Andrew Candland, Eiopa
Andrew Candland is the head of the oversight unit of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. His purview is to ensure that the European regulations for insurers, in particular Solvency II, are implemented thoroughly and in a consistent manner across Europe. A British actuary, he moved to Frankfurt in 2014 after a four-year stint at the UK PRA. Before becoming a regulator, he worked at Prudential plc.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Eiopa is an inspiring place to work. We are a small organisation with a key role in the European system of financial supervision. I am surrounded by colleagues who are passionate about the difference we can make for the citizens of Europe. Nearly every European nationality is represented amongst the staff, which means we have a great breadth of experience to share and learn from.
What are the major challenges ahead?
I hesitate to say that coming up with an agreed text for Solvency II has been the easy part . . . but ensuring consistent implementation of Solvency II across Europe and convergence of supervisory practices is certainly going to be the major challenge for the coming years. What makes it such a challenge is that the 28 national supervisors have started from quite different points and what is needed is cultural change rather than just devising new processes.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to emulate your success?
First work out what success means for you. You don't have to adopt everyone else's definition.
Keep learning – don't be afraid to ask a question when you don't understand something, listen a lot to others and read widely, don't restrict yourself to insurance or even finance in general, there are many useful lessons from much further afield. Work hard; we learn by doing.
What are your other interests?
I am a member of a German-speaking evangelical church here in Frankfurt. Having reached an acceptable level of German, I am now learning Spanish and looking forward to some holidays in Spain to try out my language skills while enjoying the culture and food. As well as reading, I find half an hour at the piano is a good way to unwind at the end of the day.
