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Actuarial Science Career Path

Actuaries are in demand in financially focused businesses including insurance, employee benefits and consulting. The field is expanding to include just about any industry or opportunity where decisions carry financial weight: banking and investments, government, energy, e-commerce and marketing.

What are the chances that a twenty-one-year-old will live to age sixty-five? How much do people lose every year because of fires, floods, or robbery? Actuaries work with numbers and facts to answer such questions.

By checking facts, working with statistics programs, and constructing probability charts, actuaries are able to tell insurance companies how much to charge a policyholder for a particular type of coverage. The fee, or premium, must be sufficient so that the company will be able to pay the customer in case of loss and still make a profit.

More than 60 percent of all actuaries work for private insurance companies. Many work for life insurance companies. The rest work for property-liability companies and are sometimes called casualty actuaries. Some actuaries work for state or federal government agencies. In the federal government actuaries handle particular insurance programs, such as Social Security or life insurance for veterans and members of the armed services. Actuaries who work for state agencies are concerned with unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, or state retirement or pension plans. State-employed actuaries regulate the rates that are charged by private insurance companies. Actuary jobs also include consulting for firms and rating bureaus. Rating bureaus are associations that supply actuarial data to member companies. Consulting actuaries set up and evaluate pension and welfare plans for private companies, unions, and government agencies.

Actuarial Science Jobs Salary

MEDIAN PAY

$101,560

JOB GROWTH

22%

JOB FAMILY

Math

SIMILAR JOBS

• Accountant or Auditor
• Budget Analyst
• Cost Estimator
• Economist
• Financial Analyst
• Insurance Underwriter
• Mathematician
• Personal Financial Advisor
• Statistician
• Professor or College Instructor

Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk that an event will occur and help businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk. Actuaries’ work is essential to the insurance industry.

Actuaries typically work on teams that often include managers and professionals in other fields, such as accounting, underwriting, and finance. For example, some actuaries work with accountants and financial analysts to set the price for security offerings or with market research analysts to forecast demand for new products.

With experience, actuaries are often given supervisory roles. They are responsible for delegating tasks and providing advice to senior management. They also may be called on to testify before public agencies on proposed laws that affect their business, such as state laws placing caps on auto insurance prices.

Most actuaries work at insurance companies, where they help design policies and determine the premiums that should be charged for each policy. They must ensure that the premiums are profitable, yet competitive with other insurance companies.

Actuaries in the insurance industry typically specialize in a specific field of insurance, such as one of the following:

Health insurance actuaries 

They help develop long-term care and health insurance policies by predicting expected costs of providing care under the terms of an insurance contract. Their predictions are based on numerous factors, including family history, geographic location, and occupation.

Life insurance actuaries 

They help develop annuity and life insurance policies for individuals and groups by estimating, on the basis of risk factors such as age, gender, and tobacco use, how long someone is expected to live.

Property and casualty insurance actuaries 

They help develop insurance policies that insure policyholders against property loss and liability resulting from accidents, natural disasters, fires, and other events. They calculate the expected number of claims resulting from automobile accidents, which varies depending on the insured person’s age, sex, driving history, type of car, and other factors.

Some actuaries apply their expertise to financial matters outside of the insurance industry. For example, they develop investment strategies that manage risks and maximize returns for companies or individuals. Some actuaries help companies develop broad policies and strategies that assess risks across all areas of business, a practice known as enterprise risk management.

Pension and retirement benefits actuaries 

They design, test, and evaluate company pension plans to determine if the expected funds available in the future will be enough to ensure payment of future benefits. They must report the results of their evaluations to the federal government. Pension actuaries also help businesses develop other types of retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, and healthcare plans for retirees. In addition, they provide retirement planning advice to individuals.

Some people with an actuarial science background may become postsecondary teachers.

Where do Actuaries work

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Actuarial Science Jobs

Work Environment

Actuaries held about 24,300 jobs in 2012. Actuaries typically work in an office setting. However, actuaries who work for consulting firms may need to travel frequently to meet with clients. Actuaries typically work on teams that often include managers and professionals in other fields, such as accounting, underwriting, and finance.

The industries that employed the most actuaries are as follows:

Insurance carriers and related activities	69%
Professional, scientific, and technical services	17
Management of companies and enterprises	6
Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles	3
Government	3

Some actuaries are considered consultants and provide advice to clients on a contract basis. Many consulting actuaries audit the work of internal actuaries at insurance companies or handle actuarial duties for insurance companies that are not large enough to keep their own actuaries on staff. Other consulting actuaries work for employee benefits firms. These firms design, analyze, and manage employee benefit programs such as employer-sponsored healthcare and retirement plans for companies.

Work Schedules

Most actuaries worked full time, and about 3 out of 10 worked more than 40 hours per week.

Actuarial Science requirements

Most actuaries hold earn an undergraduate degree in an analytical field, such as mathematics, actuarial science, or statistics. Students should also take courses in topics such as computer science, writing, communication, and public speaking. Full-time students typically earn their bachelor’s degree in four years.

Actuaries need a bachelor’s degree, typically in mathematics, actuarial science, statistics, or other analytical field. Students must complete coursework in economics, applied statistics, and corporate finance, and pass a series of exams to become certified professionals.

Education

Actuaries must have a strong background in mathematics, statistics, and business. Typically, an actuary has an undergraduate degree in mathematics, actuarial science, statistics, or other analytical field. Coursework in calculus and business, such as accounting and management, is essential for students as well.

