This presidential address looks at the current state of affairs, the opportunities and threats to our traditional areas of interest and the importance of developing in wider fields. It pays tribute to all the volunteers who help make it the organisation that it is whilst highlighting the need for all Fellows and students to be engaged with its future.

In view of the long and honourable association of British life assurance institutions with life assurance in Canada, an association dating back prior to the formation of Canada's oldest company, and of the deep interest taken and aid rendered during the preparation of the Dominion Insurance Act, 1910, by the Canadian and Home officers of those British life institutions actively engaged in business in Canada, as well as by leadingindependent British actuaries, it would appear but appropriate that some reference should be made in the proceedings of the Institute relative to the new Act. Furthermore, in consequence of the increased interest taken in the affairs of Canada generally, and of the great development everywhere in evidence there, may it not be that a closer acquaintance with the principles underlying the new Canadian legislation may encourage those British life offices which though nominally having agencies in Canada are inactive in so far as new business is concerned, and other offices which have not yet ventured across the ocean, to seek aggressively for new business throughout the Dominion.

The European Economic Community came into existence on 1 January 1958, following the ratification of the Treaty of Rome by the parliaments of the six member countries, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The long-term aim of ‘The Six’ in setting up the Community was to achieve a unified economic unit with a common economic policy, and whilst commonly referred to in the United Kingdom as the Common Market it should not be thought of merely as an advanced form of customs union.

The rate of mortality experienced by residents in India will supply an answer to an enquiry of the highest interest in an actuarial sense. The enquiry may even be considered of national importance so long as our countrymen seek their fortunes in a region where the effects of the climate on their prospects of health and longevity continue to be regarded as uncertain and hazardous.

The history of the actuarial profession in South Africa starts, as far as is known, during the last decade of the nineteenth century when three actuaries arrived in the Cape Colony from the United Kingdom. Two of these took up positions with the two South African life offices which were then in existence and the third became Government Actuary to the Cape Colony. By the time the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, four more actuaries had arrived from the United Kingdom, and a further four had arrived by 1920. Some of these gentlemen established permanent homes in this country, while others returned overseas after varying periods of time. It was no doubt due to these early beginnings that the actuarial homes of South African actuaries are today London and Edinburgh.

The first South African-born actuary qualified as a Fellow of the Faculty in 1921, and since that time increasing numbers of South Africans have become qualified, mostly as Fellows of the Faculty.

My intention is to give some simple illustrations of the difficulties which arise when the market rate of interest has sunk below the limit of solvency for parts of a company's stock of life contracts. In fact, the “partial liquidation” which at such a contingency would appear most natural to the unbiased mind of an actuary, does not seem to be seriously contemplated in insurance legislation. As regards Sweden, this mathematically correct reduction of the liabilities of some of the contracts could perhaps be realized within the legal frame in Mutual Offices. But it is impossible for other companies. It seems therefore necessary to attack the problem from the purely actuarial point of view. If we can find a technically satisfactory solution, it might then be possible to go farther with the question of giving the procedure legal shape.

The subject of Group Life Insurance schemes has been quite recently discussed by the Society (J.S.S. Vol. III. No. 3) and no useful purpose can be served by a repetition of remarks regarding such schemes.

However, there are two points which deserve further consideration. The first of these relates to what might be termed underwriting rules—or, in other words, regulations to which every contract must conform. Each individual contract should be written, so far as possible, on such a basis as will preclude the writing of unsatisfactory business and in this connection such points as the number of lives to be covered, maximum and minimum amounts of insurance, etc., fall to be considered.

In the recent past life companies have made many decisions which they have had cause to deeply regret. This paper looks at the range of decision making theories available. It then examines recent examples of decisions that had unfavourable consequences and explores why they were taken, and goes on to describe a systematic approach to decision making which can help management assess more objectively the difficult choices confronting them today. The approach does not require espousal of any specific decision theory or method of value measurement. The focus is on the decision making process and the organisation's capacity to handle change. The paper identifies the three requirements for effective decision making.

In the following discussion, whenever reference is made to ‘the paper’, this is the paper Anderson et al. (2007), which is the full paper produced by the General Insurance Premium Rating Working Party (GRIP), and which is being discussed here. The full reference on how to access the paper is given at the end of the Summary Paper, which appears immediately before this discussion.

An Open Meeting was held by the Faculty of Actuaries on 15 October 2001, when Mr Myners addressed his audience on a number of the issues raised in his review, Institutional Investment in the United Kingdom: a Review. This was followed by a discussion. The lecture and an abstract of the discussion are printed after this introduction.

A second meeting on the subject was held on 16 October. This was a joint Seminar, arranged by the Faculty of Actuaries and the Centre for Financial Markets Research, University of Edinburgh. This seminar covered a number of issues raised by the Myners Review. The purpose of the seminar was to open up to discussion a number of the issues raised by the review where there appeared to be differences of opinion amongst practitioners. In particular, the investment process, investment performance and fees, especially commissions, were discussed. Academics, investment, performance measurement and pension specialists attended the seminar.

This summary relates to the following paper:

ForoughiKMarket-consistent valuations and Solvency II: Implications of the recent financial crisis ‐ Summary of the London discussion. British Actuarial Journal, doi:10.1017/S1357321712000025

This abstract relates to the following paper: BlakeD., CairnsA. J. G., DowdK. and KesslerA. R.Still living with mortality: the longevity risk transfer market after one decadeBritish Actuarial Journal, 23. doi: 10.1017/S1357321718000314.