Senior Actuary (With-Profits)

At M&G, our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions.
Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.
Through telling it like it is, owning it now and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.
We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and offer workplace adjustments to ensure you have the support you need to succeed in your role.

The Team

The With-Profits Actuary (WPA) team, which sits within the Life Finance team, serves the following purposes:

• The team provides expert with-profits knowledge to inform key business decisions, delivered through a comprehensive understanding of the investment strategy, bonus policy, capital, liquidity, expense base and drivers and profitability of the with-profits business
• Reviewing and challenging of initiatives and changes proposed by the business to the extent they impact the with-profits funds and policyholders
• Enabling the statutory role of the With-Profits Actuary to be fulfilled in connection to the With-Profits business, to help safeguard policyholders’ interest and ensuring they are treated fairly

In order to discharge its responsibilities in an efficient manner, the WPA team operates as a series of networked teams, clustering people in a fluid fashion to address specific pieces of work, although the main priorities for each person will be specified in their objectives.

The role

The Senior Actuary (With-Profits) will act as a key support to the Head of With-Profits Management, providing expert technical advice on issues arising within the context of M&G's With-Profits business, and the ongoing strategic management of the With-Profits funds. The role holder will have a good understanding of with-profits funds and related processes, and an appreciation of how decisions affect policyholder outcomes and the implications for treating policyholders fairly. They will be expected to review and draft papers for committees and senior management, and to attend meetings or committees to represent to the WPA team and Finance.

Experience:

• Experience of using understanding of the business linked with finance knowledge to support the business, making recommendations and helping to originate creative solutions

• Experience of With-Profits fund management including investment strategy, capital and liquidity management, and an appreciation of how they affect policyholder outcomes and the implications for treating policyholders fairly

• Experience of providing guidance and advice to the business on actuarial issues
• Experience of simply communicating complex financial information to stakeholders
• Experience of writing Board level reports and papers
• Experience of coordinating activities across multiple Finance teams to ensure the needs of business stakeholders are met

• Experience of advising on the commercial implications of decisions
• Experience of reviewing, analysing and effectively challenging results
• Experience of approaching complex issues from different angles, explaining the cause and effect of situations
• Experience of considering different future scenarios, opportunities and risks to generate creative solutions and operational plans that align with M&G's strategy

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of financial services regulatory and legislative frameworks
• Knowledge of actuarial professional standards and codes
• Working knowledge of With-Profits business and industry best practice
• Working knowledge, expertise and experience in financial reporting and product pricing
• Awareness of Group and external developments and ability to identify, recommend and implement improvements to processes and policies in line with these
• Knowledge of life and pensions products, markets and competitors

Personal attributes:

• Adept at building strong relationships
• Ability to show sound, reasoned, judgement
• Ability to anticipate key stakeholders perspectives and appreciate alternative viewpoints when challenged
• Ability to assess and react quickly and decisively to problems once identified and to take tough decisions based on well thought through principles where required.
• Ability to challenge decisions, setting out clearly the rationale for the challenge and clearly communicating own point of view
• Ability to communicate complex issues to peers and other senior stakeholders in a simple and succinct manner
• Ability to generate ideas and options to address complex issues

Qualifications:

• Qualified Actuary

What we offer:

We’re dedicated to supporting your wellbeing and helping you thrive, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life, and financially plan for the future. Our UK benefits include:

• A valuable pension scheme of up to 18% (13% made up of employer contributions and 5% employee contributions).
• Access to our Share Save and Share Incentive Plan, alongside financial wellbeing and support services to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
• Enjoy 38 days annual leave (including bank holidays), with the opportunity to purchase up to five extra days. Our Time Off When You Need It policy gives you the flexibility - to balance work and personal commitments.
• Our market-leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave - because supporting families is an important part of our inclusive culture.
• Health & Protection cover includes Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with additional family options - for peace of mind.

To explore more about life at M&G and our full benefits offering, visit Life at M&G

At M&G we strive to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, underpinned by our policies and employee-led networks that offer networking, support and development opportunities for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – across gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and more – including neurodivergent individuals, career returners and those with military service experience.

M&G is proud to be Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme, and we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you would like to participate in the initiative, you will have the opportunity to indicate this on your application.

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. All candidates have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments when applying. If you need any additional support at any stage, please contact us at: [email protected]