To become certified professionals, students must complete coursework in economics, applied statistics, and corporate finance.

Students should also take classes outside of mathematics and business to prepare them for a career as an actuary. Coursework in computer science, especially programming languages, and the ability to use and develop spreadsheets, databases, and statistical analysis tools, are valuable. Classes in writing and public speaking will improve students’ ability to communicate in the business world.

Many students gain experience through internships. In some cases, employers offer their interns permanent jobs after they graduate.

Many employers expect students to have passed at least one of the initial actuary exams needed for professional certification (as described in the certification section) before graduation.

Certifications

Two professional societies—the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and the Society of Actuaries (SOA)—sponsor programs leading to full professional status. The CAS and SOA offer two levels of certification: associate and fellowship.

The CAS certifies actuaries who work in the property and casualty field, which includes automobile, homeowners’, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation insurance.

The SOA certifies actuaries who work in life insurance, health insurance, retirement benefits, investments, and finance. Most actuaries in the United States are certified by the SOA.

The main requirement for associate certification in each society is the successful completion of exams. The SOA requires that candidates pass five exams for associate (ASA) certification. The CAS requires that candidates pass seven exams for associate (ACAS) certification. In addition, both CAS and SOA require that candidates take seminars on professionalism. Both societies have mandatory e-learning courses for candidates.

It typically takes 4 to 6 years for an actuary to get an ACAS or an ASA certification because each exam requires hundreds of hours of study and months of preparation.

After becoming associates, actuaries typically take another 2 to 3 years to earn fellowship status.

The SOA offers fellowship certification in five separate tracks: life and annuities, group and health benefits, retirement benefits, investments, and finance/enterprise risk management. Unlike the SOA, the CAS does not offer specialized study tracks for fellowship certification.

Both the CAS and the SOA have continuing education requirements. Most actuaries meet this requirement by attending training seminars that are sponsored by their employers or the societies.

Actuary Training

Most entry-level actuaries start out as trainees. They are typically on teams with more experienced actuaries who serve as mentors. At first, they perform basic tasks such as compiling data, but as they gain more experience, they may conduct research and write reports. Beginning actuaries may spend time working in other departments, such as marketing, underwriting, and product development, to learn all aspects of the company’s work and how actuarial work applies to them.

Most employers support their actuaries throughout the certification process. For example, employers typically pay the cost of exams and study materials. Many firms provide paid time to study and encourage their employees to set up study groups. Employees usually receive raises or bonuses for each exam that they pass.

Actuary License

Pension actuaries must be enrolled by the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries. Applicants must meet certain experience requirements and pass two exams administered through the SOA to qualify for enrollment.

Advancement

Advancement depends largely on job performance and the number of actuarial exams passed. For example, actuaries who achieve fellowship status often supervise the work of other actuaries and provide advice to senior management. Actuaries with a broad knowledge of risk management and how it applies to business can rise to executive positions in their companies, such as chief risk officer or chief financial officer.Personality and Interests

Actuaries typically have an interest in the Thinking, Persuading and Organizing interest areas, according to the Holland Code framework. The Thinking interest area indicates a focus on researching, investigating, and increasing the understanding of natural laws. The Persuading interest area indicates a focus on influencing, motivating, and selling to other people. The Organizing interest area indicates a focus on working with information and processes to keep things arranged in orderly systems.

If you are not sure whether you have a Thinking or Persuading or Organizing interest which might fit with a career as an actuary, you can take a career test to measure your interests.

Actuaries should also possess the following specific qualities:

Analytical skills. Actuaries use analytical skills to identify patterns and trends in complex sets of data to determine the factors that have an effect on certain types of events.

Communication skills. Actuaries must be able to explain complex technical matters to those without an actuarial background. They must also communicate clearly through the reports and memos that describe their work and recommendations.

Computer skills. Actuaries must know programming languages and be able to use and develop spreadsheets, databases, and statistical analysis tools.

Interpersonal skills. Actuaries serve as leaders and members of teams, so they must be able to listen to other people’s opinions and suggestions before reaching a conclusion.

Math skills. Actuaries quantify risk by using the principles of calculus, statistics, and probability.

Problem-solving skills. Actuaries identify risks and develop ways for businesses to manage those risks.

Average Actuary salary

The median annual wage for actuaries was $93,680 in May 2012. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $55,780, and the top 10 percent earned more than $175,330.

Most actuaries worked full time, and about 3 out of 10 worked more than 40 hours per week in 2012.Job Outlook

Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 26 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 6,300 new jobs over the 10-year period. Actuaries will be needed to develop, price, and evaluate a variety of insurance products and calculate the costs of new risks.

In the health insurance industry, more actuaries will be needed to evaluate the effects that new healthcare laws, such as changes in coverage and expansion of customer pools, pose to insurance companies and to develop new products in response. Changes in healthcare laws will also boost demand for consulting actuaries who evaluate healthcare plans for companies.

More actuaries will be needed in property and casualty insurance to evaluate the risks to properties and communities vulnerable to more frequent and powerful storms. These actuaries will be needed not only to predict the likelihood of such storms, but also to calculate the costs of insuring these properties and help insurance companies create specialized policies and products.

More actuaries will also be needed to help companies manage their own risk, a practice known as enterprise risk management. Actuaries will help companies avoid, manage, and respond to any potential financial risks across all areas of their business operations. This analysis helps companies adjust their business or investment strategies to achieve economic returns and respond to new financial regulations and requirements.

