Sad news reached me early yesterday from fellow actuary Peer Tompkins and it was formally confirmed later in the day. The former Government Actuary, Martin Clarke, has passed away after a period in hospital.
Martin Clarke, Government Actuary 2014 to 2023.
The former Government Actuary Martin Clarke CB FIA has passed away after a period in hospital. He was a lifelong advocate of the importance of the work of actuaries, believing their skills and work can help people and governments make better decisions.
Martin will be sadly missed by his friends, former colleagues and contemporaries. He made a huge contribution to the industry and in his 9 years as Government Actuary.
Leader and innovator
Fiona Dunsire, who took over the role of Government Actuary following Martin’s retirement in 2023 said:
“It was a great shock to us here in GAD to hear the sad news of Martin’s death and his loss will be felt by everyone who knew him in the profession. Martin was a leader and innovator here and we see his legacy every day in our work with clients.”
Martin started his public service in 2006 at the Pension Protection Fund, following an actuarial and general management career within the retail financial services industry.
Legacy
He moved to the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) in 2014. He steered GAD through a period of modernisation, growth and diversification as well as the challenges of the pandemic. He left the department in a strong position, delivering more work, across more areas and public sector clients than ever before.
In an interview before his retirement in November 2023, he spoke about his role: “I had a little idea of what to expect when I joined. I just didn’t then fully appreciate the extent, nature and reach of the department’s work.
“One of the great pleasures of my role has been seeing and enabling potential to be turned into reality. Be that a project that evolves from a blank sheet of paper to a stunning bit of work for our clients or seeing colleagues develop and flourish in their roles.”
Martin Clarke passed away on 5 June 2024 and is succeeded by his wife Julia and his 3 children
A personal note
Martin was a marketing actuary at the Co-op when I first met him, he was a courteous and thoughtful man with a lot of time for people like me who were enthusiastic but not as thorough as he was .
He was Cambridge educated – qualifying in Maths in 1977, he kept close ties promoting the Cambridge maths school and encouraging youngsters to make a career in actuarial science.
I remember him from his parting post on social media as he retired from GAD.
It explains the concept of service that is to be found in the civil service.
When I step back as Government Actuary later this year, I will be moving on from the most fulfilling career experience of my life and leaving a talented team of experts who use their specialist skills for public purpose. Whoever succeeds me will have the opportunity to further contribute to broadening the reach of actuarial analysis in public life and to experience at first hand the breadth and depth of the work of the Government Actuary’s Department.
This measured compassionate tone is also found in these words from an interview published by Government at his retirement when he looked ahead to the work of GAD
I suppose, given that I could not predict what was going to happen in the 9 years I was about to have in 2014, I’m probably not a particularly good soothsayer. But there are 3 main things.
Firstly, the financial risks faced by the public sector are huge and so the demand for expertise, like we have, to quantify that risk and help develop mitigations will continue to be a big driver of what we do.
Secondly, client expectations ought, rightly, to become more demanding and we should expect this. Looking for novelty, looking for innovation, looking for insights. Not just a handle-turning compliance exercise, though that is sometimes necessary, but assurance that we will look at a problem from all angles to offer the best advice and solutions.
Finally, technology. We’ve been doing more with data science and artificial intelligence; adopting those modern tools and techniques. We expect to see more from these applications and need to employ that in a sensible way to deliver a better service, more efficiently to our clients.
He helped many to retire, but his own retirement was short and ended too early.