

• Colm Guiry, the chair of theDemography Committee providedan update on the Committee’srecent work and plans for thecoming year.

• James Tait and James Leitchprovided an overview of CriticalIllness claims experience, changes tothe analysis methodology, datacollection and future work of theCMI Critical Illness Committee

• Committee member CiaranMcGrath summarised the results ofthe recent Irish Self-AdministeredPension Scheme Mortality Study.

• Dr. John Schoonbee, Chief MedicalOfficer, Swiss Re. gave a thoughtprovoking presentation entitled"Longevity and mortalityimprovements - will history repeatitself?"

DC Pensions – It is time tosimplify – October 10 Niall O’Callaghan provided an entertaining and thought provokingpresentation on defined contributionpensions, championing the cause of simplification. Niall’s principal argument was that, while we have seenmany proposals on the issues facingdefined contribution pension provisionfor the future, real progress in this areawill be almost impossible while the coreof the system remains so complex.

The presentation was notable for thevery strong level of audience interactionand in particular the wide range ofmembers’ views on this topic.

Common Mistakes in VariableAnnuity Hedging Programs:Hedge to what? What tohedge? – October 16Pin Chung provided an informativepresentation setting out insights intocommon mistakes Variable Annuitywriters have made on their hedgingprogrammes (based on an informal

survey of industry practitioners and his own experience). The presentation provided practical advice on avoidingmistakes in a hedging programme,considering key communicationissues, and concerns relating to product development and pricing, as well asmatters more directly related to thespecifics of the hedging programmeitself.

Forum for discussion on CP73, the CBI Consultation onRequirements for Reservingand Pricing for Non-LifeInsurers and Reinsurers –October 17A members only session was held on17th October, chaired by Ger Bradley.This meeting was held to provide anoverview of the key proposals ofConsultation Paper 73 (CP73) and toget members’ feedback for considerationby the SAI Committees compiling theSociety’s response to the consultation.

Introduction to the ActuarialProfession – October 2270 new actuarial students attended thishalf-day annual SAI seminar. The agendaincluded an overview of the actuarialexams; the role of the Society ofActuaries in Ireland; practical advice on work-based skills; tips on how tostudy and pass the exams and the benefits of the SAI Students Society.The afternoon included presentationsby Dr Trevor Watkins, the ActuarialProfession’s Director of Education,along with Society staff and membersof the Recent Qualifiers’ Committee.The seminar concluded with DervlaTomlin, SAI Vice President, describingthe ‘life of an actuary’.

Perspectives on Cash/LiquidityManagement in today’s lowyield environment – November 5David Furey from SSgA’s Global Cashteam gave an insight into the ongoingstruggle cash investors are faced with in the current market, as they try tobalance the need to retain liquidity andachieve an acceptable yield withoutcompromising on the quality of assetsthey are willing to hold.

He explained the different factors and

investment options the team in SSgAconsider when trying to come up withthe appropriate investment strategy in such a challenging market. The presentation and podcast would be of interest for anyone who is strugglingwith their own cash/liquidity management.

Presentation on FinancialEconomics – November 13 Dr. Olaf Menkens – Lecturer in FinancialMathematics, DCU – was the presenterat this lunch time meeting, where heexplained the process followed whencarrying out the research he has undertaken with Ralf Korn (TechnicalUniversity of Kaiserslauten) and MorgenSteffensen (University of Copenhagen)which resulted in the publication oftheir paper ‘Worst-Case-OptimalDynamic Reinsurance for Large Claims’.

The paper considers the optimal reinsurance strategy to employ in a scenario where worst case claims experience develops and the presentation will be of interest to anyone who is looking for further detailon some of the more technical aspectsof the thinking behind the paper.Interestingly, the presentation showsthat the age-old advice ‘don’t put allyour eggs in one basket’ does notalways hold true.

