Seated (L to R) : .R. Kahakachchi (Council), Ms. Thanuja Krishnaratne (Secretary), Professor P. W. Epasinghe (Special Guest), Ms. Amali Seneviratne (Founder President), Nick Dumbreck (Chief Guest, Immediate past president of the Institute of Actuaries , UK), G. N. Agarwal (President, Institute of Actuaries of India), Jaap Plugge (Vice President).

Standing (L to R): Kishan Gunaratne, Stanley Perera, Sujeewa Kumarapperuma, Pushpakumar Gunasekera (Treasurer), Roshan Perera.

Actuaries, possibly the rarest breed of professionals in the country, have come together to form the Actuarial Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) in a long overdue initiative that would be an important milestone in the development of the local financial services sector.

As business professionals who analyse the financial consequences of risk, actuaries use mathematics, statistics, economics, and financial theory to study uncertain future events, especially those of concern to long term insurance and pension programs.

Actuaries are most frequently employed in the insurance industry, for which they calculate the costs to assume risk — how much to charge policyholders for life or health insurance premiums or how much an insurance company can expect to pay in claims when the next natural disaster occurs.

Sri Lanka has just a few qualified actuaries, making these financial soothsayers as rare as neurosurgeons in the country, at a time when financial services desperately need scientifically sound projections for strategic management decisions.

The Actuarial Association of Sri Lanka formally launched last week has among its chief objectives the popularisation and promotion of the profession and to set, govern and safeguard the code of professional ethics and conduct of its members in relation to the practice of the actuarial profession.

The International Actuarial Association (IAA), which is the apex body of all professional actuarial associations worldwide, has accredited the AASL as an Associate member. This will enable the AASL to network with other professional actuarial bodies and maintain global standards.

The initial membership of the association will comprise of actuaries practicing in Sri Lanka and some 30 students pursuing actuarial examinations in Sri Lanka at various levels.

Speaking at its inauguration, the AASL’s founder President Amali Seneviratne, a Director of Ceylinco Life said there are 16 companies transacting long term insurance business in Sri Lanka today and that new regulations are forthcoming requiring mandatory Actuarial Certification for the General Insurance business as well. "The lack of qualified actuaries is a key issue for the Sri Lankan Insurance Industry today. We need a strategy to increase the number of qualified actuaries in Sri Lanka to meet the national demand," she said.

The AASL would initially be a non-examining body, and offer four types of memberships, Fellow, Associate, Ordinary Member and Honorary Member on the basis of existing and continuing membership in any one of the professional actuarial bodies in the UK, USA, India, Australia and the Netherlands, which have been accepted and approved by the council of the Association, Ms. Seneviratne said.

In a demonstration of support to the newly formed AASL, its inauguration was attended by several eminent personalities including Nick Dumbreck, Immediate Past President of the Institute of Actuaries (UK) as Chief Guest, G.N Agarwal, President of the Institute of Actuaries of India as Guest of Honour, Professor P.W. Epasinghe, an Advisor to the President who is credited with introducing actuarial mathematics to undergraduates in Sri Lanka, and senior executives from all leading insurance companies in the country.

Describing the formation of the AASL as an important step forward for Sri Lanka, Dumbreck presented the association with a cheque for £ 1000 from the Institute of Actuaries of UK. In his speech, Dumbreck said the current turmoil in the financial world has provided a "fantastic opportunity" for actuaries. "The world needs actuaries to prevent another financial meltdown," he said.