Actuarial and Investment Consultant Review

The role was split into two parts. There was the actuarial side and the investment side and they both ran together for the 8 weeks. So, for example sometimes you would be doing tasks for the actuary team and sometimes for the investment team. The actuary side is more focused on the liabilities held by the pension scheme and so a lot of the time you would be checking the amount individuals members pension would be worth today since their pensions are defined benefit. You would also help with actuarial valuations which happen every 3 years and give the pension scheme an overview of how well funded they are. The investment side is focused on the assets held by the pension scheme. A lot of the time this would involve helping a pension scheme choose fund managers that would be most suitable, e.g. how much risk they want to take on. You would also be involved in writing and drafting reports to send out to the scheme.

I have definitely developed my excel skills a lot, since especially on the actuary side this is used a lot. On top of this, I feel that I have developed time management and organisational skills, which is really important. This is because you might have multiple tasks due that have different priorities and so it is important to focus on the more pressing tasks, as well as giving realistic expectations to your colleagues if they assign you a new task. Also, I have developed report writing skills and verbal communication is very important since a lot of these reports will be sent to the trustees of the pension scheme.

Yes, I was surprised with how much client work you get involved in, even within the first week. Since the work you do gets checked by more senior staff, it means that you can get involved from the start. The work you do is often being sent directly to the client as well and so although it gets checked, a lot of what is said in the final draft of a report is your wording. Also, for example on the actuary side you are working out how much their pension would be worth, which is important to get right.

I received a lot of support especially from my colleagues. If I was stuck with work I never felt like I was being a nuisance and found people to be very friendly to answer my questions and help with the part I was stuck on. We also had a few formal training sessions which would involve going through a power point slide and discussing it as we went along. There was also a lot of training videos readily available which is another source of help.

The company culture is very friendly and there are a lot of social events to get involved in. I have felt very supported and found the general atmosphere to be inclusive and enjoyable with everyone working hard when they are meant to be. There are also company wide events such as an inter office tournament where we got the afternoon off to play 5 aside against other offices. Also, the work life balance is really good as the company values your welfare a lot.

I very much enjoyed the placement and found the work to be varied and interesting. Every day I did something different and a lot of times you have to use problem solving which I really like to do. Also, because the atmosphere was very supportive I felt like I learnt a lot since the more you put in the more you get out of it and people give really good answers and explain things really well. The socials and people also made the experience even more enjoyable.

Yes

I would say learn a lot about what Barnett Waddingham as a company does as well as what the role encompasses. I know this can sometimes be difficult because you only have the job description but I think knowing a lot about what you are applying for can make you stand out, so I would suggest look around on the internet for any information you can find. Also, try and just be yourself and be friendly because it is not all about your academic side and analytical skills that matter.