Is there a high demand for actuaries

Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 18 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. Actuaries will be needed to develop, price, and evaluate a variety of insurance products and calculate the costs of new, emerging risks.

Actuaries should expect strong competition for jobs. Actuaries make up a small occupation, and the relatively high pay and comfortable working conditions make being an actuary a desirable career. Students who have passed at least two actuarial exams and have had an internship while in college should have the best job prospects for entry-level positions.

What Is Actuarial Science and Should I Study an Actuarial Degree in 2020?

The job outlook for actuary careers is great. In the US alone, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 20% increase in Actuarial Science jobs by 2028. Many institutions, like insurance firms, banks, and other financial institutions benefit from having an actuary on board. But what is Actuarial Science and is this a career that might fit you?

What is Actuarial Science

Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in insurance, finance, and other industries and professions. More generally, actuaries apply rigorous mathematics to model matters of uncertainty. Actuaries are professionals trained in this discipline.

Actuarial Science deals with evaluating risks and maintaining the economic stability of insurance or financial organizations. Actuarial Studies graduates learn how to use Mathematics, Statistics, and Probability principles to anticipate future events and take preventive measures.

The main goal of Actuarial Studies is to develop the knowledge needed to perform an actuary job and to prepare students to pass their actuarial exams faster (keep on reading to learn more about them).

What does an actuary do

Actuaries analyse past data and use that information to determine how much money should be set aside to cover the financial losses which could occur in the future.

Let’s take car accidents as an example. If an actuary wants to predict how many people in London will get in an accident in November, this year, they will look at the percentage of people involved in accidents in the previous years.

Based on that data, the actuary will identify a trend and use it to predict the percentage for this year and establish how much each person should pay for their insurance so that it would cover the damages of a car crash.

One of the main challenges for an actuary is when there isn’t any past data or when the data isn’t relevant due to policy or other types of changes.

Admission requirements for Actuarial Studies

These are the general requirements you can expect during the application process. Some universities may ask you for more documents, while others also accept students with a Bachelor’s degree that’s not related to Actuarial Studies.

Bachelor’s in Actuarial Science

• Minimum English language test scores: IELTS – 6 or TOEFL – 80
• High-school transcript of records
• Letter of recommendation
• Financial certification

Master’s in Actuarial Science

• Minimum English language test scores: IELTS – 6.5 or TOEFL – 85
• Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field
• Minimum GPA: 3.0
• GRE test scores

Best Actuarial Science universities and colleges

According to the Society of Actuaries, these are some of the best universities and colleges for Actuarial Studies:

• Australian National University, in Australia
• Heriot-Watt University, in the UK
• Illinois State University, in the US
• Simon Fraser University, in Canada

Tuition fees for Actuarial Science Europe 2021

Tuition fees at these top universities are between 15,000-28,000 EUR/academic year. The only exception is Simon Fraser University, where tuition only costs 2,600 EUR.

If you’re interested in other Actuarial Science degrees that cost less than 3,000 EUR/year, check out countries like:

• Turkey 
• Switzerland 
• The Netherlands 
• Portugal 

Actuarial Exams

You need to pass the actuarial exams to become a qualified actuary. These are independent exams and aren’t related to academic institutions.

Actuarial exams are difficult and require intense preparation. This is why most people need between 7-10 years to pass all of them. Each exam can take between 3-5 hours and involves both multiple-choice questions as well as written answers.

The good news is you can work as an entry-level actuary assistant or junior analyst while taking the exams. Your hard work will pay off, as many companies support employees and reward them financially for passing their actuarial exams.

Actuarial Science jobs and salaries

We’ve already mentioned that Actuarial Studies help you pass the actuarial exams faster and become a fully qualified actuary. But they also allow you to work in other fields after graduation thanks to the solid knowledge in Mathematics, Statistics, Finance and Accounting.

Here are some of the most popular jobs and their annual salaries in the US:

Jobs that don’t require passing the actuarial exams

• Business Analyst – 63,000 USD
• Financial Planner – 62,000 USD
• Risk Analyst – 63,000 USD
• Underwriter – 60,000 USD
• Investment Analyst – 63,000 USD

Jobs that require passing the actuarial exams:

• Actuary – 86,000 USD
• Senior Actuarial Analyst – 84,000 USD

Is an Actuarial Science degree worth it?

It depends.

If you’re determined to become an actuary and want to speed up the process, an Actuary Science degree will help you achieve that. However, it is not a requirement. You can study any Finance, Mathematics, or Statistics degree and still pass the actuarial exams.

Actuarial Studies are a great choice for people who are determined to follow an actuary career path and won’t settle for anything else. It is a very specialised position requiring intense training and devotion, but if you’re up for the challenge, the job market is eagerly waiting for people just like you.

How to Become an Actuary: Steps to Take from High School

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If you love numbers, are savvy with computers, and like the idea of projecting future outcomes, you might make a great actuary. Helping businesses manage risk in a variety of industries—including insurance carriers, banks, and investment firms—these analytical individuals have a bright future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts job growth for actuaries to grow 20% between 2018 and 2028. For comparison, the average growth rate for all occupations is 5%. 

If you’re interested in this promising career, here’s what you need to know about becoming an actuary.

What Does an Actuary Do?

