Actuaries to help Government in risk management says Shri. Anurag Singh Thakur, MoS, Finance and Corporate Affairs, GOI

 Actuaries to help Government in risk management says Shri. Anurag Singh Thakur, MoS, Finance, and Corporate Affairs, GOI.

 

Mumbai, March 13, 2021: Shri. Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India, Chief Guest of the final day of the Virtual Actuarial Conclave (VAC 2021) held from 10^th - 13^th March 2021 organized by the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI). Over 1900 delegates registered for the event.

 

Shri. Anurag Singh Thakur appreciated the contribution of the Actuarial Profession towards accelerating the country’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and would like to have valuable feedback from IAI on how GOI can continue and expand the reforms that are underway. He called out to actuarial professionals for suggestions on concerns like risk management and help the government to build a conducive ecosystem for entrepreneurs, professionals, and small businesses to co-exist with large giants. Shri. Thakur while covering the important points of the Union Budget highlighted the government’s continued focus on initiatives like healthcare and farming. He exuded confidence that the recent increase in FDI limit for insurance companies will result in a much-needed fresh capital infusion and bring in the global best practices to the industry.  

 

In a session on Government Actuarial Department, Charles Daykin, the past president of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) discussed in detail the UK Government Actuarial Department (GAD) and the role of the UK Government Actuary in terms of the role and responsibilities. The session was moderated by Ms. Dakshita Das, IAS, Additional Member, Finance, Ministry of Railways, and Government of India.

 

Subhendu Kumar Bal, President, Institute of Actuaries of India and Chief Actuary & Chief Risk Officer, SBI Life Insurance Company Limited said “Internationally the concept of government actuarial department is prevalent in several countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, and Canada. South Africa is now looking to set up a government actuary department. IAI is also in talks with Department of Financial Services in Ministry of Finance to set up an Actuarial Department”.

 

There may be more demand on actuaries due to the implementation of IFRS 17 and also a requirement in wider field areas such as data science, banking, etc. Chairman, IRDAI also in his inaugural speech has mentioned the requirement of more than 1,000 actuaries looking at the number of insurance companies and the size of insurance business in India. 

 

Subhendu Bal, President, IAI said that “To meet the ever-increasing demand of actuaries, the Institute has taken initiatives and efforts to increase awareness of actuarial science with several educational institutions. Further, Institute is providing coaching and counseling support to the student to qualify faster without compromising the quality of education.”

 

The four-day event ended with the presentation of Academic Excellence awards, cultural performances by members, and a valedictory ceremony.

 

President, IAI thanked all the participants, speakers, chief guests, sponsors, and all other people involved in this signature event to make a huge success.

 

About Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI)

 

IAI is a statutory body established under The Actuaries Act 2006 (35 of 2006) for the regulation of the profession of Actuaries in India. The provisions of the said Act have come into force from 10thday of November 2006, in terms of the notification dated 8th November 2006, issued by the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. As a consequence of this, the erstwhile Actuarial Society of India was dissolved and all the Assets and Liabilities of the Actuarial Society of India were transferred to and vested in, the Institute of Actuaries of India constituted under Section 3 of the Actuaries Act, 2006. The erstwhile Actuarial Society of India (ASI) was established in September 1944.

Since 1979 the ASI has been a Full Member of the International Actuarial Association (umbrella organizations and is actively involved in its affairs. In 1982, the ASI was registered under the Registration of Literary, Scientific, and Charitable Societies Act XXI of 1860 and also under Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act, 1950. In 1989, the ASI started examinations up to Associate level, and in 1991, started conducting Fellowship level examination leading to the professional qualification of an actuary, till then the accreditation was based on Institute of Actuaries, London examinations (now Institute and Faculty of Actuaries).