EY's actuarial team was kept busy over the last 12 months in a wide range of areas from regulatory advice to mergers and acquisitions.

The consultancy assisted a number of clients to design systems in preparation for the IFRS 17 accounting standard, and supported around 10 internationally active firms with the 2020 Insurance Capital Standard data collection exercise.

The consolidation trend in the industry led EY to advise on a number of buy-side transactions, while clients continued to demand EY's help with technological transformation programmes and improvements to analytics.

The InsuranceERM Awards judging panel was also impressed with the consultancy's work on sustainable finance, including the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into strategy and decision making. One judge described the work as "an example of how actuaries can expand their roles in this area".

The firm is also looking at its own sustainability record. At the start of 2021, EY announced it will be carbon negative this year and have net zero emissions by 2025.

Gareth Mee, UK actuarial leader, adds: "We're buying renewable energy through forward purchase agreements to make sure that we can use renewable energy wherever possible within our buildings."

For insurers, EY says sustainable finance and ESG will remain critical themes.

"We continue to help some of the biggest global insurance companies with their climate change strategy and integrating climate risk into their insurance products, and integrating responsible investments into what they do in the investment space," Mee says.

Globally, EY has about 1,600 actuaries, 800 in Europe and 250 in the UK, and the consultancy plans to continue growing, with Mee aiming for at least a 10% increase in the UK over the next three years.