Christopher White

Profile

Chris worked for the global human resources and actuarial firm Towers Perrin (which is now part of Willis Towers Watson), and the Australian predecessor firm, for over 30 years (1967-99).  He specialised in major employer-sponsored superannuation, institutional investment, and increasingly worked as a manager of the firm.  Amongst his Australian actuarial appointments were ANZ Bank, National Australia Bank, Mobil Oil, Kraft Foods, Melbourne University, and Unisuper (the national superannuation scheme for universities).  He was TP’s Managing Director Australia and South East Asia (1992-94), and his final role with TP was Managing Director UK and Regional Manager Europe, based in London (1994–98).  He also served as a member of TP’s worldwide board of directors from 1992–95.

He has been actively involved with the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.  He was a councillor and has served in many other roles for the Institute (including heading the committee overseeing the introduction of Australian examinations in the 1980s, leading the review of the Institute’s structures following the failure of HIH, and as a member of the Institute’s Disciplinary Appeal Board).  He was also Federal President of ASFA in 1985-86, and was a member of the Australian Treasurer’s advisory panel on retirement incomes from 1986-94.

Since returning to Australia in 2001, Chris has taught and written on ethics and professionalism in a variety of academic and professional contexts, including in a theological college and for actuarial professional bodies (primarily the Australian body but also for the sister bodies in New Zealand and India).  He taught ethics in the applied finance masters programme at Macquarie University from 2004-17.

He is (or has been) a member of a number of boards and committees, including Melbourne Citymission (2002-10), where he was Chair (2007-10), the Ethos ethics centre (Chair 2002-12), the Finance Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne (2007-10), the External Compliance Committee of Vanguard Investments Australia (2002-present), and Independent Chair of the Meat Industry Employees’ Superannuation Fund (2014-present).

Qualifications

Fellow, Institute of Actuaries (London), 1969

Bachelor of Theology (Melbourne College of Divinity – now University of Divinity), 1995

Master of Arts in Christian Ethics (King’s College, University of London), 2000 (Thesis topic: Theological Understandings and Contemporary Issues in the World of Work)

Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University) 2016 (Thesis topic: Competition and Cooperation in Economic and Christian Thought: Towards a Better Understanding)

Science/Faith Interests

• Economics/Christianity

Professional Associations

• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK)
• Institute of Actuaries of Australia

Possible Presentation Topics

• Christian social ethics (particularly regarding business – especially in the finance sector, work, and in the professions)
• Economics/Christianity intersection

Selected Publications

Action and Motive in Economic and Christian Ethics: A Dialogue of the Deaf? (with Professor Geoffrey Brennan)
Presentation and paper to seminar at Ridley College, Melbourne, November 2013

Frank Knight on Competition
Presentation and paper to meeting of History of Economic Thought Society of Australia at Royal Society of Victoria, July 2016

Game Theory in Christian Perspective: The Cooper Project? (with Professor Geoffrey Brennan)
Article in Faith & Economics, Number 68, Fall 2016, pp 93-110

Christian Reflections on the Economic Concept of Rivalness
Presentation to Simeon Network seminar, Melbourne, March 2017

Distinguishing Cooperation and Altruism in Christian and Economic Thought 
Presentation and paper to colloquium on Faith & Economics at Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Canberra, October 2017

Can Christians use Prisoner’s Dilemma models, and if so, how?
Presentation and paper to COSAC 2018 meeting of ISCAST, Emmanuel College, University of Queensland, March 2018