Actuarial Science- Career, Courses, Salary-2021

Introduction

There are many people who do not know about Actuarial Science. While only a few people in India are pursuing this course. Even those who know about actuarial science, but do not have full knowledge of it.

So, through this article, we will know how to make a career in this field. And what should be the basic qualification for this course? And the most important thing is how much salary can be received after doing this course.

What is Actuarial Science?

Actuarial Science is an assessment arm in which policies for the present are formulated by thoroughly assessing future financial risk.
To assess financial risks effectively, it is necessary to have a good grasp of Mathematics, Logics, Statistics, Economics subjects.

Scope of Actuarial Science

What is an Actuary?

An Actuary, based on his subjective and technical knowledge, assesses future risk in the Financial and Insurance sectors. And then makes an effective strategic policy for the same.

Whereas an Actuary uses statistics, mathematics, probability, gradation, and economics to evaluate future uncertainty.

There are so many working areas for an Actuary such as Life Insurance Company, Health Insurance, Pension Funds, Consulting Sector, Investment Firms, and many more.

Also Read- Career as a Software Engineer

How to become an Actuary?

If you have a good relationship with mathematics and enjoy playing with logic, a career in this field will prove to be a boon for you.

In India, Actuarial exams are conducted by the “Institute of Actuaries of India” (IAI).

While some foreign institutions (IFoA, SOA, CAS, and ASSA) also conduct Actuarial examinations, in which the IFoA Actuarial society is the most famous in the entire world.

Therefore, there are certain sets of criteria of education that you can become an actuary after serving.

Finally, what are the eligibility criteria to become an Actuary? We will look at all those things in detail.

(A) Actuarial science course and Eligibility Criteria in India

For admission, candidates have to follow certain guidelines which are prescribed by the IAI.

The Institute suggests two routes for admission of the applicants.

Through ACET (Actuarial Common Entrance Test)

1. To get admission in this IAI one has to appear in the ACET Entrance Examination conducted by the institute.
2. To appear in this ACET entrance examination, the candidate should have passed the 12th examination or an equivalent with English as one of the subjects.
3. Candidates who are already in higher education are also eligible to take the ACET exam.
4. There are no age limit criteria set by the institute for this entrance examination.
5. After clearing the entrance exam, you become a student member of the IAI Institution.
6. This ACET exam is conducted twice a year in the months of December and June.

Through Non-ACET (Actuarial Common Entrance Test)

1. If you have passed at least two papers from other institutions (IFoA, SOA, CAS, ASSA, etc), then you are not required to take this (ACET) exam. So in such a case, you can apply directly to the IAI institute and subscribe to that student member.
2. Apart from this, even if you are fully qualified CA, CS, IIT & IIM Graduates, MBA in Finance or Engineers (with minimum 60% Marks), you do not need to give ACET exams.

(B) Actuarial science Eligibility Criteria for UK based Institute (IFoA, UK)

Due to the high popularity of this institute worldwide, many applicants prefer to study from here.

As a result, the Majority of Indian candidates apply the most to get an education from here (IFoA).

So let’s see what the limitations for studying in this institute are and what the guidelines for eligibility are.

• First of all, its most important point is that the institute (IFoA, UK) does not conduct any type of Entrance Examination for admission.
• It is not compulsory to have Maths in 12th, which means if you have done 12th from any subject, then you can become a direct student member.
• There are many students who are not sure whether they will be able to become Actuaries or not in the future, for that they can apply as a non-member.

About ACET Entrance Exam

This examination is conducted twice a year by IAI (Institute of Actuaries of India). It has 70 multiple choice questions, which is a 100 mark online paper and there is no negative marking.

The duration of this exam is 3 hours, in which 50% marks are required to pass.

ACET Syllabus for the entrance exam is given below to the candidate to read.

• Mathematics
• Statistics
• English
• Data Interpretation
• Logical Reasoning

An important advantage in this ACET Entrance Exam is that you can use a scientific calculator.

How much is there to study for Actuarial Science?

