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What is an Actuary
- Clerk or registrar; someone who calculates insurance premiums, reserves, and dividends (Webster)
- Somebody who uses math and statistics to determine the cost of contingent events
- Someone who quantitatively manages risk
- Determine Rates and Premiums
- Determine Reserves (Contingency, IBNR, Statutory, etc)
- Determine Expected Cashflows
- Retirement benefit payments
- Bond portfolio default or prepayment patterns
- Liability settlements from environmental or product default suits
- Design and Develop New Insurance and Investment Products
- Work in Industry Regulation
- Audit insurance company filings
- Assign ratings to bond and debt issues
- Make Strategic Recommendations and Decisions
- Lead Companies
- Examples of Entry Level Assignments
- Healthcare claims and demographic analysis
- Design a computer model to produce a cashflow projection for an employee benefit plan
- Draft a letter to someone summarizing results of a project
- Coordinate a rate filing with a Department of Insurance
- Insurance Companies
- Life Companies
- Life Insurance (Group, Individual, Pension)
- Health Insurance (Managed Care, Indemnity, Medicare Supplement, Rx, Dental, Vision)
- Property and Casualty
- Personal Lines (Home, Auto)
- Commercial Lines (Workers Compensation, General Liability, Malpractice)
- Consulting (Big 5 Accounting Firms, HR/Benefit Consulting Firms)
- Types of Work
- Accounting, IRS Compliance
- Self-funding
- Areas of Expertise
- Group Benefits
- Defined Benefits
- Property and Casualty
- Types of Clients
- States, Counties, Municipalities, School Districts
- Employee/Retiree Organizations (AARP, CalPERS)
- Insurance Companies with limited resources
- Small and large companies
- High Level of Quantitative and Analytic Abilities
- General ó the need to be able to understand complex ideas, systems, and relationships
- Applied ó using your understanding, be able to model, quantify, and explain relationships
- BE ABLE TO TURN DATA INTO INFORMATION
- Ability to Communicate Effectively and Efficiently
- Ability to Work Effectively with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere
- Ability to Think on Your Feet
- Ability to Manage Time
- On the job ó balance changing project prioritization and deadlines
- Off the job ó balance work, personal and study time
- Desire to Take On Responsibility and See Initiatives Through to Their End
- Preliminary Exams - Jointly Sponsored by the SoA and the CAS
- Exam 1
- Multivariate Calculus
- Probability and Combinatorics
- Statistics
- Exam 2
- Theory of Interest
- Finance
- Economics
- Exams 3 and 4 ó Actuarial Modeling
- Using the above tools, be familiar with and be able to use Actuarial Models
- Incorporate the effects of changes in parameters
- Business context
- Exams 5 through 8
- Industry Specific topics
- Ethics and Professionalism
- Associateship ó Completion of 6 Exams
- Fellowship ó Completion of all 8 and Supplemental Courses and Seminars
- Money
- The Marriage of Corporate and Investment Finance Principals with Quantitative Methods
- VERY Dynamic Field
- Products
- Theories
- Strategies
- Applications
- Corporate Finance
- Project Cost/Benefit Analysis
- Real Option Valuation
- Portfolio Theory of Project Management
- Treasury
- Managing foreign exchange risk
- Timing Corporate Debt/Stock Issuance or Buyback
- Find Cheapest Cost of Funds
- Investment Management (Buy Side)
- Portfolio Management ó Optimization
- Portfolio Management ó Hedging
- Asset/Liability Management (Immunization)
- Reinvestment Risk Management
- Exposure Hedging (equitization)
- Currency Overlay
- Speculation
- Investment Banking (Sell Side)
- Securitization (CBOs, CLOs, etc.)
- Product Sales
- Equities, Corporates, Agencies, Treasuries, etc.
- Derivatives
- Trading
- Research and Product Development
- Arbitrage
- High Level of Quantitative and Analytic Abilities
- General ó the need to be able to understand complex ideas, systems, and relationships
- Applied ó using your understanding, be able to model, quantify, and explain relationships
- Thorough Understanding of Corporate Finance, Economics, and Financial Accounting
- Thorough Understanding of an Industry, Asset Class, or Product
- Advance Degrees (Finance, Math, Economics, Engineering, Physics, MBA*)
- Synthesize Lots of Opinion and Make Quick Decisions and Recommendations
- Confidence
- Take an Interest in Something and Educate Yourself
- Learn about insurance, capital markets, industry structure
- Take classes ó even if you donít get credit
- Read an industry journal or a financial newspaper
- Be prepared to discuss the industry in an interview or conversation
- HAVE AN OPINION
- Make Career Progress Independent of School or a Job
- Pass an actuarial exam
- Pursue an NASD Series license or the CFA charter
- Meet People in the Industry and Stay in Contact
- "Itís not what you knowÖ itís who you know."
- Polish Yourself ó practice interviewing, look sharp, appear confident
- Be Honest and Be Yourself
- Ask Questions
- Wait for a Job to Come to You (although one mayÖ)
- Try to Fake Who You Are or What You Know
- Itís easy to spot
- You wonít be happy in a job that you faked your way into
- Pass up a Learning Opportunity
- Send a Resume or Letter with Typos ó Credibility and accuracy are everything in these fields
Careers in the Actuarial and Quantitative Finance Fields
David Primeau
Derivative Portfolio Manager
Principal Capital Management
(515) 362-1417
Discussion Agenda
Actuarial Career
What is an actuary?
What do actuaries do?
Required Skills
Where they work
Quantitative Finance
What is Quantitative Finance?
Where is it done and what do they do?
Required Skills
Summary
Advice for getting started
Questions
Triton Pub (?)
What is an Actuary?
What Does an Actuary Do?
Where Do They Work?
Required Skills
The Exam Process
Quantitative Finance ó What is it?
Where Is it Done and What Do They Do?
Required Skills
Advice for Getting Started (Actuarial and Quantitative Finance)
|
Actuarial Jobs by Type of Employer | |||
|
Employer Type |
SoA |
CAS |
Total |
|
Insurance Companies |
6,946 |
2,121 |
9,067 |
|
Consulting Firms |
5,701 |
625 |
6,326 |
|
State DOIs, Other Govt. |
397 |
503 |
900 |
|
Academic |
189 |
11 |
200 |
|
Investment Houses/Banks |
273 |
0 |
273 |
|
Software Development |
170 |
0 |
170 |
|
Retired, Independent, Other |
1,264 |
443 |
1,707 |
|
Source: www.beanactuary.org | |||
