Panel discussion with - Ashok Gupta, Lucy Saye, Nico Aspinall and Nick Silver

Sir Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. From 1998–2003 he took a five-year Public Service leave during which he was Director of the Research Development Department of the World Bank. He is currently a Professeur invité at Sciences Po and a Director of the International Growth Centre. He has written for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural resources rich societies; urbanisation in low-income countries; private investment in African infrastructure and changing organisational cultures. Paul has authored numerous books, including The Bottom Billion (Oxford University Press, 2007) which in 2008 won the Lionel Gelber, Arthur Ross and Corine prizes and in May 2009 was the joint winner of the Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book prize; Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places (Vintage Books, 2009); The Plundered Planet: How to reconcile prosperity with nature (Oxford University Press, 2010); Exodus: How migration is changing our world (Oxford University Press, 2013); and The Future of Capitalism: Facing The New Anxieties (Penguin Books, 2018). His latest book, co-authored with John Kay, is Greed is Dead: Politics After Individualism (Penguin Books, 2020). In 2014, Paul received a knighthood for services to promoting research and policy change in Africa.

John Kay is one of Britain’s leading economists. His interests focus on the relationships between economics and business. His career has spanned academic work and think tanks, business schools, company directorships, consultancies and investment companies. For twenty years, he wrote a regular column for the Financial Times. His witty and authoritative style has won a wide following for his books and articles which have been recognised by numerous awards and prizes. Forty years after he co-authored The British Tax System with Mervyn King – a book which went through five editions – the two authors have come together again with a very different subject. Radical Uncertainty will be published by the New Bridge Street Press in March 2020.

The latest IPCC report highlights the inequity of climate change, with those least responsible bearing many of the worst impacts. This event covers the unequal impacts of climate change, the role of policy and regulation in incorporating justice into the low carbon transition and the impact investors can have in encouraging companies to develop Just Transition plans, with speakers from the investor community, the consultant community and the policy making sphere.

Chair: Sandy Trust

Panelists: Paul Clements-Hunt, Founder of the Blended Capital Group, Adepeju Adeosun Napier (Peju), Sustainable Finance Manager at Ernst & Young, Carlota Garcia Manas, Head of Engagement and Climate Lead at Royal London Asset Management and Chair: Sandy Trust, Chair of the IFoA Sustainability Board and Director of Sustainable Finance at Ernst & Young


Due to the roles that we fulfil, and our professional obligations to put public interests ahead of our individual interests, we as actuaries are uniquely placed to consider the long-term impacts of changes to our investment landscapes. In this event, one of the co-chairs of the Economics Member Interest Group will come together with an investment manager and representation from the academic research community, to explore the potential impacts of our societal shift to net-zero emissions on long-term investment returns. Speakers: Scott Lothian, Ballie Gifford and Professor Aled Jones Chair: Hugh McNeill, IFoA Economics MIG

The pensions system in the UK and many other countries was set up at a time when expectations over life expectancy, investment returns, inflation and general views on government and companies were all vastly different from where we are today. Adjustments over time go some way to address these changes but generally have other unintended consequences and our current system is unlikely where we would have ended up if we had designed something holistic from scratch. Chair: Leah Evans, Chair of the IFoA Pensions Board and Associate Partner and Head of Pensions Risk Transfer at EY. Speakers: Simon Eagle, Senior Director and Head of GB CMP at Willis Towers Watson Steve Webb, Former Minister of State for Pensions and Partner at LCP Jason Whyte, Associate Partner at EY Huw Davies, Senior Finance Advisor at Make My Money Matter

If it was ever okay to consider your business in isolation from its surroundings, today it most definitely is not. Thinking about business within its surrounding system is now a necessity. Products and our businesses need to be considered within their expanding systems – starting from our business in isolation, our business and customers, within their value chain, within the financial system, within its social system and technological environment – in order to increase their value and resilience and to ensure they are fulfilling their purpose. The question we seek to discuss is: How should we prescribe the boundaries in which we consider problems to enable us to create better products and more resilient companies and systems?

Frank Redington is recognised as one of the most influential actuaries of all time. In this talk, Craig will review some of Redington's most important ideas. He will identify the consistent actuarial principles that form a common thread across the contributions Redington made to a broad range of actuarial fields, and will highlight the ongoing relevance of Redington's thinking to 21st century actuarial practice. 

Speaker: Craig Turnbull