Retirement Actuary of theFuture – November 19Bryan O’Higgins and Alcarine Powerpresented the key points from theworking party paper – RetirementActuary of the Future. This workingparty was formed to consider what roleactuaries would play in the future IrishPension landscape; what skills andcompetencies would serve actuariesbest in this scenario; and how the SAIcan help members in this context.

The podcast, presentation and workingparty paper may be of use to seniorstudents and recent qualifiers who areworking in Pensions and would like tobenefit from the insight that could beprovided into the roles of actuaries inPensions in the coming five to ten years.

Life Forum – November 28Almost 100 members attended the LifeForum in the Davenport Hotel on the

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 5

the topics and presentations included:

• Update from the Life Committee –Dervla Tomlin

• Predictive modelling around theworld – Kevin Manning

• Solvency II – Jim Murphy

• Persistency – Tony O’Riordan &Brian Morrissey

• Matching linked liabilities underSolvency II Survey – Kevin Manning

General Insurance Forum –November 29 Following on swiftly from the LifeForum there was another strong turn-out for the General InsuranceForum, held in the Westin Hotel on themorning of November 29.

The morning was split into round-tablediscussions on:

• Unallocated Loss AdjustmentExpense

• Additional Unexpired RiskReserve/Unearned Premium Reserve

This was then followed by a presentation by Ger Bradley which gave an overview of the Society’s draft response to the Central Bank ofIreland’s Consultation Paper 73“Requirements for Reserving andPricing for Non-Life Insurers andReinsurers”. Ger’s presentation was very interactive and generated considerable discussion from attendees.

continued from page 4

Reform of Defined BenefitLegislation

Press Release issued by the Society on 20th November 2013

The Minister of Social Protection, Joan Burton, announced a package of legislativemeasures on 19th November 2013 to address the situation where a defined benefit scheme winds up or elects to restructure. The Bill was published on 22ndNovember 2013 and is due to be enacted before the end of 2013. The Societyissued a press release welcoming the changes but highlighted that we would haveliked them to go further.

Government responds to call for action

The Society of Actuaries in Ireland welcomes the announcement by the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, of legislation toreform the order in which the assets of an insolvent defined benefitpension scheme are distributed on wind-up.

The Society has been seeking change in this area for many years,to deliver greater fairness in the distribution of assets while continuing to provide protection for retired people.

The current rules give priority to pensioners on wind-up, resultingin a disproportionate burden being borne by those who have notyet retired. The new rules, when enacted, will provide a more equitable distribution of the assets between pensioners and thosewho have not yet retired. Though we would have liked to see thechanges go further, we welcome the improvement that they willbring.

The Minister also announced State protection measures where a sponsoring employer and pension scheme are both insolvent. This brings much-needed clarity to the legislative environment for sponsoring employers and trustees of defined benefit pensionschemes following the European Court of Justice ruling relating to former Waterford Crystal employees.

High-level summary of key changes:

1. If both the pension scheme and the sponsoring employer are insolvent,the State will (using pension levy monies) provide any funds needed toensure that all members receive at least half their accrued pension. Forpensioners, the first €12,000 p.a. of pension will be fully protected.

2. If the scheme winds up in deficit but the employer is not insolvent, the first €12,000 p.a. of pensions in payment will receive priority. After that,pensions in payment may be reduced by up to 10% if the pension isunder €60,000 p.a. or by up to 20% if the pension is over €60,000 p.a.

3. Where an insolvent defined benefit scheme is being restructured, pensionsin payment may be reduced as per (3).

4. The Pensions Board will be given added powers to intervene where ascheme’s funding level is below 50%.

Presentations and podcasts for allCPD events are available on theSociety’s website under Past Events.For any events that were MemberOnly events, member login isrequired.

Pg 6 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

The Solvency II Committee of the Society ofActuaries in Ireland2013 has been a landmark year in theSolvency II project, with the (eventual)agreement of Omnibus II text, and theconfirmation that Solvency II wouldcome into effect from 1 January 2016.The trilogue agreement on Omnibus IItext in November marked the most significant event of what had alreadybeen a busy year from a Solvency IIperspective.

