Senior Actuarial Trainee (ALM)

Location: London

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.

Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.

Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.

Job Purpose

As a senior actuarial trainee at Canada Life, you will be responsible for providing actuarial, statistical and financial insight and analysis to management. You will have the opportunity to advise the business or management to ensure that we are managing risk exposure to the business in order to satisfy our statutory responsibilities as well as the needs of policyholders and that of our regulators.

This position will initially commence within the front office ALM team and include the following:

• Support the ALM Front Office team in asset and liability management (ALM) and optimisation across the Canada Life Group European entities, including Irish Life, in respect of an asset portfolio of £30bn.
• Support the ALM Front Office team in the optimisation of the Canada Life Limited (CLL) £11bn Matching Adjustment Portfolio (MAP).
• Support the Investments Function and Commercial’s Pricing sub function to develop and implement an optimal asset strategy/mix for New Business in respect of both the CLL and Irish Life businesses, including pricing for strategic 3rd party Bulk Annuity transactions.
• This role would suit a part qualified actuary. Experience with DB investment strategy modelling or ALM in a life insurer could be beneficial, but not essential.

This position is located in our London City office, but future student rotations can be within our Potters Bar Hertfordshire office.

Key Accountabilities:

• Produce, assist with or review the production and interpretation of financial analysis within their line of business or function.
• Support the optimisation of the Matching Adjustment Portfolio, producing regular asset/liability projections, developing rebalancing proposals with Investments, evaluating and recommending new asset classes and providing regular reporting on trading activities and rationale.
• Assist in producing recommendations of asset mix alternatives and returns (Markers), support onboarding of assets, coordinating in-specie transfers and mitigating onboarding risks.
• Assist in formulating asset strategy/mix taking into account relative asset attractions under Canadian/UK/EU regulatory regimes and setting guidelines for Investments on trading. Monitor the impact of trading and liability changes during the quarter.
• Support the delivery of ALM information to multiple internal stakeholders, notably Investments front office and the CLL and Irish Life Pricing teams, delivering in line with Investment Management Agreements (IMAs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Contribute to the continuous review and improvement of the department’s processes and procedures to ensure the provision of timely, accurate and efficient levels of service.

General Responsibilities:

• Ensure familiarity with risk management programs, as they impact this role, and follow appropriate risk management procedures to control, monitor and report on business activities.
• Ensure compliance with Company policies, regulatory, professional & legal requirements.
• Take part in and make a valuable contribution to different roles via the actuarial student rotation scheme while actively studying for the actuarial exams and making acceptable exam progress.

Desired Knowledge / Experience / Skills:

• Can demonstrate a good understanding of asset classes to enable accurate production of Asset Liability Matching results.
• Knowledge of Solvency II and the Matching Adjustment, IFRS 17 and Bulk Annuities would be beneficial, but not essential.
• Developing knowledge and understanding of different actuarial disciplines including via student rotation.
• Developing the ability to interpret as well as analyse financial information to provide insight for immediate line management or other key stakeholders.
• Developing knowledge of a variety of statistical methods, models and controls, and their commercial application/implication.
• Ability to develop and modify actuarial systems and spreadsheets, developing understanding of their commercial application/implication.
• Intermediate to advanced MS Excel and VBA skills demonstrating efficient use of spreadsheets and good data manipulation skills.
• Ability to deliver work to a consistently high standard under tight time pressure with attention to detail.

Communication:

• Strong analytical and report writing/drafting skills.
• Can explain complexities in a straightforward and accurate way with coaching or support from managers.

Relationship Building:

• The ability to develop and maintain strong relationships across the actuarial function, acting with integrity and being a role model for the company values at all times.
• Being able to flex their style and approach to different individuals, with occasional coaching and support, in order to achieve a successful outcome.
• Taking part in and making a valuable contribution in different roles via actuarial student rotation.

Problem Solving & Accurate Judgement:

• Able to effectively plan, organise and execute their own work with little supervision, making management aware of conflicting priorities and readjusting their workload accordingly.
• Good problem solving skills and attention to detail, being able to identify issues and interdependencies, recommending a course of action with support and guidance from colleagues.
• Can make some decisions independently in order to progress issues, and able to exercise sound judgement and commercial sense.
• Proactive in approach to tasks and taking on new responsibilities.

Developing Self:

• Actively studying for actuarial exams, usually being over half-way through their qualification.
• An interested and inquisitive individual who is committed to their own ongoing professional and personal development.
• Developing the ability to apply technical actuarial techniques and understand business/commercial implications.

Benefits of working at Canada Life:

We believe in recognising and rewarding our people, so we offer a competitive salary and benefits package that’s regularly reviewed. As a Canada Life UK colleague, you’ll receive a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension and bonus scheme, along with income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance.

We have a fantastic number of other benefits and support services as well as regular personal and professional development.

How we work at Canada Life:

Our culture is unique and incredibly important to us. We care about doing the right thing for our people, customers and community and helping others to build better futures. Our blueprint behaviours shape and influence how we work, and are central to the relationships we have with others.

We want colleagues to have rewarding careers with us so we invest in the development of our people, technology and workplaces. That’s why we offer a range of training, flexible working and opportunities to grow and develop.

Diversity and inclusion:

Building an inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce where everyone can feel they belong and achieve their potential regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic is a key commitment for us. We are proud of the progress we’re making in DEI, and we continue for it to be a significant focus.

We appreciate that everyone has different work and life responsibilities. We’re happy to discuss flexible working arrangements, including part time, for any of our roles should this be a requirement for you.