By John Oyuke

 

Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has launched an Actuarial Science Students’ Fund to improve competence in the sector.

IRA board chairman Steve Mainda said the Fund would help the regulator to develop qualified personnel for the insurance sector.

“We are committed to developing the insurance industry and we intend to sponsor at least five students every year for the next five years so as to provide relevant skill base for the industry,” he said.

“The target of the authority is to have at least 15 more fully qualified actuaries in the next five years,” he added.

Mainda said IRA would spend at least Sh4 million per student per year towards this project and that plans are also under way to sponsor students to pursue other insurance-related courses such as chartered financial analysts.

 

Qualified actuaries

 

“We will also organise for internship sessions for the students who have been enrolled through this scholarship programme,” he said during a meeting with the first five beneficiaries of the IRA actuarial scholarship in Nairobi, on Tuesday.

The students have received scholarships to pursue post-graduate courses in actuarial management at the Cass Business School in London.

Mainda said the school would help enhance the skills of the students while exposing them to best practice of the actuarial profession.

He said the actuarial science fund is one of the methods the authority has identified as a means of providing qualified manpower for the industry as it seeks to adopt the risk-based model of supervision.

There 10 qualified actuaries locally, and this is largely due to the high costs of pursuing actuarial courses.

“By sponsoring students, the Authority is seeking to develop qualified personnel to serve in the insurance sector and the wider economy,” Mainda stated.

He explained that the decision to offer the UK scholarships is informed by the definition of an Actuary as given in the Insurance Act.

According to the Act, an actuary is “a fellow of the institute of Actuaries of England or the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland or of the Society of Actuaries of United States of America or such other person having actuarial knowledge as the commissioner may, on application of a member of the insurance industry apply.”

Mainda stated that upon successful completion of their university education, professional examinations and return, the Authority would bond the students for a period of 12 months.

Meanwhile, female drivers are more likely to bend the truth when applying for car insurance, according to recent research carried out by eCar.

The eInsurance Group, which serves 280,000 insurance applications every month, carried out research into the habits of both sexes when it comes to divulging information which could have an effect on their insurance policy.

The insurance provider says they have noted an upturn in the number of female drivers avoiding the truth when taking out policies.

In May, the provider revealed that 20 per cent of their policies underwent fraud investigations.

Out of those policies, which were subsequently declined, 51 per cent were made by women, while 49 per cent were made by men.