March 2008 13www.the-actuary.org.ukNo way back The Faculty Task Force Report, 1 October 2007 (TFR 1) states: 8220We have increasingly come to the view that8230merger is just one option in the debate.8221 It is noticeable that none of the options put forward included maintaining the status quo, so presumably the Task Force thinks that, notwithstanding the substantial progress made over recent years, there is still some way to go before 8220the management and operation of the UK Actuarial Profession is as if we were a single profession8221 (TFR 3.1). To attain this purely tactical objective, however, does not in our view require an end to the separate existence of Faculty and Institute. Nor, we feel sure, was the Task Force arguing that it does. In fact, the more we study TFR the less we are able to identify any problem with the status quo which only a merger could solve. For instance, it can8217t be the subscription level, surely 8212 the joint working arrangements appear to be very ef64257 cient, and the savings from running just the one Council body must be marginal. Indeed organising a merger could see signi64257 cant short-term increases in costs. A sight of the business plan is needed. TFR 3.3 suggests that 8216the profession8217s effectiveness with the UK media and other opinion-formers would be enhanced if it would present as a single body8217. However, if the outside world really is seriously confused by our being two bodies then we must be appalling communicators, and it would be absurd to imagine that merger would turn us into good ones. Of course, the Faculty and Institute might not always have the same perspective on every issue, but we think this is a strength, not a weakness. Moreover, the UK environment addressed by the Profession is not homogeneous, as TFR 3.4 seems to indicate. So we do not consider communications to be a problem requiring a solution as drastic as merger.Cultural differencesWe do identify some differences of culture between Faculty and Institute 8212 in their Councils8217 respective Constitutions, for example, and in the differential importance placed on academic/professional/business characteristics, but we believe this makes the UK Actuarial Profession greater than the sum of its two parts.A conceptual 8216drawing together8217 framework is set out in TFR 4. Our comments on the three possible framework models (TFR 5) are that the Profession in the UK would be qualitatively the poorer if the Faculty disappeared into a merger, with the loss of our older (superior?) Royal Charter, and those we serve would suffer. The costs of negotiating a new Royal Charter would be heavy, if it could be done at all, and the new structure more complicated to administer. The contractual agreement is the best way forward as, without burning any boats, it:1 Awards increases in ef64257 ciency 2 8216Makes continuation of Scottish sessional meetings clearer8217 (TFR 5.3) 3 8216Maintains a vibrant and effective actuarial presence in Scotland (through media representation, links to academia, networking etc.)8217 (TFR 3.4)4 Maintains 64258 exibility to cope with any changes in the national environments of Faculty and Institute.Beyond bordersTFR Appendix 1 gives relevant statistics: 821635% of active Faculty fellows are based in other regions of the UK outside Scotland, 42% of Faculty members live outside the UK, 61% live outside Scotland, South African members form 53% of members outside the UK and there are more Faculty students in South Africa than in Scotland8217. The 64257 gures point to the dignity and spread of in64258 uence over time of the Faculty beyond the national frontier, and also to our traditions as 8216custodians of 150 years of history and the possessors of a Royal Charter8217 (TFR 2.4). The reservation of a vice-presidential seat on Council for an overseas member and the increased services to be given to overseas members recognise this. Such considerations, we believe, validly underwrite the 8216emotional investment some members have made in the Faculty8217 (TFR Appendix 1), which those who belong to what might be called the 8216Arbroath Tendency8217 will also attach to the importance of the Faculty remaining a distinctively Scottish professional body. Some presumption is evident in TFR Appendix 3: 8216The majority of the wider membership expects merger to happen and will believe its leadership to be out of touch if they continue to deliberate on the issue.8217 Do they indeed! We consider it premature for anyone to speak at this stage as if merger is a fait accompli, and we believe that more than a simple majority of Faculty votes is needed to endorse such a momentous step as the dissolution of the Faculty.Professional ethicThe most important factor relating to merger, in our view, is the maintenance of the Faculty8217s professional ethic. We hold that the twin pillars of any profession are the judgement and integrity of its members, who should never sublimate their judgement to that of any external in64258 uence. As long as they act with integrity they should always be able to rely on support from their 8216brethren8217. The need to serve the common good by high professional competence and principled standards of behaviour overrides commercial considerations. The safest way to preserve this ethic, from among the models put forward in TFR, is the contractual agreement. We would 64257 nish by saying that the UK Profession itself has twin pillars, and is the stronger for it. The TFR does not, in our view, advance a single compelling reason to knock one of them down.8220If we merge with the Institute 8230 there will be no way back.8221 (TFR 2.4)Profession mergerNews focusAGAINST187 To view the Faculty Task Force Report, Faculty Task Force Report, Faculty Task Force Reportplease visit:www.actuaries.org.uk/64257 les/pdf/members/news/FacultyTaskForce_Report20071001.pdfFaculty Task Force Report012+013_Actuary_Profession_0308.13 1319/2/08 14:02:01
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