The early part of the year was dominated by the Long Term GuaranteeAssessment (LTGA) with the EIOPA findings on LTGA published in mid-June.Reaching agreement on Omnibus IIlargely hinged on LTGA issues and theOmnibus II text agreed in Novemberreflected a comprise position betweenthe European Parliament, the Counciland the Commission.

In addition to the focus on LTGA andOmnibus II, there was considerableactivity relating to the preparatory period leading up to the introductionof Solvency II i.e. 2014 and 2015. In late March of this year EIOPAlaunched a consultation on guidelinesfor the preparation for Solvency II covering four key areas:

• Systems of Governance

• Submission of Information

• Forward Looking Assessment of Own Risks (FLAOR)

• Internal Models

The Society’s Solvency II committee led the Society’s response to the consultation, which was incorporatedinto a submission to EIOPA by theGroupe Consultatif (the collective bodyof European actuarial associations). It isnotable that the Society’s responseformed a central part of the finalGroupe Consultatif submission.

Following the consultation periodEIOPA published its final guidelines inlate September, with the Central Bankof Ireland (CBI) following up inNovember with the publication of its

final guidelines. The CBI publicationclarifies the impact of the EIOPA guidelines on Irish companies and theSolvency II committee, in conjunctionwith the Life and Non-Life committeesis considering areas where the Societycan provide further support to membersduring the preparatory period.

Other areas of focus for the committeeover 2013 included continued contribution to EIOPA’s pre-consultationon draft level 3 text in relation to‘External Scrutiny and Audit’ and thedevelopment of a working group paperon the treatment of Irish DefinedBenefit pensions under Solvency II.

Looking ahead to 2014, the committeeanticipates another busy year. Now that the level 1 text has been agreed,attention will turn to the level 2 andlevel 3 text, and we expect considerableeffort to be expended in this area overthe year ahead. The committee willcontinue to lead the co-ordination ofthe Society’s input to the process, linking in with the Groupe Consultatifas appropriate. The committee will alsocontinue to engage with the CBI, AnTaoiseach’s Solvency II group, InsuranceIreland, DIMA and other key Solvency IIstakeholders over the year ahead, and

lead the Society’s response to any further Solvency II consultations thatarise.

In addition, a key focus for 2014 will be to provide updates and support tomembers in relation to the emergingSolvency II requirements and any majordevelopments that occur over the year.

The committee has provided a lot input to various stakeholders over thelast year, and this would not have beenpossible without the efforts of a largenumber of volunteers. It has been veryencouraging to see the number ofmembers who have been willing totake part in various working groups andconsultations, and we look forward tocontinued engagement with membersover the next year.

The current committee membership isshown below. Thanks are also due toJohn Armstrong, Michael Culligan andMike Frazer who recently steppeddown from the committee having eachcontributed greatly to the work of thecommittee in recent years.

Membership

John Bolger Brian Morrissey

Myra Daly Jim Murphy (chair)

Liam Dempsey Colin Murray

Shane Fahey Edel O’Connell

Declan Lavelle Dick Tulloch

Dermot Mannion Ger Bradley

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 7

Interview with Conor O’Neill

Our latest Question Time volunteer isConor O’Neill. Conor is well known inthe profession and is currently the chair of the Society’s communications committee. In particular Conor will beknown to many as a “wider fields” trailblazer following his role in settingup the spread betting company DeltaIndex. Now back in the traditionalactuarial fold we caught up with Conorto find out about his time at DeltaIndex and to understand why he couldnot resist the temptation of narrowerfields.

