Meet our people - Susan

Actuarial trainee - Retirement resource group
MSc, applied mathematics & astronomy, University of Glasgow

"The induction was great as it gave us a chance to get to know our fellow graduates, including those working in other business areas."

After graduating in 2000, I worked in the IT industry for several years before deciding that I wanted a more challenging career in an area more closely related to my degree (or the mathematics part of it anyway!). Becoming an actuary was the logical choice and I joined Mercer as an actuarial trainee in 2008.

I work for the UK retirement resource group, which is a research and support group that provides actuarial and legal support to the Mercer retirement consulting teams as well as researching and reporting on trends and changes in the industry. This means that my day to day job can be quite different from that of a more standard trainee pensions actuary, as I get involved in both legal and actuarial work. A typical day for me could include drafting a response to a government consultation on new legislation, performing a mortality analysis for a client scheme, producing investment statistics for use in calculations and answering technical queries for consultants. My role is a good blend between analysis and calculation on the “numbers” side and reading and writing technical communications on the “words” side.

I am currently in my first year of studying towards qualifying as an actuary and have passed my first three professional exams. The support and study package provided by Mercer have been excellent, both in terms of paying for study materials and tutorials and providing time out of the office for study. In future, I will also have the opportunity to study for a Masters degree as an alternative route to qualification if I want to.

I have also enjoyed a fantastic amount of in-house training throughout my first year, designed to help graduates become familiar with the company and with different aspects of pensions in the UK. In addition, the structure offered by Partnering for Success, Mercer’s performance management process, has really helped me to decide where I want my career to go in future and what I can do to get there.

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