At their most basic, actuaries manage risk—they determine how unsafe a situation is and strategize on how to best manage it. To do so, actuaries use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to predict the likelihood of future events, find ways to reduce the chance of undesirable happenings, and minimize their impact if they do occur. 

Although actuaries are employed in a variety of fields, their primary employers are in finance and insurance (71%). Outside of finance and insurance, actuaries also work in private businesses, technical companies, and the government. A good rule of thumb is that wherever there’s risk that needs managing, there’s an opportunity for an actuary.

How Much Do Actuaries Make?

The path to a career as an actuary is rigorous with intense courses and exams requiring hundreds of hours of preparation. Many jobs also necessitate continuing education. For those who make it, the reward is a well-paying job in a fast-growing industry. The average annual salary for actuaries as of May 2018 was $102,880. The highest paid 10% of actuaries earned more than $186,110, while the lowest 10% earned less than $61,140. In addition to being well paying, careercast.com ranked the work environment of actuaries “very good” and the stress level for them as “low.” 

How to Become an Actuary

Successful actuaries possess an abundance of different abilities. Math, computer, analytical, and problem solving skills are of course vital. When it comes to soft skills, actuaries must also be strong communicators and have excellent interpersonal abilities, as they often work in teams and must effectively report their findings. While the road to becoming an actuary is long, students can begin honing in on many of these qualities as early as high school. 

High School

The track to a career as an actuary is filled with numbers, and high school is an excellent place to build a strong foundation of math skills. Advanced courses such as AP Calculus and AP Statistics are good preparation for the challenging math you’ll encounter in college. Similarly, enrolling in computer science courses will be especially advantageous. This is particularly true if you can begin familiarizing yourself with programming. 

Participation in an actuarial summer program or a summer program with a heavy math focus will also help set students up for success in future endeavors. The Math Olympiad Summer Program, Ross Mathematics Program, and Mathcamp are just a few of the prestigious programs available to aspiring actuaries looking to fine-tune their math skills. 

Students should also look to join team-based extracurriculars that will help them build the communication skills vital to a successful actuary. You might consider activities like sports, debate, robotics, Science Olympiad, or Model UN.

Discover your chances at hundreds of schools

College

Many students hopeful for a career as an actuary will pursue a degree in actuarial science—check out our blog The List of All U.S. Colleges With an Actuarial Science Major to see what schools offer this program. In addition to preparing students for an eventual actuarial career, an actuarial science degree equips students with the tools needed to pass the challenging exams required to work in the field. 

While an actuarial science degree is the most direct path to a career as an actuary, it’s not the only degree path taken. Many come to the field with degrees in subjects such as mathematics, statistics, business, finance, and economics. You can make the case that these degrees offer more flexibility to students unsure of exactly where they see themselves working in the future. 

Whatever degree you set your sights on in college, if a future as an actuary is on your mind, you’ll want to make sure to take courses in advanced algebra and calculus. Considering how the vast amount of work actuaries do involves software and spreadsheets, computer science and programming are helpful as well. Computer classes focusing on Excel and programming languages like SQL and VBA are particularly beneficial. 

Certification

In order to become a full-fledged actuary, students need to pass a series of exams administered by professional societies. Two professional societies—the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and the Society of Actuaries (SOA)—sponsor programs with two levels of certification: associate and fellow. The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is an organization for actuaries working in life and health insurance, employee benefits, and finance. The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) is for actuaries working in automobile, fire, and liability insurance along with workers’ compensation and malpractice. 

Undergraduates in their senior year are able to apply for membership into a professional actuarial group and begin their certification process and further specialization. It’s recommended that students have passed one or two of the aforementioned exams before graduation. It cannot be stressed enough: these exams are extremely challenging. It’s recommended that test takers study 100 hours for every hour of test time, which equals 300 hour per exam. On top of that, the pass rate is typically only 30- 40%. To be accepted into a profession actuarial group, candidates are also required to take online seminars on professionalism and actuarial practice.

Because of the enormous amount of time needed to study for these exams, along with the fact that many people will need to retake them, it typically takes 4-7 years to achieve associate-level certification. Regardless of the actuarial group you join, the first three exams taken are the same, before diverging and specializing from there. Those in both CAS and SOA will need to pass six exams to earn associate status. 

Fellowship usually takes between two and three more years. Moving through your membership group’s exams is a key way to progress in your career. For example, according to the SOA, experienced fellows have the potential to earn from $150,000 to $250,000 annually, which is considerably more than the $102,880 annual average salary. It’s also common for fellows to have teams of actuaries working under their supervision. To become a Fellow of CAS, you’ll need to pass three more exams. On the other hand, the SOA has six different tracks to fellowship, which all have unique requirements. 

The road to becoming an actuary is long and challenging. One of the best ways students can prepare for the demanding path ahead is by getting into a good college that will support them in their efforts. Get a jump on the college competition and sign up for our free online platform that offers step-by-step applications recommendations, financial aid support, essay-writing help, and more.

Degree Requirements & Certification Exams

Many people have no idea what actuaries do, except that it sounds more complicated and boring than accounting. It is true that actuaries do very complex work, but for someone with mathematical and problem-solving skills, being an actuary can be one of the most fascinating jobs. Add to this excellent pay, many job opportunities, and paid study time while you work towards certification–and you have a hidden gem of a career.

The road to becoming an actuary has a number of steps, and it can take about four to seven years to make it all the way there, but once you do, you are pretty well assured of having employability in this growing field. Investing in the education and training to become an actuary, though many people don’t know what this career entails, can be your secret weapon to achieving life success.

