Career Case Study: Raymond Bennett FIAA – Associate Professor, Curtin University
“I’ve worked all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica.”
Raymond is an actuary with a global career spanning over 25 years, working across Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and South-East Asia. He has 21 years’ experience as a consultant and 4 years in the insurance industry.
Throughout his career, Raymond has focused on capital management and financial reporting. He has a wide variety of experience gained as a consultant, and this breadth of technical expertise, coupled with his strong communication skills, enables him to effectively lead and develop teams to provide valuable technical input and insights to his clients’ businesses.
Why did you become an actuary?
Like many people in the profession, I was good at maths and hence becoming an actuary was suggested as an option. After some investigation, I could see that the actuarial qualification was a good challenge with a high bar to get into the course at university and tough exams through the Institute – and that it would lead to good career prospects (which is has!).
How did you find out about this career?
My cousin is an actuary and was studying actuarial science at university when I was considering what to do in my final year of school. I did some research, including speaking to an actuary in Perth and doing work experience with him.
In the end, I applied to several universities for actuarial and other courses. Initially I got into the IT program at UWA, but a few weeks later Macquarie University also offered me a place in their actuarial program. I was working in a kitchen on a mine in WA at the time and still remember receiving the phone call from my parents at a public phone onsite! And so, I packed my bags and moved to Sydney to study.
I managed to get all my exemptions from university and ended up doing the Control Cycle in the evenings whilst working – clearly, I was very busy at the time as I never noticed that the “Matrix” was being filmed in Sydney despite attending lectures close to the set… I did my last exam (investments) in the Australian Consulate in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and had a memorable celebration once I finished the exams. I did the final step (the Professionalism Course) in Wollongong and remember that one afternoon was spent playing beach volleyball!
How did you land your first job?
Whilst I was at university I applied for and did several work experience jobs during the long break over the December/January holidays. I initially worked on a mine as I had a scholarship with Normandy Poseidon which included this option (I was in their accounting team but have been down a mine and held a $250k gold bar whilst locked in a cage to prevent me running off with it!).
I then worked at MLC in their unit pricing team, and this was extended due to one of the team having to have an operation. In my third year (my plan was to do a fourth year and complete the control cycle) I landed a work experience role at Commonwealth Financial Services (which was owned by the Commonwealth Bank and later merged with CMLA to become CommInsure, now part of AIAA) in their valuation team.
After a few people resigned, their Chief Actuary (who is now a senior actuary at EY!) asked if I would stay on. I jumped at the opportunity to continue working and enjoyed my time there, even though (as the most junior person) I was the one working each New Year’s Eve to make sure the data was downloaded and to start the valuation runs so that they would be ready for the team when we returned to work on January second each year!
What helped you build your career/progress?
Asking good questions at the right time enables me to both try and do the work myself, whilst learning from senior people. The trick is to store up your questions so you don’t take too much of their time and to ask them regularly enough so you get the work done on time!
One of the best questions I asked was “when are you going to promote me” as this generated a conversation and agreement that I was ready for promotion to Senior Manager – which included a promotion “milestone event” sailing in the Solent (near Southampton in the UK), a great experience in itself.
I also think that the drive to learn and build relationships with my colleagues and clients is a key skill for everyone who wants to grow their career.
From your experience, what advantages does being an actuary offer in the professional world?
The actuarial profession is well respected, and this is a great benefit in building your career and working closely with other professionals such as tax specialists, accountants and lawyers. This is a great way to build your professional networks and make a real contribution in industry.
What top five skills do you look for when hiring an actuary?
I look for a person’s attitude and approach to work and learning; workplace culture is the most important factor and finding people who fit well is important – whilst also being very careful of unconscious bias.
Being an actuary also means that a strong technical skill set is very important – these days, this also means that programming, analytics and AI skills are very important for actuaries.
What exciting projects or work locations have you been exposed to?
One of the most memorable projects was reviewing the public pension fund in Yemen which I visited for two weeks. The work was very interesting as the benefit structure passed down several generations, creating quite a strain. Their systems were also pretty old which made extracting the data quite difficult!
However, the Minister who we were working for really looked after us and took us out (on the weekend!) into the countryside which was quite an experience. We visited a site where weddings were celebrated as well as an ancient fort. I really enjoyed the food there as well.
I have also been fortunate to work on several large transactions which are fast- paced and competitive; M&A (mergers and acquisitions) work is definitely one of my favourite types of project!
I also spent 8 months on secondment in Edinburgh which is a wonderful city to live in (I used to run up Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano, some mornings which was very good for keeping fit!).
What are the three highlights of your career to date?
I have worked all over the world (on every continent except Antarctica) and that has been one of my career highlights – I am very grateful that the actuarial qualification is held in high regard which helped me to do this.
I have also worked on many interesting projects over the years, so it is hard to single out an event – it’s more a multitude of highlights that add up to a memorable career. For example, when I was in London I worked on a large transaction (involving almost a year of work) – we started in the client’s offices and ended up working in their boardroom which overlooked St Paul’s Cathedral!
I also met my wife through the profession – at the time she was an actuarial recruiter (all conflicts of interest were disclosed to my employer at the time) and she likes to say she recruited me. That’s certainly a life highlight that would not have happened if I was not an actuary!
How would you summarise yourself in one sentence?
I’m a technical actuary with a good sense of humour.
What advice would you give to young/aspiring actuaries?
Get some work experience in a range of industries and choose where you want to work, get your exams done and build your professional network from the start of your career.
Check out Raymond’s career and qualification timeline
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