Easy rider Martin Slack has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the U.K.'s Association of Consulting Actuaries, succeeding Paul Thornton.
The opposite of the typical buttoned-up actuary, Mr. Slack -- senior partner of actuarial firm Lane Clark & Peacock -- makes the 56-mile journey to work in London from his home in Cambridge every day on his BMW motorcycle.
When he's not riding, daredevil Slack and his wife, Kate, share a keen interest in flying their own plane. They are enjoying what they call their "post-children adolescence."
British employers, however, face huge challenges in keeping their defined benefit plans airborne. Between the inadvertent costs of complying with new pension regulations and difficulties in meeting revised accounting standards, it's getting tougher for employers to bear the brunt, Mr. Slack said.
Asked which is riskier, becoming chairman of the ACA or riding his bike to work on treacherous English roads, Mr. Slack chose the former.
"Motorcycling is well-managed risk," he quipped.