The Canadian Institute of Actuaries provides a broad outline that clearly describes what we do: “Actuaries are business professionals who apply their knowledge of mathematics – particularly of probability, statistics and risk theory – to real-life financial problems involving future uncertainty ... By applying skills to these situations, actuaries help people to plan better for the future by reducing risk.” Actuaries are involved in a variety of businesses including pension and benefits. In our firm, the actuaries design and manage pension plans, taking into account the particular present and future needs of our clients.

On a particular day, one of our actuaries might:

• prepare a pension plan valuation, calculating the amounts that will be necessary to provide pension benefits
• create a document explaining the pension plan to a client’s employees
• meet with a client to discuss advantages and disadvantages of their present position and how best to meet their goals
• discuss a particular problem with the regulatory authorities and how it might best be resolved to meet a client’s objectives within the regulator’s requirements
• review statements prepared to reflect individual employees’ benefits within a pension plan
• consult with a prospective client to determine their objectives, providing advice as to how a plan might meet their needs
• teach an associate how to prepare benefit calculations

While not an exhaustive list of an actuary’s functions, this does provide a general outline of what an actuary does. For more information please visit the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ website: www.actuaries.ca/publications/2003/203032e.pdf