Master Actuary risks his reputation

On Monday the Worshipful Company of Actuaries received their Royal Charter from the Earl of Wessex in a splendid event at Mansion House. You can see the list of toasts to the left. The Marketors were "non-objectors" (the quaint name for supporters in Charter matters) to their petition.

I encountered for the first time the concept of Lord Mayor Locum Tenens - this happens when the Lord Mayor is absent (in Romania, less than 24 hours after running in the London Marathon) and asks one of his predecessors (in this instance Alderman Sir John Stuttard) to stand in for him.

The Master, Adrian Waddingham, had just been elected Pensions Personality of the Year. As he said (from memory),
"I am slightly embarrassed that this has come to light in the presence of our professional institute who are guests this evening. They uphold the highest standards of integrity in the profession partly by eliminating all personality from actuarial calculations. So I am at risk of bringing the profession into disrepute!"

Interestingly, the Actuaries have just produced a list of values for their profession. (Reminder: Marketors' values are printed on the inside cover of our Members' Directory.)