Actuarial science

An actuary is a “part super-hero, part fortune-teller, part trusted advisor”, says BeAnActuary.org.

If you love finding ‘x’, if you have excellent problem solving skills and logical thinking, if mathematics is your first love then Actuarial Science is the career option for you.

The job profile of an actuary is to calculate the financial risks of an activity using statistical & mathematical methods and design creative ways to reduce it. They are the ones who predict future risks using numbers.

To illustrate, here are just a few of the problems which an actuary solve:

• Determine how much an insurance company should charge for auto insurance, taking into account many factors such as the car that is being insured and details about the driver.
• Develop life insurance products so that parents can enjoy adventurous recreational activities such as rock climbing while feeling secure that their children will be cared for in the event of an accident.
• Determine how much an insurance company should charge for homeowners insurance, considering a number of factors such as where the home is located.
• Determine how much an insurance company should charge businesses for the many different types of insurance that businesses need, such as liability insurance and business interruption insurance.
• Help companies establish their retirement plans.
• Assist banks in managing their assets and liabilities and develop ways to manage financial risk.

To make the profile more clear to the ones who have heard about this work profile for the first time

An actuary has to:

• Collect and collate relevant statistical data for further study and analysis.
• Analyse the events and its risks that can increase the economic costs for the company; for instance, untimely death or a natural disaster will cause an insurance company to pay the insurance amount to the nominee and this pre-mature payment can cause losses to the insurance company.
• Design, test and implement various business strategies like pension plans and insurance investments to maximize profit and minimize losses. The actuary has to create in-depth reports containing charts and tables to explain the business strategies and its benefits.
• Explain the report/s to the shareholders like clients, executives and government officials.

 

Educational Qualifications-

1. A student should have passed 12th with at least 85% in Mathematics/ Statistics
2. A Graduate or Post Graduate with not less than 55% marks in Mathematical subjects (i.e Mathematics or any of its branches; Statistics or any of its sub classifications)
3. A Graduate in Physics (mathematics as one of the subjects)
4. Candidates with CA/ CS/ CWA/ MBA (Finance)/ PGDBA
5. Fully qualified members of professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), The institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) and Certified institute of Financial Analysts of India (IFAI) and Fellow of Insurance Institute of India (III)- passing with the subjects Mathematical Basis of Insurance and Statistics

 

Course range-

The course is divided in 4 parts-

• CT series (Core Technical Stage)
• CA series (Core Applications Concepts )
• ST series (Specialist Technical Stage)
• SA series (Specialist Application Stage)

 

The number of subjects in each series is different. CT series has 9 subjects, CA series 3 subjects, ST series has 2 subjects and SA series has 1 subject.

Passing each series brings you closer to your dream. There is no time duration to pass these examinations. The student has to clear the Entrance Examination and the 15 subjects prescribed. They can attempt any number of subjects at a time and in any order.

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) are the two professional societies handling the task of granting “professional status” to trainee actuarial. Both the SOA and CAS grants “associate” and “fellowship” statuses on clearing specific examinations.

Skills-

• Good in mathematics & statistics
• Good problem solving skills
• Good analytical skills
• Business sense
• Practical outlook
• Ability to use computers

Package-

Initially one’s income could be Rs 3-5 lakh p.a.  With experience, an actuary can earn Rs 10 -15 lakh p.a. After becoming a fellow of IAI one can earn anything from Rs 20- 30 lakh p.a.

Colleges-

• Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli
• CMD School of Insurance & Actuarial Sciences, Uttar Pradesh
• Amity School of Insurance and Actuarial Science, Noida
• Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai
• Birla Institute of Management Technology, New Delhi
• RNIS College of Insurance, New Delhi
• Christ University, Bangalore, Karnataka.
• Institute of Actuaries of India, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• S Actuarial Education Services, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Actuarial Science is one of the trending career options these days. Give it a thought. All The Best….

 

Source: http://www.financewalk.com

http://www.beanactuary.org/