At the start of 2020 the IFoA launched its campaign on what we termed the ‘Great Risk Transfer’. Throughout the year we explored the trend to transfer risks from institutions – such as employers, the state, and financial services providers – to individuals.
Evidence of this shift exists in a number of areas of public policy and actuarial work. It amounts to a profound change in the way that individuals organise their life and finances, and represents one of the most significant yet little understood social, financial, and political challenges of our time.
While it is true that levels of numeracy, financial literacy, and understanding of risk are generally low, even many of those who consider themselves more financially aware feel ill-equipped to deal with the risks they now face.
Our work suggests that the causes of this trend are complex and cover a variety of factors, including increasing longevity, technological advances, the low interest-rate environment, and changes in financial regulation. We believe there is an urgent need for practical solutions, exacerbated by the pandemic, as individuals are confronted by the need to manage risks they did not have to worry about previously.
Between February and May 2020 we ran a call for evidence so that we could gather first-hand examples of this transfer and the ways it was impacting on the public. This evidence then informed subsequent roundtables, from which we developed the suggested solutions into practical recommendations.
“The genesis of the Great Risk Transfer was a recognition that there may be a pattern of risk transfer from institutions to individuals occurring across a range of settings in financial services. This initial hunch was confirmed by our call for evidence in Spring 2020, which suggested there were areas of real concern.
With the publication of our final Great Risk Transfer report, we will be focusing on specific recommendations from the report, seeking to engage with influential stakeholders such as Ministers, other parliamentarians, regulators and industry groups to address the very real challenges highlighted over the course of the campaign.”
John Taylor, Past President of the IFoA
This transfer of risk poses important questions about the changing priorities and responsibilities of the institutions that once managed those risks. In financial services, it means greater thought about how to ensure consumers are equipped to make decisions that are in their best interest. In public life, it means taking a close look at the relationship between citizens and the welfare state, and questioning whether the current balance of individual and collective responsibility is right.
Risk transfer also poses profound questions for our profession, as many actuaries support clients and employers in reducing risk exposures, only for consumers to be left exposed.
Our final report in the Great Risk Transfer campaign brings together a broad body of evidence to make recommendations to address two key challenges:
To find out more about how these challenges can be addressed, download the final report of the Great Risk Transfer.
With the publication of our final Great Risk Transfer report, we continue to focus on these specific recommendations by engaging with influential stakeholders such as ministers, parliamentarians, regulators, and industry groups to address the challenges highlighted over the course of the campaign.
“The IFoA is calling for a public conversation about which risks are worth taking and who should stand behind those risks. Over recent decades, institutions and governments have sought to de-risk in order to manage uncertainty. In trying to reduce or eliminate risk, they have often transferred it to their customers or citizens, who are less well equipped to manage it, often without understanding their needs or preferences.
Many individuals will have been affected by the transfer of risk in more than one area of their lives. The evidence suggests that only a minority will be truly equipped to deal with the aggregate impact of these risks, and make the most of the flexibility and choice they are offered by taking them on.
Responses to the call for evidence have helped us look beyond actuarial practice areas to examples in other areas of society where this trend is taking place. These have helped to expand our understanding about the root causes and societal implications of risk transfer, and will inform our recommendations for a meaningful change in UK government policy.”
In this report, the IFoA has made a number of recommendations to government, regulators, and the financial services industry to address some of the negative impacts of the Great Risk Transfer. We will:
By taking these steps we believe we can have a positive impact in addressing the challenges of the Great Risk Transfer.
If you would like to talk to us about working to address these issues and our recommendations, please contact policy@actuaries.org.uk.
At our launch event attendees heard from the Australian researcher Myra Hamilton, whose work engages with the Great Risk Transfer, not only from a financial services point of view but more broadly in terms of changes to our politics and society over recent decades.
Dr Arjen van der Heide’s research explores how risk has been individualised in the UK life insurance industry over recent decades.
The IFoA is a leading voice for the actuarial profession in the field of policy development and thought leadership. Find out more about our work.