Pensions actuarial careers: exploring the roles and opportunities available

Working as a pensions actuary can lead to a wide range of career options across consultancies, insurers, in-house teams and specialist pensions organisations.

Depending on your interests and experience, you could advise trustees or corporate sponsors, specialise in risk transfer and endgame planning, move into an insurer or in-house role, or build expertise in areas such as member options, governance, investment or emerging pension models.

The pensions market continues to evolve. Improved funding levels across many defined benefit (DB) schemes, increased focus on long-term endgame planning, continued risk transfer activity and wider changes across defined contribution (DC) and collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions are all influencing the work actuaries are asked to do.

As a result, your experience can look very different depending on the employer, client base and type of work you choose. Your next move might involve developing deeper technical expertise, taking on more client responsibility, moving closer to transactions or strategy, or broadening into an adjacent area of pensions.

Below, we explore some of the main career options available to pensions actuaries, before looking in more detail at how the experience can differ between larger, mid-sized and smaller consultancies. If consultancy is one of the routes you are considering, you can also read our guide to five misconceptions about working in an actuarial consultancy.

Why pensions actuarial remains a varied career

Pensions actuarial offers a broad range of career paths for both developing and experienced actuaries.

Opportunities can span traditional scheme consulting, specialist advisory work, transactions, insurer roles and in-house positions. This breadth can allow you to develop a combination of technical, consulting and commercial skills, including:

• Consulting and stakeholder skills: through client communication, project management, stakeholder management and, as you progress, people or commercial leadership
• Transferable technical skills: including data analysis, calculations, modelling, funding, risk analysis and communicating complex conclusions clearly
• Different routes for progression: from deep technical specialism and Scheme Actuary responsibilities through to client leadership, risk transfer, people management or broader pensions strategy

The changing pensions landscape is also creating new areas of work. Within DB, trustees and sponsors are considering long-term funding, run-on, insurance transactions, consolidation and the use of surplus. At the same time, developments across DC and CDC pensions are broadening the types of projects and opportunities available across the sector.

What types of pensions actuarial roles are available?

The opportunities available will depend on your experience, interests and the part of the market you want to work in, but pensions actuaries can build careers across several different areas:

• Trustee consulting: advising trustees on scheme funding, valuations, risk, benefit changes, member options and long-term strategy
• Corporate consulting: advising sponsoring employers on pensions strategy, funding, accounting, risk and decisions involving their schemes
• Risk transfer and endgame: working on buy-ins, buyouts and other endgame options, often combining actuarial, transaction and stakeholder-management skills
• Insurer and in-house roles: working closer to the organisation taking or managing pensions risk, or within an in-house pensions team where you may focus on one scheme or group of schemes in greater depth
• Specialist and adjacent work: developing expertise in areas such as member options, GMP equalisation, governance, investment and asset-liability work, data, consolidation or developments across DC and CDC pensions

The right route will depend on whether you want to deepen your technical expertise, broaden your client exposure, move closer to transactions or strategy, or specialise in a particular area of the market.

What to expect from working with a large consultancy

Larger consultancies can appeal to pensions actuaries who want access to a broad client base, established specialist teams and structured opportunities to develop across different areas of work.

Potential advantages can include:

• Exposure to large and complex schemes: larger firms often advise a wide range of clients, including substantial pension schemes and major employers. This can give you experience across complex funding, risk, governance and endgame work.
• Access to specialist teams: you may have opportunities to work alongside teams focused on areas such as risk transfer, member options, GMP equalisation, investment or governance, helping you build specialist knowledge or work across disciplines.
• A broad internal network: larger organisations often have teams across several locations and practice areas, giving you access to a wider group of colleagues, mentors and technical specialists.
• Structured development and mobility: established progression frameworks, study support and opportunities to move between teams or specialisms can provide a clear route for development.

The experience can still vary significantly between firms and individual teams. Workload, utilisation expectations, business development responsibilities and hybrid working arrangements may all differ, so look beyond the brand name and understand how the team actually operates, how work is allocated and what will be expected at your level.

What to expect from working with a smaller or mid-sized consultancy

Smaller and mid-sized consultancies can offer a different experience, with opportunities for earlier responsibility, closer access to senior colleagues and greater scope to shape the direction of your role.

Potential advantages can include:

• Earlier access to responsibility: in some smaller teams, you may gain direct client exposure, project ownership or people-management responsibility earlier in your career.
• Closer access to senior colleagues: a smaller structure can mean more regular interaction with partners or senior decision-makers, giving you greater visibility of client relationships, commercial decisions and how the wider business operates.
• Different performance models: utilisation targets, billable hours and performance measures can vary significantly between firms. Some smaller consultancies may operate less rigid models, although it is important to understand the expectations in practice.
• More scope to shape your role: smaller teams can sometimes give you greater flexibility to influence the type of work you take on, develop a particular area of expertise or grow with the business.

Smaller firms are not necessarily more flexible, less demanding or less complex than larger consultancies. Some focus on particular types of client or specialist work, while others offer a surprisingly broad pensions proposition.

The key is to understand the actual client base, type of work, progression opportunities and structure of the team rather than using employer size alone to judge what the role will offer.

What should you compare when choosing a pensions actuarial role?

Employer size is only one factor to consider when comparing pensions actuarial opportunities.

Before making a move, it is worth understanding:

• The type and mix of work: how much exposure will you have to trustee, corporate, insurer or other client work?
• The level of ownership: will you work on projects from start to finish or specialise in one part of a wider piece of work?
• The balance of responsibilities: how much of the role will involve technical work, client management, people leadership or business development?
• How progression works: what opportunities are available to develop specialist expertise, take on more client responsibility or work towards Scheme Actuary responsibilities where relevant?
• Workload and performance expectations: how are utilisation, billable hours, workload peaks and performance managed?
• Development and support: what study support, CPD, mentoring and access to senior colleagues or specialist teams will you receive?
• Working arrangements: what do hybrid working, travel and client-site expectations look like in practice?

Two roles with similar job titles can offer very different experiences, so focus on the substance of the opportunity rather than the size or name of the employer alone.

Finding the right option for you

There is no single pensions actuarial career path that will suit everyone.

Two employers that look similar on paper can offer very different levels of client ownership, technical depth, commercial exposure, progression and flexibility. When considering a move, think carefully about the work you want to spend more time doing, the responsibilities you want to develop and the type of environment in which you work best.

A specialist actuarial recruiter, such as Sellick Partnership, with knowledge of the pensions market can also help you compare roles that may have similar job titles but offer very different day-to-day experiences.

The pensions actuarial market offers far more variety than a simple choice between large and small consultancies. Understanding the type of work, client exposure, progression opportunities and specialist areas behind each role will help you make a more informed decision about your next move.

Explore your next pensions actuarial move

Sellick Partnership’s specialist Actuarial recruitment team works with pensions actuaries across consultancies, insurers and in-house teams. If you are considering your next move, we can help you compare opportunities based on the work, level of responsibility, progression, flexibility and specialist experience each role offers.

Get in touch with our actuarial recruitment team for a confidential discussion, or visit our actuarial recruitment hub.