Mark is the London Practice Leader & Head of GMP Equalisation at Buck, a Gallagher Company. He is an experienced People Leader, Scheme Actuary and a Council member at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

We discuss everything from how Mark initially entered the actuarial profession, beginning his first role with WTW in Reigate, gaining line management experience at an early stage, moving to PwC after 12 years to experience a different type of role, and then joining Buck in a Leadership role where he has gone from strength-to-strength.

Mark gives amazing insight to his love for the people side of actuarial teams. We learn about the concept of ‘locus of control’, how he helps people to avoid a career plateau a few years after qualifying, and the importance of creating an environment where people have open discussions about their careers. Mark also shares how he came to take a lead on setting up and running the GMP equalisation team, the breadth of skills you can develop working in this area, his views on the future of the pensions industry, and advice for anyone starting their actuarial career in pensions today.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!!

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Felicia is an ex-Life, Pensions & GI Actuary who is now a Wealth Coach in the field of Pensions, Property and Stock Market Investments.

We discuss everything from Felicia’s entry into the actuarial profession, working in Life, Pensions and General Insurance, how she balanced this with running her own property business, through to life after being an Actuary. Today, Felicia has set herself a goal of helping one million women to become financially independent through education, and empowering them to take control of their finances. She wants to normalise talking about money, savings, pensions and investment strategies and we explore how she is doing this via workshops, podcasts, Instagram and YouTube.

Felicia was wonderfully open and honest about her own life experiences, and how events in her life have provided the motivation and inspiration for what she does today.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Please connect with Felicia here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicia-flinders-b1359618/

You can follow her Instagram account here: https://www.instagram.com/ff_women_wealth_creation/?hl=en

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Dhyan is an Actuarial Apprentice, working in the Pensions Team at WTW.

We discuss his entry into the actuarial profession, the application process for the apprenticeship and the different interview stages, joining the actuarial pensions team having initially applied for a role in insurance, and achieving his goal of joining the profession without studying at University.

Dhyan gives a great account of the experience he has gained so far, the challenges he has faced and the wide range of opportunities in front of him. He also shares his thoughts on additional qualifications, advice for other apprentices, making strong first impressions in interviews and gaining a deeper understanding of the work he does and the clients he works on.

Dhyan – thank you very much for sharing your journey, it’s really important to highlight opportunities to join the profession via apprenticeships and I hope this inspires others to do the same!

Please connect with Dhyan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhyan-trivedi/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Daryl is Head of Market & Liquidity Risk at Legal & General for the Retirement Institutional business. He looks after all elements of market risk which includes interest rates, inflation, FX and property risk.

We explore how Daryl entered the actuarial profession, how he transitioned from his first role in pensions to investment consulting, specialising in investment strategy and LDI, moving to the insurance company AXA in both the UK and the US, and ultimately joining L&G back in the UK. Daryl shares his views on the importance of gaining diverse experience and being open to variety, and how the role of an actuary might evolve in the future with the aid of data science and machine learning.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Please connect with Daryl here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daryl-boxall-21970a33/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Lisa is an Associate Partner in the Risk Settlement Group at Aon in Leeds, where she advises scheme Trustees and Sponsors on buy-ins and buyouts.

We discuss everything from how Lisa entered the actuarial profession after completing a Masters and PhD in Chemistry, beginning her career in pensions consulting with PwC, transitioning from consulting to Insurance with Aviva as a Deal Manager, and then returning to consulting with Aon 4 years later.

Lisa also leads the Wellbeing Team within the Risk Settlement Group, and it was really interesting to hear about her role in providing wellbeing support to over 90 people and how she is promoting work-life balance.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Please connect with Lisa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-varley-b1000858/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Emily has recently celebrated her 25 year anniversary at WTW, where she is a Scheme Actuary, a Relationship Manager for Independent Trustees, a People Manager and company nominated Trustee for one the company pension schemes.

Emily shares her journey in the actuarial profession, from discovering the profession to qualifying, and the importance of being open to new opportunities and taking on challenges. Emily discusses her passion for supporting female talent and promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry. We discuss her experience with imposter syndrome and how she has learned to manage it, and how she helps others by letting them know they are not alone in feeling this way. Emily also highlights the need for more open discussions about the impact of menopause in the workplace and the importance of creating a safe space for colleagues to share their experiences. She also shares her passion for promoting neurodiversity in the workplace and the value of embracing different perspectives.

I loved speaking with Emily, finding out why she loves working in Reigate and how she has found her ideal balance both in and out of the office.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Please connect with Emily here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-nichols-8407a84b/

Feel free to connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescturner/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Cian is currently a Reinsurance Pricing Actuary at MS Amlin.

He is responsible reinsurance pricing across all business lines, with a main focus on Property Catastrophe and Casualty Treaty.

We discuss everything including how he entered the actuarial profession, why he chose a career in General Insurance, Cian’s experience of working for consultancies, insurance companies and brokers, and his view on the differences between specialising in reserving, capital modelling and pricing.

He also offers some great advice for anyone beginning their career in general insurance today!

Please connect with Cian here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cian-creedon-ab89183a/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.

Kiran is a Pensions Actuary and Team Leader at WTW in London.

We discuss everything from how Kiran entered the actuarial profession, his fond memories of his first role with Hewitt (now Aon), taking breaks from the exams and qualifying recently, working for consultancies from the very small to the very large, working in both trustee and corporate focussed teams, working for companies through significant periods of change, why he joined WTW and how he has found it so far, and his role as a team leader. We also explore Kiran’s interest in AI and how it can be utilised in the actuarial profession.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Please connect with Kiran here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiran-mandalia-715530b/

Feel free to connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescturner/

Mentioned in this episode:

Actuarial People is sponsored by my recruitment company Turner Perkins. Please visit https://turnerperkins.com or email james@turnerperkins.com if you'd like to explore your career options.