Quick Facts About Becoming an Actuary

Why Become an Actuary?
Job growth between 2018-2028 is expected to be about 20%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a current median salary of $102,880 per year. That amounts to an average pay of almost $50 per hour. Combine that with the demand for actuaries and you have the prospect of a secure and prosperous career ahead of you.

What is an Actuary?
Actuaries analyze numerical information to assess risk. They use tools to help companies decrease the negative effects from possible future events. Actuaries help businesses plan for the future and help insulate them from losses.

How to Become an Actuary
Education for actuarial careers starts with an undergraduate degree, which can be in any subject. You can major in actuarial science, or a related field like statistics or business, but you can major in just about anything you like, including liberal arts. You will need to take courses in mathematics and computer programing. As you progress towards taking exams to become an actuary, you will need to take specific courses and study hard for these challenging exams.

Professional Actuary Certification
Actuaries will need to have at least two or three of their exams passed to get most jobs in the United States. Many people work while they continue on to complete the full battery of seven exams to become certified at the associate actuary level. For those who want to become a fully qualified and certified actuary, known as fellowship level, they will need to complete three more exams for a total of ten. These exams are administered by the either the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), and are used in both the United States and Canada, though Canadians will also want to register with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. The exams are challenging and require lots of study and often more than one attempt to pass.

Starting Your Actuary Career
While you can begin your career with just one or two exams completed, you will be required to take more exams and courses as your career progresses towards the associate level. Some people will choose to stop at this level, taking jobs as an actuarial analyst. But many employers offer compensation for study time to complete further exams, so this educational benefit, which is standard in the industry, can help those starting out to continue through to certification.

Big Data and the Future of Actuarial Careers
Big data is changing the work in many industries, and the actuarial field is one of those most influenced. Increasingly, actuaries will be working on teams with statisticians and computer and data scientists. Actuaries are responsible for maintaining high ethical standards, engendering trust from both regulators and the general public. With these new tools, actuaries will be doing more predictive and prescriptive work along with the traditional descriptive and diagnostic assessments.

Why Become an Actuary?

Job Prospects for Actuaries

If you are thinking about becoming an actuary, it’s unlikely you’ll find anyone who will discourage you from going down the actuary career path. Actuary jobs were rated in the top ten jobs in the United States by Careercast.com in 2019 and have continuously placed near the top or at the top of the rankings for the past ten years.

Actuarial careers frequently garner widespread attention in the news because of high job satisfaction rates and salaries. Actuarial careers consistently rank as one of the best jobs in our economy, and this is likely to increase as we come to rely on data in more and more industries.

The US Department of Labor predicts a 20% growth rate in actuary jobs between 2018 and 2028, which is considerably faster than the average growth rate forecasted for all jobs. According to Department of Labor statistics, actuary jobs in 2018 were distributed in the following industries:

• Almost 72% of actuary jobs (13,480 out of 18,770) were in the insurance industry
• Almost 17% in the consulting field (3,150 jobs)
• About 9% were in corporate management (1,610 jobs)

The insurance industry will fuel the majority of job growth over the next decade. Related field like data science are also growing, and more actuarial careers may move to other industries along with a move to using data analytics to perform risk-assessment in more types of work.

Actuary Salary

This is one field in which employees will rarely lament about low paying jobs. Payscale.com puts the average pay of entry level actuary jobs at $60,040. Not a bad start for a career. An actuary starting salary exceeds remuneration paid at the beginning of many other professional careers.

The starting salary is awarded to you before you actually become a certified actuary and by the time you are finished with your exams and certification at the associate level, your salary is likely to jump to over $100,000. Actuary average salary in 2018 was over $116,000 and the middle 50% earned between $76,720 and $141,760.

With a changing globalized economic landscape, the high salary range and growing opportunities promise a bright future to potential actuaries. For those who reach the highest status, top actuarial executives, Salary.com data puts the average compensation including bonus at over $460,000, with the top 90the percentile earning over $700,00 per year. These numbers make it seem much more attractive to put in the hard work to excel in an actuarial career.

What is an Actuary?

An actuary is defined as “part super-hero, part fortune-teller, part trusted advisor” by beanactuary.com. We can also add part-nerd to this definition.

It’s common to be slightly confused about the difference between actuaries and professional accountants. Accountants mostly deal with the past and their job is to represent past performance of a company in financial statements.

Even when analyzing future capital investments, accountants focus on scrutinizing numbers to highlight which option will create the greatest ROI, not the potential risk of an activity. Actuaries, on the other hand, do not particularly care about past events unless such events have direct ramifications on the future.

In short, the definition of an actuary is essentially to manage risk. The future is volatile and full of risk yet very few could predict the 2008 market crash or the 2014 oil price crash. Risk is the possibility an adverse event will take place, but if you can manage risk well, you can profit from future events. Therefore, risk also represents opportunities and an actuary must identify these.

An actuary’s job description includes:

• Analyzing the possibility of future events by using numbers, not a magical crystal ball
• Creatively designing methods to decrease the possibility of negative effects from an undesirable event
• Building safeguards into decisions regarding the future, laying the groundwork for profit in certain situations

It might be safe to assume actuaries will always be in demand because humans can never grasp the future and all its complexities, but then again an actuary will tell you it’s dangerous to assume anything!

