The Gold Award recognises an individual who:
- through their volunteer activities, contributes significantly to the Society’s key strategic programs and/or
- positively enhances the reputation of the profession
2024 Recipient
Catherine Johnston
Catherine has served on the Professional Development Committee and has been the convenor since 2019. During her time as convenor, she has successfully led the introduction of CPD audits from a pilot programme in 2021 to the completion of 2 full audits in 2022 and 2023 (and another underway in 2024).
The CPD audit is a best practice tool to verify that members are meeting the professional requirements of the NZSA. This gives assurance that our members continue to work to the highest standards which is the key objective under the NZSA strategic pillar of excellence.
The CPD audit program has been a significant piece of work and a number of members have contributed to it. However, under Catherine’s leadership it is now embedded in NZSA’s governance processes. Catherine is stepping down as convenor of the Professional Development Committee and we thank and recognise her efforts.
2020 Recipient
Ben Coulter
Ben has committed a huge amount of time and effort into both NZSA’s contribution to and response to IFRS17, but possibly more importantly, into building deep, constructive and trusted relationships with the accounting profession, the FSC and the RBNZ. Ben is Convenor of the NZSA IFRS17 Working Group and the NZ representative on the Australian Actuaries Institute IFRS17 Task Force. In addition, he has taken a lead role in the FSC’s IFRS17 working group, part of which involves interacting with RBNZ and considering the implication for the solvency standards.”
2019 Recipient
Christian Barrington
Christian is a long-time member and current convenor of the General Insurance Practice Committee. In this role he has led NZSA’s efforts around catastrophe risk, including leading a task force which has developed thoughtful and viable ways to upskill actuaries in this area. Christian also presented an excellent framework at the Conference, which will be an excellent reference for members going forward. Christian is also a well-respected representative of the NZSA with ICNZ.
2018 Recipient
Herwig Raubal
Herwig has performed an incredible service to the profession through his leadership of actuarial work in the Public Sector, leading to the social investment approach and a new range of career opportunities for actuaries. Alongside this, he has found time to be Convenor of the NZSA Professional Standards Committee for the last ten years.
2017 Recipient
Christine Ormrod
Christine has been a tireless worker for the profession. She has led the Retirement Income Interest Group for several years, most recently overseeing the production of the Rules of Thumb for decumulation, which were recognised by the Minister, the FMA and MBIE as being exactly the kind of advice New Zealanders need. Christine has been a fine representative for the profession, and brought much interest from the general public and other stakeholders. Alongside this role, Christine has also worked this year on New Zealand’s response to International Standards of Actuarial Practice.