Career BackgroundOn completion of his leaving certificate,Conor started his career in New IrelandAssurance Company in 1985 but afterconcluding that life was too short not to experience college life, gave itup after 12 months to go to college in Cork to study mathematics. On graduating, Conor joined Clay andPartners, a pension consultancy inMayfair in London for a year, this timereturning to Dublin to join Lifetime.

In late 1994, while still studying for the exams, a call from Colm Fagan tojoin Life Strategies was too good anopportunity to decline and as one whoembraces change, Conor joined LifeStrategies in December of that year.Colm had to give Conor a separateoffice (the last time he had one headds) for fear it might alter the finelybalanced ‘feng shui’ Colm had createdin his own office.

Conor left Life Strategies when it wassold to Marlborough Sterling in mid2000 and started an MBA in UCD.

As he was trading the financial marketsquite heavily in 1999 to 2001 using a UK based financial spread bettingcompany, it was a business Conor knew reasonably well from a client perspective. In late 2000, Conor alongwith a college friend, Michael O’Shea,decided to establish the first Irish basedfinancial spread betting company buthe adds that they realised that they had very little general managementexperience and sought out what theytermed a ‘grey haired man’ to provideguidance and experience to their plans.Dermot O’Donoghue, an ex-senior AIBExecutive, joined the team in thoseearly days and became Chairman.

Then started a roller coaster 10 years of Delta Index and even though attimes it was quite stressful, Conordescribes it as a brilliant experienceadding ‘I wouldn’t have changed anything’. Conor had to learn quicklyin non-actuarial areas: business plans,corporate finance, branding & marketing, PR, sales, designing financeprocesses, treasury, IT systems, riskmanagement, compliance etc. Most ofthese were areas where Conor had noexperience prior to Delta Index.

He describes his actuarial qualificationas providing very valuable skills infinancial accounting and market riskmanagement, which is quite a mathematically technical area. Moregenerally Conor feels that actuarial skillstransfer very well to careers outside thetraditional areas of insurance and pensions and is disappointed that thenumbers of actuaries working in widerfields remains relatively low.

In late 2011, Delta Index scaled back itsoperations significantly by outsourcingthe main operations to a UK basedspread betting firm and two monthslater, Conor was back in the insurancegame joining Barclays Insurance. Eventhough he was out of the actuarialworld for a long time, Conor says hefound picking up the actuariaI side of the role reasonably straight forward in that he remembered most actuarialprinciples from his earlier years. Whatwas unusual for Conor was that he nowhad a boss and he hadn’t had one for along time. “I’m sure this fact wasn’t loston my bosses in Barclays either”, headded. “That said, the transition hasbeen very smooth.”

Question Time:Full name: Conor James O’Neill

Describe your family: Married to Anne Marie, we have three children, agirl aged 10 (mature enough to leavehome already) and two boys (aged 7 & 9) who in between fighting againsteach other are passionate about sports.

Qualification: BSc in Mathematics &Statistics in UCC, MBA from UCD

Current employer: MD in BarclaysInsurance

Time you start work: Start at 9am andfinish at 6.30pm

If you weren’t an actuary whatwould you be? A financial marketstrader or possibly a Maths teacher.

Any pet hates? Lack of accountabilityin business or state agencies

Favourite actuarial joke: What’s thedifference between an introverted actuary and an extroverted actuary: the extroverted actuary looks at yourshoes when he’s talking to you.

Favourite holiday location: Spain

Favourite Music: Bob Dylan

Favourite tipple: Erdinger Urweisse(I’m a fan of German wheat beers)

Favourite TV programme:Forbrydelsen (the Danish version of the Killing)

Who would be your ideal dinnerparty guests? Bob Geldof & NoamChomsky & Aung San Suu Kyi

Favourite Pub: Birchalls in Ranelagh

How do you relax? Going out for dinner with Anne Marie & listening tomusic

Favourite book: ‘The End of Historyand the last Man’ by Francis Fukuyama

Real books or a Kindle? Real booksoddly enough although I’m generallyan early adopter when it comes totechnology.

