My account

Governance reforms and the future of Council

31 January 2024

In December, following one of the largest member engagement programmes in our history, Council voted on a revised package of governance reforms. These seek to align the IFoA with best practice on corporate governance while ensuring our organisation continues to be led by actuaries.

We published the proposed amendments on 2 January 2024 and the 28 day period for any formal objections ended yesterday. We have received 3 objections which falls below the 50 threshold for Council consideration. This means we can now move forward with a set of reforms which, we believe, will best serve the IFoA and you, our members.

The new IFoA Board and the next President

We are ready to begin recruiting for the new IFoA Board and for the election of the next President who will serve a 2-year term.

These roles will be opening in February and details on how to apply will be available on the IFoA website:

  • Applications for the independent IFoA Board Chair have opened
    View full details on the role, the skills and competencies framework and how to apply.
  • Nominations for IFoA President-elect will open on 19 February 2024
    The President is elected by Council and nominees must be a Fellow or Associate of the IFoA. In order to stand, you will need to complete a nominations form and follow the process that will be outlined on the dedicated nominations webpage once it goes live.
  • Applications for the 4 IFoA member non-executive directors and 2 independent non-executive directors on the IFoA Board will open in the coming weeks
    We will post these roles on our website in the next few weeks, along with the skills and competencies framework and application process. The President will serve as the 5th member non-executive director on the Board and the IFoA Board Chair will serve as the 3rd independent non-executive director. The IFoA Chief Executive will also sit on the Board.
  • Nominations for Council will open in the coming months
    We will share further information on our website nearer the time. As in previous years, the process will be conducted through our independent election services provider Civica.

Consultation on the future of Council

The IFoA Council approved a Council Working Group to discuss and consult with members on the future of Council. This consultation process is seeking to ensure that the profession both represents its members as well as possible and serves the public interest, promoting the value that actuarial expertise can bring to society.

As part of this consultation, the Council Working Group will be running 3 webinars to discuss key areas of consideration. For more details on these specific areas, see our Council Working Group webpage. The webinars are also open for bookings in the links below.

Future of Council webinars

If you are unable to attend these webinars, or if you do attend but would prefer to feed back in writing, please fill in this form. If you have any questions around this consultation process please email governance@actuaries.org.uk. 

The feedback we receive will be used to inform a formal consultation paper on the future of Council which we expect to publish in the spring.

We are keen to gather as many views as possible from across the IFoA membership. Your input will help to shape the purpose of Council and the way it operates. I look forward to hearing from you on where you believe the IFoA Council should be heading.

Kalpana Shah
IFoA President