Finding efficient methods to manage risk is a critical part of management decisions and the actuary profession leads the field in this area of expertise. An actuary needs a combination of abilities, including refined business knowledge, sharp analytical skills, and a thorough insight into human behavior to manage the complex risks industries are continuously facing.

Actuaries often work in management groups of large corporations that deal with a lot of risk. In today’s fast-paced world, where the internet, the power of social media and transfer of information quickly precipitate changes, actuaries have unmatched opportunity to grow personally and professionally.

With intense analytical abilities, actuaries help businesses plan their future and insulate them from losses. They play a crucial role in allowing organizations to grow and for people to invest for their retirement with confidence and peace of mind.

How Does an Actuary Assess Risk?

Assessing future risks is more easily said than done. Actuaries gather data and then analyze it to estimate the probability and likely cost of events, such as death, illness, injury, disability or loss of property. Then, they create policies which reduce the cost of that risk.

For this reason, actuaries are essential to the insurance industry. Actuaries help design insurance policies, pension plans, and other financial strategies. Specifically, they investigate financial questions like the level of pension contributions required to allow for a comfortable retirement. Actuaries also recommend investment strategies an organization or pension fund should undertake in order to maximize the return on investments using their broad knowledge of statistics, finance, and business.

If you are the type of person who enjoys managing a fantasy baseball team by tracking fantasy stats, this might be your type of field, as math, statistics, and management are the core components of your analytical arsenal.

How to Become an Actuary

Like any other professional career, you need an education to get there, but there are actually numerous pathways you can take to become an actuary.

The most popular path is to:

1.  Earn an Undergraduate Degree
The most direct educational path is a three-year undergraduate actuarial science degree. Another typical approach is to complete a three or four-year bachelor’s degree in economics or commerce. Prospective actuaries can also choose seemingly unrelated majors like engineering or art as employers care more about completed exams rather than degree major.

2.  Complete Additional Courses (If Necessary)
Students completing a degree in an unrelated field will need to complement their undergraduate career with business and statistics courses. All prospective actuaries will benefit from learning programming languages, such as SQL, C++ and VBA. Arts students need to take the greatest number of side subjects, including some actuarial mathematics courses.

3.  Apply To a Professional Body & Pass Certification Exams
As soon as you are in the senior year of your undergraduate degree, you can apply for membership in an professional actuarial body. You can then start your certification process by taking their courses and passing exams. If you are heading for a career as an actuary, you should try to take one or two of the exams you will be required to complete before you graduate.

Actuary Education Requirements

Actuaries need a strong background in mathematics and general business. Usually, actuaries earn an undergraduate degree in math or statistics.

POPULAR ONLINE MATH DEGREES

• Southern New Hampshire University Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics
• American Public University System Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
• Southern New Hampshire University Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics / Applied Mathematics

It is also common to major in a business-related field, such as finance, economics or business.

POPULAR ONLINE FINANCE DEGREES

• Walden University Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / Finance
• Grand Canyon University Bachelor of Science in Finance & Economics
• Capella University BS – Finance (ACBSP-accredited)

While certain skills are important, actuaries come from a variety of educational backgrounds, and many have degrees in operations research, physics, engineering and even fine arts. Major in college is not as important as the ability to pass actuarial exams. Students should, however, take courses in economics, applied statistics and corporate finance, which are requirements for professional certification. If you are unsure about becoming an actuary, a more general business degree may be your best path.

POPULAR ONLINE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DEGREES

• Walden University Bachelor of Science in Business Administration / General
• Grand Canyon University Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
• Golden Gate University Bachelor of Science in Business

On the other hand, if you are convinced an actuary job is ideal for you, you can select a more direct path. Options abound—over one hundred colleges and universities offer an actuarial science major.

As stated above though, there are many different actuary education paths. Don’t be afraid to do things a little differently as it allows you bring a unique perspective to the field enhancing your career prospects.

For example, a National Life recruiter says they are looking for people who are creative, dynamic, communicate effectively and think critically. Another company’s lead actuary was a philosophy major and their program prefers candidates who are not from the big campuses as they feel students come out with cookie cutter solutions to problems and are pigeon-holed.

Many companies are highly intrigued with graduates out of the liberal arts programs as they felt the individuals showed a real ability to think critically and solved issues with creative concepts. The one caveat was that these students have to demonstrate initially they can do the work.

If you are one of these “outside-the-box” type graduates with an unconventional educational pathway, you will greatly help convince recruiters you can do the job by taking courses in applied statistics, economics and corporate finance. These courses are a requirement for a professional certification. If you are really ambitious you can add a few more business-related courses which will definitely convince recruitment agents they have found a winner with you, even without an actuary degree.

You can also attend job fairs, speak to the career centre at your institution, and apply for an internship while you are studying. Most students do an actuarial internship during or after their education. Internships in underwriting, data analysis, investments and risk management are great choices, as are any type of position in the insurance field. Internships provide valuable experience and help an aspiring actuary’s resume, but they are also a great way to test the waters and see how you feel about work that is related to the field. An actuary internship will substantially increase your chances of landing higher-paying employment upon completion of your undergraduate degree.

Computer Skills

Actuary science requires a lot of computing of formulas and you’ll need the assistance of powerful software to complete your work tasks. Technology, therefore, plays a critical role in the profession. Above-average skills of simple software, like Excel and Access, will increase your marketability. Actuaries use Excel regularly, so learning how to use advanced features like conditional formatting, power query, formulas, pivot tables, and simulations will be useful throughout your career.