Favourite movie: Pulp Fiction

Most embarrassing moment: Toomany to mention

Last words: I hope I’ll say ‘no regrets’.

Pg 8 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

Gala Ball

Back Row: Ronan Mulligan, Sinéad O’Halloran, Seán Hussey, MarvynHenry, Colin Manley, Deirdre O’Brien, Aindriú O’Faoláin

Front Row: Anne-Marie Gordon, Adam Browne,Jennifer Tweed, Paul Duffy, Ros Manley

Keith and Michelle Burns with Colette and Brian Griffin

Aisling Byrne, Marie Doyle and Jenny Quigley

Bronagh Traynor, Ian O' Donnell and Jennifer Rogers

Back Row: Karen Lynch, Michael Danaher and Padraig FlanaganFront Row: Lorna Flanagan, Tara Chambers, Shane Murphy

Back Row: Caroline and Paul Barlow, Wendy and Ger Bradley, Una and Andrew Kay, Kathy Murphy, Rachael Ingle

Front Row: Frances and John Kehoe, Lynne and Richard Walsh

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 9

Back Row: Gerry and Anne-Marie Jordan, Therese Madden, Mary Barry, Irene Butler, Frank Downey, Stewart Andrews, Gareth Colgan, Tom Barry, Donal Casey, Donal O’Flaherty and Michael Madden.

Front Row: Aisling Kennedy, Yvonne Lynch, Brenda Dunne, Caroline Downey, Dermot Corry, David Harney, Geraldine O’Flaherty and Brendan Kennedy

Micheal O' Briain, Paul O’Faherty and John Logan

Back Row: Peter Caslin, Rosemary Commons, Ivor O’Shea, Caroline Caslin, Colin Murray

Front Row: Bernie and Shane O’Farrell, Grainne and Karl Alexander, Aileen Shanahan

Karen and Eamonn Mernagh

Back Row: Julie Reynolds, Rachel Gow, Claire McKevitt, Paul McGrath, Brendan McCusker

Front Row: Madeleine Lavery, Rene Kilrane, Jenny Rogers, Karen O’Riordan

Pg 10 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

Karen O' Riordan with Brendan McCusker

Evelyn Bourke, Seamus Creedon and Rosemary Commons

Back Row: Marie O’Briain, Catherine Logan, John Logan, Micheal O’Briain,Brian Huston, David O’Connor, Mary Butler

Front Row: Antoinette O’Faherty, Paul O’Faherty, Clair Whyms, Maurice Whyms and Joanne Burke

Shauna Rowley, Aisling Corcoran and Eilish Moloney

Orlagh Woods, Sarah Fee, Jenny Fee and Sarah Teehan

Back Row: Richard McMahon, Carmel McMahon, Grainne O’Leary, JohnArmstrong, Aisling McQuillan, Gareth McQuillan, Dave Roberts

Front Row: Katherine Manning, Kevin Manning, Ann Marie Spillane, Brian Grimes, Caroline Roberts

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 11

Gerard McNally, Barry O’Farrell and Martin Browne

Back Row: Sarah Fee, Tom Donlon, Elena McIlroy De La Rosa,Sheena Frost

Front Row: Viviana Pascoletti, Orlagh Woods, Sarah Teehan and Jenny Fee

Back Row: Alex Breeze, Paul Mulroy, Rachel Lynch, Sinead Parkinson,Kevin Lennon

Front Row: Sandy Smillie, Jennifer Quigley, Aaron McCormack, Linda Travers

Deirdre O’Brien, Sean Hussey and Jennifer Tweed

Caoimhe McGee and Darragh McHugh Back Row: Lily Garvey, John Gibson, Ann Marie Jordan, Gerry Jordan,Eleanor Kehoe and Jim Kehoe

Front Row: Evelyn Bourke, Seamus Creedon, Carmel Brennan and Jonathan Goold

Pg 12 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

Back Row: Michael Madden, Brendan Kennedy, AislingKennedy, Gareth Golgan, Irene Butler