• After passing the ACET Entrance Exam, you become a student member of the IAI Society.
• After this, to become a fully qualified Actuary (Fellow Member), you have to pass the 13 exams prescribed by IAI.
• An advantage is given to the candidate that after passing 3 or 4 examinations of IAI, they can work for any industry and all the remaining exams can be given at any time during their job.
• To become a Fellow Member of IAI, you have to pass/clear 13 exams, which are classified into 4 parts.
• (Information) Previously, 15 paper examinations were conducted by the institute IAI, now it has been changed to 13 papers (some subjects have been merged), but the syllabus is the same.

1. Core Principles ( 7 Exams)
2. Core Practices ( 3 Exams)
3. Specialist Principles ( You have to choose 2 Exams)
4. Specialist Advance (You have to choose 1 Exams)

• Student Members who have passed all the Core Principle and Core Practices series (total 10 exams) are eligible to become Associate Members (AIAI) of the IAI society.

Also Read: Air traffic controller qualification: Selection Process

Important skills required for Actuary

The responsibilities of an Actuary are huge because the business development of any organization depends on their skills.

Therefore, in this article, we will see what kinds of skills are very important to become an Actuary.

• Actuaries should have basic knowledge of computers as well as programming languages so that they can easily create a database, flowchart, Algorithms, etc.
• Ability to find the solution by assessing risk and their uncertainty.
• Experimenting in the working process with a good grasp of mathematics concepts, logistics, and statistics.
• Communication skills should be sufficient to express your ideas and concepts.
• Ability to make decisions on business growth, team leadership, financial settlement, etc.
• Must have a multitasking nature so that the responsibilities of different tasks can be understood.
• Having team-building skills.
• Influencing people with their work methods and the art of accepting challenges.
• Actuaries must have analytical thinking so that they can understand the business growth map, customer needs, processes, risk factors, improving programs, etc.

What does an Actuary do?

The work of an actuary depends on what kind of skills and knowledge they have. And in which field and under which post they are enrolled.

Responsibilities of an Actuary

After taking a degree in Actuarial Science, there are several positions for which an Actuary can apply. And based on these positions, they also have some accountability that is determined by the organization or system.
As the experience of the Actuary increases, their responsibilities also increase.

What are the responsibilities of an Actuary exactly have are given below?

• Must have the ability to formulate strategic policies with an analytical and technical mindset.
• Understanding risk factors and their attenuation equally.
• An Actuary works on statistical data to prepare a proper layout for different areas like an accident, pension, death, population, retirement, etc.
• Preparation of technical documents of actuarial analysis and a summary report for commercial consumption.
• To establish a mutual working relationship with other actuarial functions, finance, Project team, IT department, etc.
• Improving the Insurance Act and creating new models based on new developments and figures.
• Its primary and necessary function is to make a full assessment of the risk factor.
• The Actuaries prepares a business plan for the future for organizations.
• Reducing projected costs on strategic policy plans made in the insurance industry, health sector, automobile sector.
• Preparation of projected investment plan for future financial losses.
• Keeping a complete statement of the financial losses in the past so that such incidents cannot be repeated again.

Where do Actuaries work?

The Actuaries have good opportunities to work in various areas of the private and public sector which are given below.

• Insurance Companies
• Consulting Firms
• Investment Firms
• Banking
• Accounting
• Government
• Finance
• Corporate
• Health & Care
• Share Market
• Pension Fund

Actuarial Science Colleges/University in India

There are many Colleges and Universities in India, which offer Bachelor and Masters Courses for Actuarial Science.

However, after doing Bachelor and Masters Courses, you are not considered a fully qualified Actuary, but after doing these courses, you can become a direct student member of IAI without taking the ACET exam.

Therefore, anyone can get Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the college given below.

• Amity School of Insurance & Actuarial Science Noida
• Delhi University
• Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
• Birla Institute of Management Technology, New Delhi
• Chandigarh University
• Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow
• Christ University, Bangalore
• Institute of Actuarial & Quantitative Studies, Mumbai
• UNOM – University of Madras
• University of Madras, Chennai

Why should we make a career in this field and why not?

Pros of Actuarial Science

High Demand

If you look at the present time in India, the total number of fully qualified Actuaries is 464, which is a very small number.

Therefore, this number tells us how much the country needs Actuaries.

