Key information for Working Party Chairs

Key information for Working Party Chairs A view from a volunteer “As a Fellow of the IFoA, I have been actively involved in volunteering for many years, with my focus being on research Working Parties. In my experience, a well run Working Party can deliver a high quality end product which adds to the reputation of the members of the Working Party as well as the IFoA as a whole.” To help Chairs of Working Parties to comply with the IFoA’s governance, Patrick Kelliher has created this guide based on his experience. Patrick is:

• Chair of the IFoA’s Operational Risk Working Party – deliverables have included a paper on inputs to operational risk models for a 2016 Sessional meeting • Member of the Risk Management Research and Thought Leadership Committee • Previously Chair of the Risk Classification Working Party which delivered a sessional paper in 2011. This resource will help Working Parties to operate within the principles of the IFoA’s Governance Manual and Volunteer Information Pack (VIP) and to get the best from their Working Party.

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Board approval for Working Parties (WP):

Planning – “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”:

A key element of WP governance is the need for approval by an IFoA Board/Committee, be it the Board or Research Sub-committee for a practice area or another Board. Through the Research and Thought Leadership Committee (RTLC), Boards liaise with each other to ensure a WP is not duplicating effort elsewhere; and will monitor the progress of the WP in order to plan sessional meetings, conferences, and other ways to disseminate the research findings.

• Allow one month for recruitment process plus another month to select members and set up the first meeting

In setting up a WP, the most relevant Board/Committee should be identified for the purposes of approval and reporting progress (see Annex 5 of the Governance Manual). The proposal should cover:

• The need for the research/WP, what gaps in knowledge is the research seeking to address, what questions it is seeking to answer, how addressing these falls within the remit of the IFoA and is consistent with the IFoA strategy/corporate plan

• If data is to be acquired from or research is to be carried out in collaboration with an external party, then a legal agreement will need to be drawn up to cover intellectual property, confidentiality etc. The profession has experience of drawing up such agreements, but it may take some time for the details to be agreed with the third party • Remember to allow time between completing research and producing an initial draft paper, and for review and quality assurance of the paper and re-drafts • Allow 4 – 6 weeks between completion of the paper and when it can be presented at a sessional meeting or conference – this is to allow the paper to be quality assured; copies to be printed.

• Deliverables (e.g. sessional paper/conference paper) and target delivery dates • Any engagement with external parties (e.g. ABI, Society of Actuaries) • Any expenses which the WP expects to incur and seek reimbursement from the profession • Draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for their approval. View an example of a WP ToR in section 3 of the VIP.

www.actuaries.org.uk

Key information for Working Party Chairs Volunteer recruitment and selection:

Meetings:

Reporting and delivery:

Membership of a successful WP can be prestigious. Therefore it is important for the volunteer recruitment process to be fair and transparent so all actuaries with the relevant skills can have a chance to join the WP.

• To ensure meetings achieve their goal, there should be an agenda for every meeting setting out what is to be discussed and time allotted for discussion

It is important that Boards/Committees are kept up to date on progress so that they can plan sessional meetings/conferences.

• The Chair should ensure the meeting keeps to the agenda to prevent meetings over-running and/or failing to cover what is required

• The WP should report back on progress made to the relevant Board/Committee at least quarterly

• Minutes should be kept – at a minimum this should include actions agreed and their owners along with details of those attending to help with claiming CPD. This also provides an important audit trail with regard to compliance with competition law and conflicts of interest e.g. if a member has had to remove themselves from a meeting due to conflicts this should be recorded

• Ideally, the WP should have milestones of tasks and when these are supposed to be finished by, against which progress can be assessed

• Having got approval for the WP and identified needs in terms of volunteer numbers, contact Volunteer Engagement to kick-start the recruitment process • The Volunteer recruitment flowchart can help you understand the steps in the process, while the selection panel guidance note can help in the selection of members. These can be found in the VIP • In assessing members, bear in mind not just their skill set and personal attributes but also whether they will be able to commit the time necessary. It is also important to assess any potential conflicts of interest e.g. whether they are working on similar research for their employer and/or for commercial gain.

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• In running meetings the Chair should be conscious of the profession’s values and in particular the need to listen and ensure everyone present can contribute. The IFoA can help with meetings, including booking rooms in their offices and arranging tele-conferences. You may also find Tips and Hints No1: Chairing Meetings to be helpful. You can view this in the VIP.

• The RTLC also has visibility of how all WPs and other research projects are progressing

• If it looks like the WP is falling behind and may not deliver in time, this should be raised immediately as for instance sessional meetings may need to be re-arranged • Expenses – please see the volunteer expenses policy in section 7.4 of the VIP • While painful, if a WP looks like it will not deliver, it is better to wind it up sooner rather than later, to avoid more volunteer time being wasted • Finally don’t be afraid to ask the IFoA Executive if they can help.


Key information for Working Party Chairs Legal pitfalls:

Collaborating with third parties:

External engagement:

There are a number of legal pitfalls which Chairs should be aware of:

While collaboration with external bodies can add to what the IFoA can achieve, there have been instances where an external body pulled out of research projects, resulting in a considerable waste of volunteer time. If there is to be collaboration with external parties, the following points should be noted:

• Public Affairs should be notified of any proposal to engage external parties and should be kept informed – they will also be able to provide you with assistance and ensure you are aware of all associated and relevant issues

• Competition law – be wary, for instance, of discussing premium rates or other consumer terms, as this could be construed as price-fixing • Intellectual Property (IP) – there is a need to ensure that the IP of others is respected and that permissions have been granted to use copyrighted material • There is also a need to ensure IP developed by the WP is also protected • Confidentiality – the business of all IFoA Boards, Committees, Sub-committees and WPs is confidential to the IFoA, and should not be disclosed outside the IFoA without the written consent of the IFoA’s Chief Executive. This does not preclude sharing information within the IFoA however • Data protection – failure to properly safeguard data and other confidential material could lead to a breach of data protection laws and damage the profession’s reputation. Information should be securely stored and not used for purposes other than what it was gathered for.

• Be clear what the external parties’ goals are, and whether this is in keeping with those of the IFoA.In keeping with its nature as a learned society, the profession will generally not seek to charge for research it produces • From time to time, the IFoA will also provide funding to third parties to collaborate with WPs. Like most organisations, the profession operates a fair and transparent procurement process for such activity through the IFoA Executive staff

The IFoA is extremely grateful to Patrick for his help in creating this resource.

• A legal agreement will need to be drawn up to cover intellectual property, confidentiality etc. The IFoA has experience in drafting such agreements

We hope you find this helpful and you may also like to view Guidance for Member-Led Research Working Parties in the Sharing Best Practice section of the VIP.

• Typically a “Heads of Terms” of the key terms will be agreed between the IFoA and the external party, before a more formal Memorandum of Understanding is agreed

To discuss any aspect of the above please contact your key Executive contact or Debbie Atkins, Head of Volunteer Engagement. Debbie will be happy to put you in contact with the most appropriate person within the IFoA.

• While it may take time for the legal agreement to be put in place, be wary of committing resource before this as the IFoA’s IP rights may be compromised and/or the external party may walk away, leading to wasted effort by volunteers.

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• Public Affairs should also be notified, immediately, if research could be sensitive if it reached the public domain.

Email: [email protected] You may also like to view Patrick’s volunteer experience.