Front Row: Therese Madden, Dermot Corry, Brenda Dunne, Tom Barry and Mary Barry

Back Row: Donal O’Flaherty, Geraldine O’Flaherty, YvonneLynch and Stewart Andrews

Front Row: Donal Casey, David Harney, Caroline Downey and Frank Downey

Back Row: Anne-Marie McCague, Cillian Forde, DarraghMcHugh, Caoimhe McGee, Aisling Byrne,

Gerard McNally,Front Row: Laurence Brady, Daniel Alkin, Mark Jordan.

Back Row: Martin Browne, Barry O’Farrell, Peter Brennan,Conor Callaghan, Jenny Rogers

Front Row: Marie Doyle, Shauna Rowley, Aisling Corcoran,Eilish Moloney, Bronagh Traynor

Brenda Dunne, Dermot Corry, Stewart Andrewsand Yvonne Lynch

Back Row: Jonathan Ross, Brid Meaney, Michelle Burns, Anne Marie O’Neill,Joe O’Dea and Conor O’Neill

Front Row: Warren Baxter, Olga Daly, Brian Griffin, Colette Griffin and Keith Burns

DECEMBER 2013 | Society of Actuaries in Ireland Pg 13

Student News Hypnotic Night Out forStudentsThe inaugural event of the new StudentSociety Committee took place in theBaggot Inn on November 28th. As thefirst event of the new committee themembers wanted to do something thathadn’t been done before. A mind-bending Hypnotic performance wasenjoyed by the incredible amount ofstudents who turned out to support theevent by volunteering and watchingalong in the audience.

The audience laughed as volunteerswere influenced by Hypnotist JustinDreemz into believing that they wereon a sunny beach with soaring temperatures amongst other humorousactivities. A huge thanks to all who forgot their inhibitions and got up onstage as you were the real stars of theshow.

Congratulations is extended to Andrew Little who was the winner ofour Reindeer Christmas Jumper in theraffle. We hope it will help keep himwarm in the cold winter evenings andover the festive period too.

We hope to have a few more unusualevents organised for you early in thenew year and of course some competitive activities like the StudentTable Quiz with some great prizes upfor grabs. Keep a close eye out fordetails of up and coming events in your inbox very soon.

From all on the Student Committee wewish you and yours a very HappyChristmas and we hope to see you allagain in the new year.

Bronagh Traynor

Guide for Student Actuaries in IrelandThe demands that face student actuaries can be very different to thosethat they tackled when in full time education. At college, students are verymuch “cocooned”. There are alwayscareer advisers and lecturers on hand to answer queries and students are nottrying to juggle a full time job (and theassociated responsibilities) whilst tryingto pass exams! On leaving college thisall changes and it can feel like many ofthe support networks that students areused to relying on have vanished.

In order to make things appear a littleless daunting, a document has beencreated by members of the Society’sRecent Qualifiers Committee. It isintended as a reference guide to familiarise new students with theSociety, the Institute and Faculty ofActuaries (IFoA) and to provide practical advice regarding actuarialexams and career progression.

It is written by recent qualifiers who areperhaps best positioned to offer advice,with their own experiences fresh intheir minds. No doubt they would have relished having such a useful resourcewhen they were joining the workforce.

The guide may be accessed via theSociety’s website. It is an excellentresource for all new members andaspiring actuaries and is an extremelyaccessible read.

Niamh Moloney

Student Consultative Forum UpdateThe Student Consultative Forum (SCF)is a meeting of student representativesfrom all over the UK and Ireland to discuss any issues of concern to studentactuaries. It also includes membersfrom Acted and senior persons in theInstitute and Faculty (IFoA). It is heldtwice a year, soon after exams, andmost recently was held in the IFoA’sbrand new headquarters in Oxford inearly November.

