The Actuaries Institute's new leadership will focus on reinforcing the long-term value actuaries bring to Australian financial services, the Institute president John Newman has said.
Institute president John Newman told InvestorDaily, the goal was to enhance the way the industry was branded and perceived.
"We want to change the perception of what actuaries have to contribute across industries other than just insurance and financial services, where we're well positioned already," he said.
"We would like the senior executives in those industries, policy makers in government at all levels, and educators to understand better what actuaries have to offer."
Mr Newman added that he also wanted to increase the pride of those in the industry.
"We are looking for ways to help our own members be more self-confident and promote their offerings better," he said.
The Institute hopes to achieve its goal by delivering various services to its members, including events, support for established practice areas, and educating the next generation of actuaries.
While he was pleased with the quality of university graduates, Mr Newman said training needed to be enhanced to support the Institute's aspirations.
"We teach tools and actually learn to use judgements that could go well beyond those fields, but there are a lot of other aspects where our training probably needs to be further extended," he said. "They're around things like communication and the way we can contribute to business strategies."
The Actuaries Institute's new leadership team also includes council member Daniel Smith as senior vice president and Institute councillor Estelle Pearson as vice president.
CEO Melinda Howes said she was excited to be working with a strong team to deal with their policy and issues agenda.
