The winners of the 1996 Zimbabwe Mathematics Olympiad

The first ZMO was held in 1984 with 460 participants from 43 schools. The 1996 Olympiad had 1050 entrants from 93 schools, with only about 30 candidates surviving to the final round. This may not seem like a large number, but there are only about a hundred A'level schools in Zimbabwe (only U6s are allowed to enter at the moment), with each school allowed a maximum of 15 entrants. Since its inception, the contest has been organised and sponsored by the insurance company Old Mutual (OM), who set the rules.

On 22 November 1996, the winners of the ZMO were honoured at a luncheon at the five-star Holiday Inn Monomotapa Hotel.

1. GOLD MEDALLIST --- Munyaradadzi Muwomo (Milton High)
2. SILVER MEDALLIST --- Hercules Maguma (Goromonzi High)
3. SILVER MEDALLIST --- Taurai Muhamba (Highfield High)

Congratulations to the trio! They each received a medal, a framed certificate and (of course) a nice three-course lunch. Plus the chance to get more information on actuarial science.

Also present at the luncheon were Bryan Bradford, the General Manager of OM, all the OM actuaries, the medallists' parents, teachers, Maths Dept Heads and Headmasters. And the question setters.

Two speeches were given that day. The first was by Mr Bradford, the second by an actuary Mike Rachman, with whom we had a good discussion in the last issue. Old Mutual has kindly provided us with transcripts of the speeches.

Mr Bradford's speech

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. You may well be wondering why the OM should choose to create and sponsor a competition such as the Maths Olympiad. Any company, and OM is no exception, will think long and hard about committing money to a project that does not have a direct business benefit. We are a mutual insurer and we hold all our assets in trust for the benefit of our members, the policyholders, for whom it is our duty to give value for money on their investments. Every time we commit money to a project we must be sure that we are providing value to the policyholders we serve.

So back to our original question, why sponsor the Maths Olympiad?

• Firstly, to promote mathematics at high school level, and to recognise and reward outstanding mathematical achievement at that level;
• And secondly, to help contribute to the development of mathematical skills in Zimbabwe.

And how, you might wonder, does this provide value to the policyholder?

1. By helping to contribute to the skills base. As mathematical skills have a fundamental role to play in science, commerce, finance and engineering amongst other fields, we are helping ensure that the Zimbabwean economy, in which we invest on behalf of our policyholders, will grow. This growth will pay off in the form of future investment returns to our policyholders.
2. Secondly, to provide OM with the opportunity to identify exceptional talent with a view to encouraging more students to pursue a career in actuarial science. Actuaries play a pivotal role in an insurance company and add real value to the insurance process."

Mr Rachman's Speech

"One of the joys of being an actuary is the typical reaction of someone finding out what I do for a living. The most common responses I have had are:

"A what?"

A blank look, a short silence, followed by "Been in any good plays recently?"

and

"So you must be rich!"

From these comments it is self evident the profession has much to do with regards to marketing itself! I will try to give you a little insight into an actuarial career. The obvious place to start is the education process, because its purpose is to train us to do our jobs. Most aspiring actuaries have a university degree with a mathematical or statistical bias, although it is possible to enter straight from school. An actuarial student will typically have a full-time job with an insurance company or firm of consulting actuaries and will study in their spare time.

The intermediate exams are economics and finance, statistics and actuarial mathematics, which covers compound interest, life contingencies and mortality. The finals examine investments, practice of life insurance, pension funds and general insurance. Typically the pass rate is around 50-60% for the intermediates and 30% for the finals. The significant aspect of these low pass rates is that the people writing these exams have all done exceptionally well at school and university. Prior to starting the actuarial exams they would have never considered failing an exam as being within the realms of possibility. Yet nearly all will fail at least one actuarial exam. For those who do eventually finish the exams, it normally takes about 5 to 7 years to qualify. About half the graduates who set out to become actuaries drop out along the way. It is a long, tough road to qualification.

Qualified actuaries play a pivotal role in the financial management of insurance companies and pension funds, and they are instrumental in helping to set their investment srategies. All of these revolve around the incidence of uncertain future events occuring well into the future. Thus the actuary requires analytical skills, business sense and a clear understanding of the impact of future events upon the course of action being proposed.

Typical tasks of an actuary include

• Development of insurance products
• Research into underlying factors such as mortality and investment risk, and development of techniques to manage these risks.
• Pricing of insurance products which have been developed.
• Continuous assessment of products to ensure financial viability of the product as the economic and social environment change.
• Assessment of the overall financial position of the insurer. This includes ensuring the right actions are taken in all aspects of the business, such as marketing, investments and product lines to ensure the financial security of the insurer in the future.
• Distribution of profits to policyholders.
• Advising employers and pension fund trustees on the benefit design and financial health of their pension schemes, incuding an assessment of the required contribution rate ro ensure the scheme can meet the provision of promised pension beenfits.

I hope it has become obvious that an actuary is not just a mathematical technician. The actuary does use mathematical techniques, but he uses much more than that. Actuaries need to apply their training along with their business and common sense to solve real problems in the business world. Their judgement, derived from their education, training and experience, is vital in decision making in any field involving uncertain events or long term financial planning. Further, they need to be skilled communicators so they can advise and inform their clients about complex issues in simple terms. Finally actuaries are professionals, which means a rigorous emphasis on client interest, ethics and wider duty to society.

The actuarial profession is very small in Zimbabwe and heavily dependant on exaptriate expertise. Currently there are nine qualified actuaries practising in the country. We are making substantial progress towards establishing a local actuarial skills base, and there are a number of Zimbabweans making significant progress with the exams. The training process is long and arduous. The prize is worth the struggle; a varied, challenging and interesting career where no two days are the same. I would encourage the students here, who have all shown exceptional mathematical ability, to seriously consider the actuarial profession as a potential career If you qualify as an actuary not only will you derive enormous benefits and job satisfaction, but you will be making a significant contribution to the future economic success of your country, Zimbabwe."