The firm was established in Malaysia in 1977 as a subsidiary of a leading UK based actuarial firm, Duncan C. Fraser & Co. Its primary mission: To provide outstanding actuarial services for the Far East market.

The Malaysian company was initially headed by Huw-Wynne Griffith and succeeded by Adrian Waddingham in 1981. As time passed, the firm’s needs and clientele expanded. It was during this transition that Actuarial Partner’s current senior partner and office head, Zainal Kassim, started with the firm. Soon afterward in 1984, the firm was renamed Zainal Fraser & Co. Sdn Bhd, still under the Duncan C. Fraser & Co. umbrella.

When William M. Mercer acquired the worldwide operations of Duncan C. Fraser & Co. in 1986, the combined Malaysian operation of Mercer and Zainal Fraser moved into the current office location and was renamed William M. Mercer Zainal Fraser to reflect the merger of two leading consultancies. Under Mercer, our company developed international “best practices” and adopted time-tested processes in all areas of its operations, in particular in the development of peer review and checking processes, codes of conduct and other global policies and processes.

Whilst the firm thrived and developed in Malaysia under Mercer’s umbrella, our firm’s expertise in insurance, Takaful and retirement consulting conflicted with Mercer’s shift in focus to human resource and investment consulting. This left our senior management with a dilemma.

A decision was made that in order to take the insurance and Takaful practice to the next stage of development, a management buy out (MBO) of the actuarial practice of Mercer was the best option forward. After the completion of the MBO on 1st February 2011, the firm re-emerged as Actuarial Partners.

The new name, Actuarial Partners, provides a glimpse into our strengths as an organisation, namely:

• Our Partners are Fellows of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the UK, the Society of Actuaries in the United States and the Casualty Actuary Society in the United States. They are also Fellows of the Actuarial Society of Malaysia.
• We use our core actuarial expertise in building value for our clients. Indeed we take pride in our ability to partner with our clients to add value.

The new Actuarial Partners logo depicts a family holding hands to signify our concern for our clients and our attitude towards our own staff. It is very much our conviction that we are ‘partners’ and we are here to build value together with our clients. The different sized hands show our interest in helping all clients, from the largest multinational corporations to the smallest local companies. The different colours indicate the diversity in our company as well as our ability and desire to reach out to diverse cultures around the world.

Although our name has changed, our services and our strong business model have not. Current clients can expect the same quality of service and attention they received when the firm was under Mercer leadership. Our prospective business partners can rely on the accomplishments and the professional reputation of our firm to be maintained.

Our mission is clear and strong, to build value together with our clients. With this in mind, it is our hope and ultimate goal to pursue every opportunity we find suitable that will enhance value and benefits to our clients.