Ben Fisher

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT BEN FISHER

So what does Ben do for a living? My mother always dreads that question when asked by friends and family what I’m up to now. How to explain what an actuary does? Her simple answer is to side-step that problem by answering that “he works in Pensions”. Perhaps that is more accurate than saying I am an actuary, as my role at XPS encompasses so much more than just actuarial number crunching.First and foremost I am a trusted adviser to pension scheme trustees, helping them with any questions or queries that they have about their pension schemes. I am always at the end of a phone, or quick to respond to an email, to help them understand the practical implications of the latest changes in our every moving pensions’ world.Of course before I was an actuary and a pensions adviser I was a human being, just like my clients are and something I never forget when talking to them: Never use a piece of jargon when plain English will suffice, never unnecessarily take up peoples’ time just to try and demonstrate how mathematically clever I am, never look to score points with my knowledge of pensions legislation. Just give the clear information and advice that trustees need to make sure their pension schemes can keep paying the right pensions, to the right members, at the right time.The pension schemes I advise on range from small privately owned firms right up to FTSE100 companies. I advise on all aspects of UK defined benefit pensions including, scheme funding, reducing risk, member options and long term scheme journey planning.After 17 years of working out of XPS’s Reading office, I have recently transferred down to the west country to be Head of Office for our new Bristol office. However, since the pandemic our use of technology has meant that the geographical boundaries between offices have become somewhat blurred. As result, I frequently collaborate with colleagues based all over the UK. I am a member of the Association of Consulting Actuaries and also volunteer for the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries as a member of their 400 club, providing regular feedback to the profession on areas of policy.