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GAD shares expertise at ISSA global social security conference

GAD Senior Consulting Actuary, Chris Morley, addressed the conference on the importance of illustrating risk to assess the sustainability of social programmes.

Chris Morley asking a question. Credit: ISSA conference Flickr

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has been represented at a major international conference.

The 21st International Conference of Social Security Actuaries, Statisticians and Investment Specialists held its event in Mexico City.

The theme for ‘ACT 23’ was ‘Sustainable and adequate social security in the context of increased risk and volatility.’

GAD Senior Consulting Actuary Chris Morley addressed the conference as part of a panel of speakers at the event. That panel focused on the importance of illustrating risk to assess the sustainability of social programmes.

GAD’s expertise

In his ‘recent examples from the UK social security system’, he spoke about the work GAD undertakes around the National Insurance Fund. His examples covered both short-term and long-term risk illustrations.

Delegates heard how, during the pandemic, GAD modelled the short-term impact of various employment scenarios on the Fund. They also heard about GAD’s 2021 Up-rating report and how the Triple Lock was affected by earnings volatility during the pandemic.

Chris then presented risk illustrations from longer-term assessments such as the State Pension Age review and Quinquennial Review which project 65 years ahead .

He concluded by underlining the importance of presenting actuarial analysis in simple and bold ways. This enables governments to make the right choices for their people when confronting the economic and demographic challenges we all face.

Dr. Mohammed Azman (President of ISSA and CEO of PERKESO, Malaysia), Christine Dunnigan (Director of Social Insurance Programs, Office of the Chief Actuary, Canada), Chris Morley (Senior Consulting Actuary, Government Actuary’s Department, UK). Credit: ISSA Conference Flickr

Insight opportunities

Reflecting on his experience at the conference, Chris Morley said: “Meeting actuaries, analysts and statisticians from around the world really helped deepen my understanding of the different challenges social security systems face and how we can help address those.

“It was humbling for my presentation to be so warmly welcomed and I hope that sharing what we do in the UK can help others round the world too.”

Published 22 December 2023