Actuaries Institute 2025 President Win-Li Toh says that at a time when society was witnessing increasing division, extreme views and polarising opinions, actuaries stood out as trusted advisers who were skilled at collaborating with businesses and governments to connect the dots, find solutions, and help manage risk.
Actuaries across Australia are being encouraged by Toh to tap into their powers of collaboration to find solutions to societal problems ranging from generational inequality to cyber risks.
“Collaboration creates so many exciting prospects for us as actuaries,” said Toh, who is a principal at Taylor Fry with over 25 years of experience as an actuary in Australia and internationally. “We speak a shared, evidence-based language that can bring people with different skills and viewpoints together. And we can do more of it in the future if we truly understand the powers we have.”
Toh said by pulling together different data sets and perspectives from many sources, actuaries were tackling seemingly impossible problems in a range of non-traditional fields such as data science, artificial intelligence, health, climate change and government services.
Toh also said she believed actuaries needed to have just enough humility so they could be objective, independent and focused on the evidence as well as recognise the benefits of drawing on the expertise of others including cyber experts, First Nations leaders and climate scientists.
“Yet while holding onto this humility, we also need to stand up, look out and speak up,” she said. “To be confident about our unique skill sets, knowing we’re ready to join the dots and help shape solutions to wicked problems for our clients and our communities.”
