Non-productised actuarial work.
Where a productised tier doesn't fit — novel insurance products, unusual scheme structures, complex member-data exercises, regulatory consultations requiring quantitative input. The Congruent Calculations™ platform is the engine; the firm's senior-led approach is the deliverable.
The premise
The firm's six productised Solutions cover the bulk of regulated work — Pension Sharing Order, Redress & remediation, BPA Fair-Value Pricing, Employment-related compensation analysis, Sponsor Covenant Analysis (forward stack), and Value for Money (forward stack). The productised structure is what allows the firm to deploy the platform's audit-log architecture and the CMC™ convention efficiently across high-volume regulated contexts.
Bespoke modelling is the parallel pillar for engagements that don't fit a productised tier. Where the regulatory context is unfamiliar, where the question is novel, or where the situation requires senior judgement that can't be packaged. The platform still runs the calculations and the CMC™ convention still produces engagement artefacts — but the engagement is scoped from first principles.
Common engagement types
How engagements are scoped
Bespoke modelling engagements are scoped from first principles in a first conversation. The conversation establishes the substantive question, the regulatory context (if any), the timeline, any conflicts, and what the firm would need to scope the work. Because each engagement is genuinely bespoke, there is no productised pricing — engagement letters set out scope, fee basis, timing and named individuals on both sides at the outset.
The firm responds within one working day with whether it can take the instruction and what it would need to scope it. The first call is the scoping conversation, not a sales pitch.
What the firm doesn't do
To avoid mismatched expectations: bespoke modelling is technical actuarial and financial-economics work. It is not regulatory-strategy consulting, executive coaching, or change-management consultancy. The firm operates in the methodology and calculation space; where the question is about strategy, organisation, or relationship management, the work belongs elsewhere.
Where the engagement requires actuarial input alongside other professional input — corporate finance, regulatory legal advice, executive coaching — the firm acts as the actuarial-input partner in a multi-disciplinary engagement. The firm does not lead matters where actuarial input is one of several components.
For productised actuarial work that fits a defined regulatory context, see Solutions. For expert-witness engagement, see Expert witness. For the platform that runs the calculations, see Congruent Calculations™.
Scoped from first principles in conversation.
Fixed-fee engagement
Where the modelling question is well-defined at scoping: a specific calculation methodology, a defined sensitivity analysis, a specified actuarial reconciliation. Fee and timing agreed at scoping; engagement letter before work begins.
Time-and-materials
Where the question evolves through the engagement: novel methodological challenges, exploratory modelling where the shape of the answer isn't clear at scoping, or research engagements. Rate agreed at scoping; senior-led throughout.
Statement of Work — how the fee is fixed
Engagements are scoped through a first conversation and then fixed in writing before any work begins. The firm’s Invitation Letter contains a Statement of Work fixing: the scope of the engagement, the timetable for delivery (key milestones and final-deliverable date), the price (with any stage payments scheduled against milestones), and the named individuals on both sides.
The scope-to-price conversion is based on the firm’s published charge-out rate: £350 per hour for engagements led by a Director or Senior Actuary (the only grades that lead engagements at Congruent). The Statement of Work converts scoped hours into a fixed fee — the buyer’s commercial commitment is to the fee in the Statement of Work, not to an open-ended hourly meter.
The firm tends to come in competitively on the fixed quote. Because Directors lead engagements directly — without the layered team structure typical of larger firms — scoped hours convert into a fixed fee that compares favourably against equivalent senior-led work elsewhere in the market.
Rate as at 1 January 2026, reviewed annually.
The methodological position behind the engagement.
Where the modelling sits inside a productised Solution (PSO, Redress, BPA, Employment Comp, SCA, VfM), the Solution route is generally faster and more cost-effective than bespoke. For substantive methodology questions that don't fit a productised Solution, bespoke is the right shape.
Every bespoke engagement starts from first principles in conversation.
If the question doesn't fit a productised tier — a novel structure, an unusual regulatory context, a strategic methodology engagement — the firm responds within one working day with whether it can take the instruction and what it would need to scope the work. Senior-led from first conversation through final deliverable.