SQL is almost indispensable in the industry and multiple employers require knowledge of the language before considering a candidate. Gradually, C++, SAS, and VBA programming languages are also becoming requirements and you are better off learning these soon rather than later.

Better computer skills will definitely place you in the upper echelon of candidates and ensure you enjoy success in the field. As big data becomes more embedded in the industry, computer programming and data analysis skills will continue to rise in importance.

For Career Changers

Deciding to plunge into a different career path can be daunting, especially with the time commitment—four to seven years–required to end up as a certified actuary. But if you have the math skills and the drive to work hard, this can be a very rewarding career, both financially and in job satisfaction.

Remember that you can often find an entry-level job after passing just two of the initial exams, and then, if you work hard, you can continue your path to certification while working and even getting paid to continue your studying. Your experience in other careers may help you in the business aspects of working as an actuary, but the real skills you will develop along the path are very specific to the job.

Mathematical aptitude and hard work are the qualities that will get you all the way to certification, so be prepared to work alongside colleagues who may be younger than you, but who have experience in actuary science, and learn the ropes as you progress.

Actuarial science exams are difficult tests and the general study standard says you need to study 100 hours for each hour of exam time. For instance, if you have a three-hour test, you should schedule 300 hours of study time to give you the best chance at successfully passing the exam.

Complexity Level

Failing exams is often an issue as a majority of students who sign up for an actuarial career are bright and many will not have experienced failure in their academic careers. The pass-rates for these difficult exams are generally between 40-60%, meaning that numerous exam-takers will fail. These are strikingly challenging exams, but knowing the statistics on passing can help exam-takers to set reasonable expectations for themselves. Plus, since it is industry practice for those employed in the field to have study time paid by their employers, even a failed exam can be seen as just part of the process.

At this stage, the learning curve varies for each student. Professionals, whether actuaries or from another difficult-to-get-certified profession, will advise you to stick to the path and not beat yourself up too much over a failed exam.

Keep in mind it’s rare for anyone to successfully complete all their actuary exams on the first attempt, so a couple of failing grades will not harm your job prospects.

Starting Your Actuary Career

The general path, as mentioned earlier, is to complete an undergraduate degree and then start your actuary certification process with one of the two professional bodies in the US, SOA or CAS. However, there is no requirement to complete your undergrad before starting the certification exams.

Take the first actuarial exam as soon as possible, whether you’re in school or not. This will demonstrate your aptitude for the type of math and other skills required on the job and show recruiters you are serious about your commitment to the industry.

Employers would prefer to hire potential actuaries with at least one passed exam; they then are likely to train you and pay for your continuing exams. Reimbursement of exam fees and even paid time off for studying is standard industry practice.

Companies will have a set policy about how many paid hours you get per week to study and additional paid study hours before exams. Every successfully completed exam may provide you with additional work responsibilities and a corresponding pay increase.

Alternate Career Path

After you have passed the first couple of exams, you will be able to land a job as an actuarial analyst. Even if you have a hard time with the rest of the exams, you do have the option to stop here and continue your career as an analyst or an actuarial consultant for which you will still be well compensated.

Also, if you’ve followed the traditional path and choose to stop after a couple of exams, you will have a number of business and finance skills which will allow you to successfully switch careers. Jobs in finance, as a business analyst, or in project management are all great related career choices.

Long-term Career Expectations

An actuary’s work is greatly affected by government rules and regulations. These rules are continuously evolving with successive governments making changes based on their campaign promises and general ideologies regarding the role the government should play in regulating industry.

An actuary has to continuously stay on top of these changes and adapt strategy to minimize risk for their employer. The challenges faced by actuaries today are quite different than they were five years ago and will be considerably different five years from now.

Although actuaries deal mostly with financial risk, these risks are impacted by a huge variety of variables. In the interconnected world we live in today, a burst pipeline in Russia or slowing economic data out of Asian countries will affect markets in the US. Actuaries have to deal with a fast-paced environment which is shifting continuously and they are expected to take all these variables into consideration before making their recommendations. Tough job? Yes, definitely, but it is the challenge that actuaries most enjoy!

Currently, actuary jobs are in a state of flux because big data is affecting the information available to inform decisions. Today, actuaries are working to learn about and incorporate big data in their work. Tomorrow, a new set of technology will be available which actuaries will have to wrap their heads around. Lifelong learning is most definitely a requirement of this career field.

Professional Actuary Certification

Although some universities have started offering undergraduate actuarial science degrees, which technically permits you to work as an actuary, this diploma is not sufficient in the industry.

The well-travelled path and the one legitimized by potential employers is to complete a set of exams with one of two professional bodies, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) or the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS). These societies administer a series of six actuarial science exams that typically take four to six years to complete for associate status, and a series of three exams that take another two to three years to achieve fellowship level. Canadians will also want to register with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, though they will still take the SOA or CAS exams.

The SOA certifies actuaries in the fields of life insurance, health benefits systems, retirement systems, and finance and investment. The CAS covers the property and casualty field—auto, homeowners, medical malpractice, workers compensation, and personal injury liability.

Timeline FOR Certification

Students need between six and nine years before they can become fully certified at the fellowship level. Beyond the first few tests, the course material can get extremely complicated and failure in a few exams is quite normal.

Those who pass one or more actuarial certification exams while still in college have a better chance of getting a higher-paying job upon graduation.

