Where actuarial judgement shapes insurance decisions.
Pensions actuaries put a value on long-term promises. Their work shapes how schemes are funded, how risk is transferred to insurers and how members’ benefits are secured, whether a scheme is run by trustees, backed by an employer or taken on by an insurer.
We work with pensions actuarial professionals from part-qualified analysts to scheme actuaries and senior leaders, across consultancies, insurers and reinsurers. We introduce them to roles where they can advise trustees, shape risk transfer decisions and build lasting client relationships.
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City of London, United Kingdom
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Starting your Actuary career
A graduate or trainee analyst role is one route in, where you work through IFoA exams alongside data sorting and script building. Some university degrees carry exemptions from some of the exams, which can reduce the exam load, and employers also hire people who then learn on the job. Progression is driven by exam milestones rather than years of service, so what you pass shapes the responsibility you are given.
Exam progress and technical capability come first, but the actuaries who progress also build skills around the models. The skills below follow the stages of an actuarial career.
- IFoA exam progress: working steadily through the exam framework that sets the pace of progression
- Data handling: sorting and preparing data so that models rest on reliable inputs
- Scripting: building scripts that make analysis repeatable
- Independent modelling: building models with growing independence as you move beyond the early exams
- Model ownership: taking responsibility for the structure of a model and keeping it sound
- Model checking: reviewing the work of colleagues with a critical eye
- Sign-off judgement: moving from initial sign-offs towards statutory responsibility
- Risk framework knowledge: understanding how risk is structured and governed across an organisation
- People and executive communication: managing analytical teams and explaining your work to senior stakeholders
Technical depth is the foundation, and the actuaries who progress also show they can explain their work to colleagues beyond the actuarial team.
Actuarial pay follows exam milestones more closely than years of service, and reaching Fellowship brings a visible step up in base pay. London sits at the higher end of advertised actuarial pay. Take a look at the average salary ranges for permanent actuary roles below:
| Seniority Level | London | Rest of UK |
| Graduate / Trainee | £32,000 - £45,000 | £30,000 - £38,000 |
| Part-Qualified Analyst | £45,000 - £65,000 | £36,000 - £50,000 |
| Nearly Qualified Analyst | £65,000 - £85,000 | £52,000 - £70,000 |
| Newly Qualified Fellow |
£75,000 - £100,000 |
£60,000 - £85,000 |
| Experienced Fellow / Manager |
£95,000 - £140,000 |
£80,000 - £115,000 |
| Senior Director / Head of Function |
£130,000 - £200,000 |
£110,000 - £165,000 |
| Chief Actuary / Equity Partner |
£220,000 - £380,000+ |
£180,000 - £300,000+ |
An actuarial analyst supports the models and analysis behind an organisation’s risk decisions while working through IFoA exams. At graduate and trainee level, that means sorting data and building scripts. As you pass more exams, you take on independent modelling and initial sign-offs, and later own and check structural models. Each stage brings more responsibility for the quality of the work, which is why the role looks different at the start and end of the exam journey.
A part-qualified actuary is still working through IFoA exams, and the responsibilities grow with each stage. Part-qualified analysts build models independently and take on initial sign-offs, while nearly qualified analysts own and check structural models. A qualified actuary has reached Fellowship (FIA/FFA), which is the point at which a newly qualified Fellow role opens up. Beyond that, further progression is about the scope you take on rather than further exams, from managing units to holding statutory sign-offs.
Advance your career in actuary
- Experienced Fellow: deepening technical ownership of models and sign-offs
- Actuarial Manager: managing an analytical unit and the people in it
- Regional practice lead: running a regional practice and its client or business relationships
- Head of Actuarial Function: holding statutory sign-offs and responsibility for risk frameworks
- Chief Actuary: taking C-suite responsibility for the actuarial agenda
- Equity Partner: sharing in equity distributions and the success of the fee book
Which route suits you depends on whether you want to deepen technical ownership, lead people or take on commercial responsibility. Many experienced actuaries weigh these up several times in a career, and we can help you understand where your experience is most valued.
AI and automation are taking on more of the routine data preparation and scripting that fill the early stages of an actuarial career. For senior actuaries, that shifts attention towards judgement: how a model is structured, what its output does and does not tell you, and who stands behind a sign-off.
Experienced actuaries are also likely to be asked to help their organisations decide where these tools add value and how their output is reviewed and explained to executives. Being able to question what a model produces is becoming as important as being able to build it.
The same actuarial qualification can lead to different work depending on the type of organisation you join.
- Insurers: actuarial teams where models, sign-offs and risk frameworks sit close to the business
- Reinsurers: actuarial roles within reinsurance businesses, applying the same technical skills in a different setting
- Lloyd’s of London businesses and MGAs: specialist environments where actuarial work supports the way each business operates
We can share how teams differ in size, structure and the type of work on offer, so your next move fits what you want from the role.
A Head of Actuarial Function holds statutory sign-offs, owns risk frameworks and works with executives. Getting there builds on the stages before it: owning and checking models, signing off work and managing teams. Executive exposure is part of the role, so the ability to explain your work to senior stakeholders matters as much as technical standing.
These are the most senior actuarial roles, carrying C-suite responsibility. At partner level, the role also includes equity distributions and the success of the fee book, so commercial accountability sits alongside the technical work. If you are considering this step, we can talk you through how these roles differ between organisations.
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