Joseph Nunes, FCIA(1997)
Position: President-Elect
Province: Ontario
Primary Practice Area: Pensions
Position statement
I have been an active volunteer at the Canadian Institute of Actuaries for more than thirty years, including three separate terms of service on our Board. I am approaching the end of my career, and if I am to serve as President of the CIA, I would like to do so while I am still actively working and engaged in our profession.
Serving as President would be an opportunity for me to give back to the profession that has given me so much, and it is a fitting capstone to a long career as a professional and as a volunteer. With that said, these alone are not sufficient reasons to take on the role of President, which requires a significant dedication of time. I am passionate about helping actuaries become the best practicing professionals that they can be, and about building an effective and efficient Head Office to support us.
If elected, my three priorities would be as follows:
- External relationships
A large part of the role of the President should be to look outward to other stakeholders. The public, governments and regulators, employers, and other actuarial associations around the world all have an interest in the work of our members and our success. I would work to cultivate these relationships.
- The Board and Head Office
In my last term on the CIA Board, we started some important work on redefining the role of our Board in supervising the work of our Head Office. I would like to continue this work and complete the transition to an oversight board away from an operational board, which is how we operated in the 1990s when I joined as a member of the CIA. At the same time, there is a role for the President to play in strengthening the contribution of our Head Office staff, allowing our paid employees to play the leadership role for which they are highly qualified.
- The membership
Many of you will already know me and my passion for our profession. My dearly departed friend and fellow CIA Board member, Mike Smith, always reminded us that the Board works for the members and the President works for the Board – not the other way around. My goal is to simply ensure that we have a robust conversation between our Board and our members so that the direction we take is one that supports member success. I hope our new discussion board can grow as a key tool in this effort.
I want to thank everyone in advance for considering my candidacy, and if I am not elected, I assure you that I will continue to volunteer for the remainder of my career and support the President that the membership chooses.
2024-Present – LTD Age Discrimination Insight Statement Drafting Entity
2023-Present – Committee on Education – Professionalism Content Subcommittee
2023 – CAPSA Pension Plan Risk Management Advice Statement Drafting Entity
2021-22 – Working Group to Review the Issue of Access to CIA Publication
2020-22 – CIA Board, Director
- 2020-22 – Human Resources, Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
- 2020-22 – Governance and Nominations Committee
- 2021-22 – Chair
- 2020-21 – Member
2019-2022 – Task Force to Review the CIA Discipline Process
2020-21 – FSRA-OSFI Joint Advisory Committee on Defined Contribution Pension Plan
2020-21 – CIA-SOA Memorandum of Understanding Working Group
2020 – Professional Conduct Board
2018-19 – Committee on Professional Conduct
2018-19 – Pension Practice Committee
- 2018-19 – Chair
- 2018 – Member
- 2018 – Federal Solvency Subcommittee, Chair
2016-2019 – Single Topic Task Force on Retirement Age, Co-chair
2017-2018 – Committee on Education – Business and Communications Education Subcommittee, Chair
2015-2018 – Elections Committee
2016 – Blue Ribbon Task Force on Public Policy, Vice-Chair
2012-2015 – CIA Board, Director
- 2013-2015 – Human Resources, Finance and Audit Committee
2012-2013 – Practice Council
2012 – Task Force on the Evaluation of the CIA Legal Services Provider
2008-2010 – Committee on Continuing Education, Chair
2006-08 – Professional Liability Insurance Advisory Committee, Chair
2005-08 – CIA Board, Director
2005-07 – Member Services Council
2005-06 – Task Force on Corporate Governance
2005-06 – Task Force on the Professional Liability Request for Proposal, Chair
2001-02 – Task Force on Communications
Joe Nunes co-founded and is now Executive Chairman of Actuarial Solutions Inc., which is a boutique pension consulting firm based in Ontario. The focus of Joe’s professional practice for the past 25 years has been to provide sponsors of small and mid-size pension plans with outstanding customer service and the highest quality work. Joe is married with three children and lives in Lasalle, Ontario just outside Windsor.
Question: What do you think of the effectiveness and importance of the CIA in its core functions (e.g., qualification, continuing education, professional development, promotion of the profession, research, standard-setting and professional conduct)?
Answer: As each year passes, I think the CIA becomes increasingly more effective in pursuing its mission. Over the past decade, we have added staff Directors that are strong contributors helping to drive the organization and its volunteers.
It becomes a danger when everything is viewed as important. I think the next phase for the CIA is to refocus on the effective use of our resources, and I would focus on three areas: education (qualification and continuing professional development), research (including thought leadership) and standards. All three efforts should focus both on our traditional and new practice areas. To me, the promotion of the profession comes indirectly from these efforts.
Professional conduct matters, but I think we want a quiet and efficient discipline process with a much greater focus on professionalism at the front end in our qualifying and continuing education.