Chief Actuary (Sandton) at Guardrisk

Role Purpose    

• The Chief Actuary will have overall responsibility for the actuarial function as well as facilitate the actuarial aspects of the overall risk management function for the organization.  The Chief Actuary in conjunction with the financial function and other key management, will have responsibility for developing and maintain the company’s various tools for measuring profitability and risk exposures.

Requirements    

• A Fellowship from the Actuarial Society of South Africa (or the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries)
• Sound experience in short term industry
• At least 15 years’ relevant working experience in short-term and life industry including experience with balance sheet management and working across functions of finance, information technology, strategy, execution and merger and acquisitions
• At least 8 years senior leadership experience
• Experience in Prophet (Life) and ResQ (non-life), or similar actuarial modelling packages
• A strong understanding of the South African current and future insurance regulations
• Knowledge of the latest developments and industry practice regarding current modelling techniques

Duties & Responsibilities    

• Contribute towards the achievement of new business budget targets by providing business leaders with insight regarding the interpretation and explanation of technical regulatory requirements, forecasts and scenarios in order to guide business decision making.
• Contribute to the unqualified year-end external audit process and resolve any audit queries within deadlines, especially for deliverables where actuarial units are responsible.
• Design and drive efforts to improve efficiency in processes and procedures that calculate capital requirements as well as continuous focus on ways to optimise capital efficiency through structuring with impact measured through return on equity.
• Responsible for completion and submission of quarterly regulatory returns summarising the regulatory capital coverage and reporting thereon to the Board, Group and other governance forums where capital management is monitored.
• Responsible to direct and complete the quantitative projection of the solvency position as part of the annual ORSA including reporting thereon to the Board, Group and other governance forums where capital management is monitored.
• Give input and recommendations at all forums such as Product Management Committee, Market Conduct Committee, IT Steerco, Company Finance, Exco and so forth.
• Manage the relationships with the outsourced head of actuarial functions (HAF) for all regulated licenses to ensure oversight function is done in accordance with workplan and is controlled within budget.
• Oversee general pricing and design principles applied to insurance contracts, and influence company's current pricing strategy and how this may influence reserving and capital requirements.
• Involved in overall strategy and general approach to underwriting, together with a working knowledge of the underwriting systems and process to provide the actuary with an improved understanding of future claims experience.
• Give input into the structure of reinsurance agreements, and the issues and risks associated with reinsurance cover. Controlled / appropriate Reinsurance placement and management environment, SASRIA coupon placement environment and appropriate Balance sheet management environment.
• Oversee and provide financial reports and an awareness of the accounting treatment that applies to the business so as to be able to monitor financial performance and identify any unexpected results or emerging trends.
• Knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of both the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet; and the drivers of future profit emergence.
• Working collaboratively across appropriate functions and divisions to set pricing and reserving levels as a part of the senior management team consistent with profitability objectives for the organization.
• Developing and implementing improved actuarial procedures; providing actuarial advice and consultation to senior management on matters relating to all relevant products.
• Take a leadership role in managing and enhancing Guardrisk’s information and business intelligence/data science capability.
• Engage prospective and existing clients on strategic capital planning and initiatives to optimise capital requirements associated with the portfolio of risks underwritten.
• Awareness of the complete range of stakeholders that the actuary interacts with or has responsibility for, and an understanding of their different interests, perspective, and needs.
• Provides oversight and interpretation on monthly reports on actuarial-based requirements for the business via business presentations.
• Produce monthly reports (e.g. monthly emergence charts) and data pulls to enable deeper digging and more robust understanding of trends among internal and external stakeholders.
• Incorporate internal client feedback into the enhancement of daily business processes and management operating systems.
• Produce monthly capital summary reports at various granular levels to clients and other stakeholders to enable strategic management of regulatory capital requirements.
• Provide thought leadership on various cross-functional teams supporting the insurance businesses and be an active member of the senior management team.
• Create a positive work climate and culture to energise employees, give meaning to work, minimise work disruption and maximise employee productivity.
• Demonstrate exemplary leadership behaviour, through personal involvement, commitment and dedication in support of organisational values.
• Select and recruit suitably qualified talent in line with Employment Equity principles and Guardrisk values.
• Actively develop identified talent in required areas through customised development plans and mentoring.
• Drive a culture that guides and directs best practice, fostering an environment of continuous learning, improvement and cohesiveness.
• Enable a learning and growth culture whereby information regarding successes, issues, trends and ideas are actively shared between team members.
• Maintain a culture of high performing individuals as a centre of excellence for capital management in life and non-life insurance.
• Prepare revenue budget for area and control expenditures and implementation of financial regulations.
• Effective management of capital adequacy requirements for Guardrisk and all business partners.
• Deep understanding of the long term financial and risk related issues that the insurer is facing, and able to assess these issues from a high level before carrying out more detailed analysis.
• Manage the model risk environment underpinning capital requirement calculation models through a combination of information technology and review processes.
• Engage with the HAF, internal audit and external audit on reviews of the capital management control environment and take responsibility to implementation of identified changes.
• Up-to-date knowledge of the latest industry thinking and of where to go, internally or externally, to obtain the information and evidence required to provide robust, reliable advice.
• Investigate reported wilful acts of non-compliance to organisation policy and practice.

Competencies    

• Business acumen 
• Strategic thinking 
• Attention to detail and analysis
• Technical competency 
• Building strategic partnerships & collaboration 
• Result & solution focused 
• Participation Leadership Leads