Working Environment

An advantageous thing is that Actuaries do an official work in which he has a separate air-conditioned cabin.

When working in an office, there is a chance to learn from senior people and see their participation in meetings.

In addition, working with team members, we get to know about another area of ​​how they work.

High Pay Scale

The most important thing in this field is that its pay scale is very high.

Because in this field, as experience increases, salaries go up 3 to 4 times more than other jobs.

The high pay scale of this field is a major reason for attracting people towards it.

Likely to know more

This field is growing among the people, due to which an Actuary gets to learn a lot in both technical and non-technical matters.

Cons of Actuarial Science

Higher Responsibility

Risk and financial forecasting are assessed in this area, where a small mistake can cause huge losses to the company.

Heavy Task

Perform heavy tasks such as risk analysis, forecasting, creating a flowchart, identifying events, etc., and preparing reports within the stipulated time frame.

Multi-skills

The actuary must have multi skills such as critical thinking, basic computer knowledge, logistics, and communication, etc.

Actuarial science salary/Payscale

The salary of an Actuary depends on his education, experience, skills, and job profile.

The increase in salary for an Actuary also depends on how many papers he has passed out of 13 paper sets. The average pay in India is between 3.5 lakh to 5 lakh.

The salary of an Actuary cannot be stated precisely because it depends on the position of the company and on which post the Actuary is working.

Salary of Actuary

• The average pay scale in India is between 3.5 LPA to 5.5 LPA.
• When fresher apply for the job after passing 3 to 4 papers, the salary of that Actuary is between 3 LPA to 5 LPA.
• If you have got the title of Associate Member Actuary with 4+ years of experience, then after the high jump in salary, it reaches between 10 LPA to 20 LPA.
• If we talk about the salary of a fully qualified Actuary (Fellow Member) with 10+ years of experience, then the minimum salary will be 50 LPA and the maximum salary can go up to 90 LPA (121k US$).

Some Job Title/ Designation for Actuary

Many different job titles are found which are based on the skills and education of the Actuary in different fields.

• Actuarial Analyst
• Quantitative Risk Analyst
• Pricing & Analytics Actuary
• Corporate Actuarial Analyst
• AVP Actuary
• Actuarial Modeling Analyst
• Actuarial Data Analyst
• Medical Pricing Actuary
• Quantitative Actuarial Analyst
• Assurance Process Actuary
• Credit Risk Analyst
• Business Actuarial Analyst
• Budget Analyst
• Accountants & Auditors
• Economist
• Financial Advisors
• Insurance Analyst

Top Companies for Actuaries

Companies that are associated with Life Insurance, Investment sector, Banking, Pension Fund, Health & Care, Share Market, Corporate, Consultancy, and other sectors, you can work as an Actuary there.

Nowadays due to the high demand for an Actuary, some reliable companies are hiring people on higher pay packages.

Hence some big and reliable companies are named here.

• Swiss Re (Insurance Agencies & Brokerages)
• Sun Life (Insurance Operator)
• Milliman (Consulting)
• Deloitte ( Accounting)
• Max Life Insurance (Insurance Operator)
• Principal Financial Group (Investment Banking & Asset Management)
• Willies Towers Watson (Consulting)
• Aon (Insurance Agencies & Brokerages)
• HDFC Standard Life Insurance (Insurance Operator)
• MetLife (Insurance Agencies & Brokerages)
• Shriram Life Insurance Company (Insurance Operator)

Books & Study Material for Actuarial Science

To get knowledge from basic to advanced, here is a list of some good books from which candidates can study.

• Actuarial Mathematics (Newton L. Bowers)
• Practical Risk Theory for Actuaries  (Martti Pesonen, T.Pentikainen)
• Achieving Your Pinnacle – A career Guide for Actuaries ( Tom Miller)
• Regression Modeling with Actuarial & Financial Application (Edward W. Frees)
• Practical Risk Theory for Actuaries (Chapman & Hall)
• Actuarial Science – An Elementary Manual (Ninian Glen)
• Actuaries Survival Guide: How to Succeed in One of the Most Desirable Professions (Fred Szabo)
• Generalized Linear Models for Insurance Data: International Series on Actuarial Science (Piet De Jong)