You can find a detailed report coveringthe wide range of issues discussed atthe SCF on the Society’s website* butthis article gives a flavour for a numberof key issues that may be of particularinterest to Irish students. The firstrelates to the upcoming changes toCA2 – Modelling. Students have beenquerying the prerequisite of passing allthe CTs for some time now and itshould be a relief to many that thisrequirement will be removed fromJanuary 2015. There are many otherchanges to CA2 which are detailed inthe full report.

Other big issues were the April 2014 exam timetable and the proximity ofmany CT subjects. There were also a lotof complaints about CT5 and the time pressures involved. Recent changes toCA3 were also discussed, including themovement towards an online-only version of this exam.

The SCF is something which is takenvery seriously by the IFoA and studentfeedback does have a real impact ontheir decision making; just look at CA2as an example.

If you have any issues involving written or practical exams, Acted, venues, or anything similar, please don’t hesitateto contact me to have your issue discussed next time.

Rachel Gow

* You can find the full report here (log-in required):

https://web.actuaries.ie/students/consultative-forum/summaries

Becoming an Actuary

The Communications Committeehave produced a brochure for anyone interested in pursuing anactuarial career. Hard copies of'Becoming an Actuary' are availableon request from the Society and asoft copy is available on theStudent Section of the Society'swebsite.

The brochure will be of mostinterest to 2nd level students approaching their LeavingCertificate as well as recent school leavers. The Society will use the guide to link in with the Institute of GuidanceCounsellors to further the promotion of actuarial careersthrough our schools.

On the MoveFELLOWS:

Anne Hayes moved from Caledonian Life to SCOR Global Life Reinsurance Ireland Ltd

Lukas Ziewer moved from KPMG to MetLife

Martin Kelly moved from Allianz Worldwide Care to Vhi Healthcare

Lee Smith moved from Aviva to MetLife

Aidan O’Donnell moved from Aviva to Barclays

Brian Curran moved from Hartford Life to MetLife

STUDENTS:

Rosaleen McHugh moved from the Central Bank of Ireland to AEGON Ireland

Karl Fahy moved from Aviva to SCOR Global Life Re

Sarah Jane Hackett moved from Prudential to MetLife

Evin Lee moved from Irish Life to Canada Life Reinsurance

Clanwilliam House, Clanwilliam Place, Dublin 2

Tel: +353 1 634 0020 Fax: +353 1 634 0039 Email: info@actuaries.ie Web: www.actuaries.ie

Pg 14 Society of Actuaries in Ireland | DECEMBER 2013

It’s easy to keep yourCPD record up to-date We would encourage all Fellows and Associates to updatetheir CPD records to the end of 2013 and to continue tokeep their CPD records updated in the course of 2014.

Did you know that when booking for events, if you logon as a member, you can easily create a CPD Return fromthe ‘My Reservation’s page. Once the event has passed,by clicking on ‘Create Return’ you can update your CPDrecord. So, we suggest that you always log on as a member when booking for an event.

Membership Database The Society intends concentrating on updating the member database during 2014, but we need the help of members. Please log on to www.actuaries.ie / Myprofile and check the details the Society currently has onfile for you. There are some fields which you can changeyourself and for any other changes, please contact theSociety and we will be delighted to amend your record.

Becoming an ActuaryA GUIDE TO A CAREER AS AN ACTUARY

Guide for StudentActuaries in Ireland

The Recent Qualifiers Committee(RQC) have written a guide fornew student actuaries working in Ireland. The guide coverseverything students need to know about the exams; joiningthe Society; planning their study;work-based skills and useful tipsfrom recent qualifiers to studentactuaries. The RQC produced thisguide as they would have loved

to have had this information available to them, in onedocument, when they joined the profession.

A soft copy is available on the Society’s website on thestudent section.

OCTOBER 2013

GUIDE FORSTUDENTACTUARIESIN IRELAND