More young Caymanians should consider training as actuaries to meet future demand, according to a professional in the field.
Rachel Funk said the country at present had 70 actuaries, up from just 20 in 2018, and predicted more would be required in the future as the reinsurance sector in Cayman grew.
Funk, director for modelling and risk management at Aureum Re, added, “It’s a myth there is a shortage but, as time goes on, we will need more.”
She said that Caymanians and permanent residents made up 20% of the profession on the island at present, with about two-thirds of actuaries working in-house at companies, and almost 30% acting as consultants.
Funk added that “we need to be doing more” to encourage young Caymanians to consider actuarial roles – and teach schoolchildren to appreciate maths.
“Actuaries are higher level maths lovers, but our goal should be to get children to go through school and not hate maths,” she said, adding she wanted the professional body Cayman Actuaries’ Network to operate on a more official basis to raise the profile of those in the field.
“I hope to collaborate with other associations to allow our actuaries to go in there and help,” Funk said.
“I would say as the market grows, we’re going to need more actuaries – that’s my story to parents, teachers and students – even if you’re young now, knowing this booming profession is going to be there for you to come home to is is an incentive to study maths, economics, business and finance.”
Actuaries analyse the financial costs of risk and uncertainty using maths, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk of potential events.
They help businesses and clients to develop policies designed to cut the cost of that risk, an essential role in insurance and reinsurance.
Funk added that the reinsurance industry, once dominated by men, had changed a lot in a short time.
She said, “Women make excellent actuaries – the way we think, problem solving, helps to make excellent actuaries.”
Funk added that, although Cayman had still to hit the 50/50 gender balance, she had worked in US companies where that had happened.
But she said, “We have a lot more women than we did when we first moved here.”
Funk was speaking after she took part in a panel discussion at the annual [Re]Connect reinsurance conference at The Ritz-Carlton hotel, with a focus on actuaries and their role in “capital requirements, transparency and rigorous actuarial standards which underpin reinsurance company operations, risk management and financials”.
She said, “If you look at the panels here, there is at least one woman on every panel and if you look around the room, it’s probably 50/50.
“Looking around the conference, it was traditionally male dominated, but that has certainly changed throughout my career.”
She told the audience at the conference that there were 10 times as many actuaries in Cayman on a per capita basis than in North America, where there are 30,000.
“I think we have been growing as the market has been growing. The numbers have been really noticeable.”
She added the US-based Society of Actuaries, the world’s largest body for the profession, had spotted the trend and asked Cayman actuaries to be part of its investor programme.
