Career as Actuary
Actuaries are analysts with a specialized understanding of the financial system. They are expert thinkers and problem solvers and use their mathematical skills to compute risk involved in future business deals. They predict the financial impact on businesses. An actuary requires a specialized skill set in Math. Actuaries come from diverse backgrounds, but the love for Math is a common characteristic. The course to become an actuary includes the analysis of data, evaluation of financial risks & its proper communication to other stakeholders. A career of an actuary is said to be diverse and exciting. They use their skill set to measure the probability of occurrence of future events. As every business is subject to external risk, career opportunities as an actuary include sectors such as banking, insurance, financial markets, healthcare and investments. It thus gives a chance to apply skills in Math and computation to solve real world challenges.
- About Actuary :
- Job Profile |
- How do I get there?
Job Profile
An Actuary can choose from one of the following lines:
- General Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Health Insurance
- Reinsurance Companies
- Pension Funds
- Consultant
- Risk Manager
- Academician
Pros and Cons of Being an Actuary
The job of an Actuary involves the use of modelling methods and analytics. Before pursuing a career as an actuary one needs to be aware of the pros and cons of becoming an actuary.
Pros
- It involves dealing with multiple disciplines & usage of diverse skills
- Ability to choose from an array of disciplines
- Displaying creativity with the usage of available data
- High earning potential
Cons
- Heavy workload
- Little room for error
- Isolation due to continuous work on the system
Future Growth Prospects and How to get there faster
The field of actuaries is projected to grow at the rate of 20% from the period of 2018 to 2028. The field is relatively small and therefore presents a chance to grow at a faster rate. Actuaries need to develop a variety of insurance products and compute emerging risks. As a student clears all the exam of IAI, he/she becomes an associate member and can garner more attention.
Becoming an actuary is however a strict process which requires clearing several exams. One is required to have a deep interest in finance as well as have strong mathematical and analytical skills to succeed as an actuary. There is a shortage of highly qualified actuaries in the country which presents a chance to gain employment opportunity when one completes the course.
How do I get there?
The Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) is responsible for regulating the education and training of actuaries in the country. A student becomes a member of the IAI after clearing the exam by ACET.
The eligibility to become an Actuary is as follows:
- Graduate/ Post-graduate in math, statistics, economics, computer science, MBA (Finance) Or
- A qualified member of a professional body like:
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
- Institute of Cost and Work Accountants of India
- Certified Institute of Financial Analysts of India
- Fellow of Insurance Institute of India
To become an actuary, a student needs to pass the actuarial exams by IAI and needs to have around three years of practical work experience. The course is similar to a distance-learning program like chartered accountancy. One needs to study by his/her self; however, some institutes do provide coaching related to actuarial subjects.
Exam conducted by IAI
The exam includes the following:
Core Technical (CT) -It includes nine exams, which are the
following:
- Financial Mathematics
- Finance & Financial reporting
- Probability & Statistics
- Models
- General Insurance
- Statistical Methods
- Business Economics
- Financial Economics
- Business Awareness (practical)
Core Application - It includes three exams which are the following:
- Actuarial risk management
- Model documentation analysis & reporting (practical)
- Communication (practical)
Specialist Technical - This stage involves the selection of 2 subjects out of 6 which are offered.
- Health care
- Life Insurance
- Pension & employee benefits
- Finance & Investment
- General Insurance Reserving & capital modelling
- Enterprise risk management
Specialist Application - A candidate can choose any one subject corresponding to the technical subject.
- Health care
- Life Insurance
- General Insurance
- Pension & Other employee benefits
- Finance
- Investment
Once a student clears all the papers, he/she is eligible to become an associate member of the IAI.
How much does it cost?
What are the Top Colleges where one should be studying to become an Actuary?
|
Name of College |
Degree Offered |
Fee Structure |
|
Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon |
B.Sc in Actuarial Science |
Rs 20000 per year |
|
Bishop Heber College |
B.Sc in Actuarial Science |
Rs 20000 per year |
|
Christ College, Bengaluru |
M.Sc in Actuarial Science |
Rs 50000 per year |
|
Amity University, Noida |
B.Sc in Actuarial Science |
Rs 120000 per year |
Books and other Study Material
To become a successful actuary one can go through the below list of books-
- Achieving Your Pinnacle By Tom Miller
- Life, Death, and Money By Derek Renn
- Solutions Manual for Probability for Risk Management
- Pension Actuarial Mathematics By Philip Martin McCaulay
- Practical Risk Theory for Actuaries by C.D. Daykin, T. Pentikäinen & Martti Pesonen
What if this career does not work out for me? What are the other options for a person with these credentials?
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Content on this page is by Career Expert Mrs. Kum Kum Tandon MA (Psychology), M.Ed, Diploma in Educational Psychology, Vocational Guidance & Counseling (NCERT, Delhi) | View Complete Profile |