Career as Actuary

An actuary’s everyday work responsibilities include designing and pricing of policies, providing promised benefits by monitoring the adequacy of funds. He or she recommends a fair rate of bonus, valuation of the insurance business, insures solvency margin and other insurance risks such as legal liability, profit loss and several other insurance risks. An actuary defines risk factors and recommends re-insurance to be purchased. He or she calculates reserves for carrying out financial modelling and outstanding claims. An actuary may also provide consultation services in multiple disciplines such as insurance, taxation, employees benefit, investment, risk management and several other related disciplines. So how to become an actuary and what does it takes to become one?

Compiling statistical data

Modern computer technology has made everyone’s work easy. Most actuaries work on computers. Their everyday work responsibility includes using database software to compile information. The information is stored to predict the probability of occurrence of an event. They use advanced statistics and modelling software to predict the potential costs of the event. Actuaries determine if the insurance company has enough funds to pay future claims.

Planning insurance policies

Actuaries are responsible for designing, testing and administering insurance policies, investments, and other business strategies. They are involved in developing strategies to minimise risks and maximise profits. Actuaries produce charts, tables and reports to explain proposals and calculations. They are involved in meetings with company executives, clients, shareholders, government officials to explain their findings and proposals.

Working with other professionals

Actuaries usually work in teams. Their team members include managers and other professionals such as accountants, financial analysts, market research analysts and related professionals. These professionals provide support in setting the price for security offerings, forecast demand for new products.

Health Insurance Actuary: A health insurance actuary is a professional who works in the healthcare industry. He or she predicts the expected costs of providing care under insurance terms. A health insurance actuary is responsible for developing long-term care and health insurance policies. He or she makes predictions on the basis of family history, geographic location, occupation and numerous other factors. 

Life Insurance Actuary: A life insurance actuary is a professional involved in developing annuity and life insurance policies for individuals and groups. He or she estimates considering the risk factors such as age, gender or tobacco use to determine the expected years of life. A life insurance actuary calculates the expected number of claims due to road accidents. It varies with the insured individuals’ age, sex, driven automobile such as four-wheeler or two-wheeler and several other factors. 

Property and casual insurance actuary: Property and casual insurance actuary is responsible for developing insurance policies to assure the insurer against property loss and liabilities caused due to fires, natural disasters, or accidents. He or she calculates the expected number of claims through road accidents that varies depending on the age, gender, driving history and vehicle type of insured individuals. 

Pension and retirement benefit actuary: A pension and retirement benefit actuary is responsible for designing, testing and evaluating the company’s pension plans. He or she determines the availability of expected funds in future to ensure payments of future benefits. Pension actuary is responsible for developing retirement plans and providing consultation on planning retirement to individuals. 

Risk management analyst: Risk Management Analysts review the investment strategies of a business, particularly overseas investments, and manage the risk associated with the relevant decisions. To forecast possible losses, they use their analytical abilities and make suggestions to reduce risk by diversification, currency exchanges, and other investment strategies. Insurance firms will, among other things, insure cars, properties, assets, along with any policy, there is a risk that an accident could occur and the insurance provider would have to cover the expenses of repair, replacement, or legal liabilities. 

A career as an actuary typically demands working in an office environment. He or she may find employment opportunities in insurance and finance companies, professional, scientific or technical services, and government departments.  

Does Actuary require travelling?

Likely

A career as actuary does not require traveling on a regular basis. Actuaries working with consulting firms may occasionally require to travel to meet clients.

Employment Shifts

Full Time

A career as actuary requires them to work full time. Part-time, hourly basis, on-call or work from home career is not available in this career. The career falls in a certain shift. An actuary requires to work full-time. He or she usually works from early mornings to late evenings.

Employment Nature

Contractual, Permanent

The contractual term of employment in the career as an actuary entirely depends on the requirement of the organisation. It could be extended depending on the work performance of the candidate.

Work Place

Office

A career as actuary typically requires them to work in an office environment. An actuary is involved in working with a computer on numerous software for data compilation, so the information could be analysed further to plan design or test insurance policies.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

Urban and semi-urban areas provide promising opportunities for actuary as a career. The financial institutions are more established in urban cities such as Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai.  

Time Pressure

Likely

Yes, actuaries work under frequent time pressure to deliver their services. It requires time to analyse data, plan, design and test the insurance policies for individuals and groups. An actuary determines the probability of occurrence of an event depending on various factors and minimises the unfavourable outcomes. Therefore, it is usual to  extend standard working hours of week. They have to work under deadlines.  

Overtime Details

The career as an actuary often requires them to work overtime. An actuary may require to work extended hours to meet the deadlines or complete the task in a specific duration of time. He or she works a minimum of  40 hours a week. It is usual for him or her to work extended standard week hours. An actuary works under deadlines.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 40 Hours

A career as actuary typically demands working a minimum 40 hours a week. He or she works five days a week. The standard hours of work typically increase due to work pressure.

Problem Solving Ability: An actuary requires examining complex data and identifying patterns and trends. He or she determines numerous factors that are responsible for specific outcomes. An actuary evaluates the probability of occurrence of an event based on these factors. He or she looks for ways to minimise the undesirable outcomes. 

Mathematical skills: An actuary must be proficient in instant calculations. They should be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide instantly on fingers. An actuary is required to be quick and accurate while dealing with numerical values. His or her work involves calculus, probability and statistics as he or she is required to quantify risk and determine the probability of occurrence of certain events. 

Computer Skills: An actuarial has to compile data on various statistical modeling software. He or she has to use models and tables to evaluate large amounts of data. An actuarial is also required to proficient in statistical programming language. His or her career demands him or her not to limit to just Microsoft office. 

Communication skills: An actuary spends most of his time alone working on a computer system. He or she is required to work with other professionals of the banking and finance industry such as accountants, programmers, statisticians and senior management. An actuary must be proficient in oral communication to explain complex and technical details to non-technical persons. 

Also read - Career as financial planner

Accountant: An accountant is a professional responsible for performing accounting related activities such as account analysis or auditing. He or she is involved in maintaining sales and cash flow reports. An accountant works on various accounting software such as tally, excel, ERPnext, and Quickbooks.

Statistician: A statistician is a commerce professional who analyses the data to predict the probability of the outcome of an event. He or she identifies the pattern to provide support to make decisions. A statistician provides advice on findings and recommends the strategy to shareholders, client and management. 

Risk Management Analyst: A risk analyst is a professional who provides help to businesses by determining the number of financial risks involved in the businesses concerning investments and operational costs. 

Financial analyst: A financial analyst is a professional responsible for examining financial data and using their findings to help management to make business decisions. He or she may also recommend to buy or sell a company’s stock depending on the market conditions and its overall performance. 

Insurance advisor: An insurance advisor helps his or her clients by providing them with the right financial advice depending on their requirements such as retirement planning, investing, or protection against the risk factors. He or she analyses hir or her clients’ financial needs that include existing insurance and risk analysis, assets, liabilities, and tax status.

There are numerous job opportunities for the career of actuaries. Earlier it was not that popular, but now people have started recognising it and it has gained popularity. A large number of job openings are expected in the coming up years. The finance and banking sector is continuously booming giving more opportunities to individuals. The areas of actuarial work are related to the banking and finance sector such as general insurance companies, health insurance companies, actuarial consulting firms and numerous other organisations require services of actuaries. There is also a huge demand for actuaries abroad as well whether it is for developed markets or emerging markets.