In addition to passing the seven exams, there are Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) courses in economics, accounting, and statistics that are required to become an associate level actuary. These courses can be taken once you have passed your first two exams, and you can take these courses online.

Big Data and Actuarial Careers

Big data is expanding the roles of actuaries from asking the more classic descriptive and diagnostic questions to also performing predictive and prescriptive assessments. You can think about it this way: in the past, actuaries mostly answered the questions “what happened?” and “why did it happen?” Now, there is more room to use data analytics to answer the questions “what will happen?” and “what should I do?” Advances in statistical modeling methods, like data visualization tools, are posing new conundrums for both actuaries and government regulators of the industry. 

The availability of large data sets and the software tools to analyze them are changing the insurance and pension industries very quickly. InsurTech, or the digital tools that continue to advance the science of data handling and analytics, has led to new products, new distribution channels, and new risks for companies. However, this advanced technology is also allowing industry to use more advanced algorithms than ever before, requiring well-trained, professional actuaries to not only understand, but apply ethical principles to the methods and models being used to create the products and services that are the underpinnings of our society.

Actuaries often work on multidisciplinary teams with statisticians, computer scientists, and data scientists when working with big data. However, actuaries are often the “quarterbacks” of these teams because of their use of professional judgement and experience providing trusted information to both the public and to regulators. In fact, actuaries may be best positioned to explain the uses of big data to the general public, with their extensive knowledge of how risk-assessment and predictive analysis can affect the everyday lives of people.

With the advances brought about by big data, actuaries are able to apply predictive analytics to marketing, customer engagement, underwriting, product development, claims processing, decision-making, and analyzing customer behavior. These new uses provide ongoing challenges for actuaries and regulators alike, in following and enforcing rules to govern the use of data in an acceptable and legal manner. One problem with large data sets is that it is more difficult to ascertain whether data is acting as a proxy for criteria that is not allowed, by law, to be used in determining insurance. Insurers cannot use race or nationality as a factor, but other information could be considered as a stand-in for these criteria, making it trickier to follow the law. This is why advanced training in both mathematical modeling and computer applications is necessary for actuaries today. 

The actuarial profession is one of the least-understood careers by the general public, yet actuaries have a profound impact on all of our daily lives. As our world becomes more complex with the advent of new technologies, actuaries will perhaps remain mysterious to most people, all while working to keep the world as safe from risk as possible. For those who go the distance, a career as an actuary can provide a high standard of living and also the satisfaction of serving a very important function in our society.

WHAT KIND OF JOB CAN YOU GET WITH A DEGREE IN ACTUARIAL SCIENCE?

Whether you have thought long and hard about an actuary career or have only just heard of the field of actuarial science for the first time, you might be curious about job prospects with this degree. This interdisciplinary degree program is more specialized than a general mathematics degree program, and its primary objective is to prepare students to become actuaries. However, actuaries hold different job titles as they achieve different levels of professional certification and work in different fields.

Types of Actuarial Work

Seven out of 10 actuaries work in the finance and insurance industry, but within this general industry there are numerous specialized career fields, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. Due to their skills in analyzing risk, actuaries are particularly valued by insurance companies. As a health insurance actuary, you would calculate the costs of providing healthcare services to determine how much an insurance company should charge policyholders for premiums. Life insurance companies, too, use actuaries to determine likely life expectancy and premium rates based on an individual’s risk factors. Other actuaries work in property and casualty insurance, again compiling and analyzing data used to write insurance policies. This type of insurance includes car insurance, homeowners insurance and renters insurance.

Among actuaries who work in the field of finance, most work in investment strategy or enterprise risk. In this role, you might use your analytical skills to predict the best investments for individuals or businesses. Some actuaries work in pension and retirement benefits to develop and assess pension, 401(k) and other types of retirement plans. You could also become an enterprise risk actuary, working alongside top company executives to recognize potential and minimize potential risks to a business.

Outside of the finance and insurance industry, actuaries find work in professional, scientific and technical services, in management of company and enterprises and in federal and state government roles.

Levels of Professional Actuary Certification

Completing full professional certification from the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) or Society of Actuaries (SOA) is one of the most important – not to mention challenging – aspects of preparing for the actuarial career path. Both professional societies offer certification at both the associate and fellowship level. Reaching associate-level certification may take up to seven years, and it can take another two to three years to finally achieve fellowship certification according to the BLS.

If you want to work as an actuary, you must usually begin taking your exams before you graduate – often, before the end of your junior year of college, to help you get chosen for an internship. However, even the most ambitious student will not reach associate actuary status by the time he or she graduates with a bachelor’s degree. Your first actuarial role will most likely have a job title like actuarial analyst. Salaries in these entry-level actuary roles often begin around $45,000 to $55,000 but can rise to $65,000.

As you continue passing your certification exams, you will see a considerable increase in pay. Many employers offer raises based on how many exams actuaries have completed. You may even be eligible for bonuses when you pass a new exam. Once you reach associate certification status, you will likely receive a new job title, actuarial associate. Actuarial associates can often expect to earn $69,000 to $88,000 or more per year. Actuaries who go on to attain full fellowship certification, referred to as actuarial fellows, often earn six-figure salaries and can see wages as high as $150,000 to $250,000.

Many employers pay for their actuaries to take the exams, and some even offer paid study materials and time off to study.

Alternatives for Actuarial Science Degrees

As you consider a degree in actuarial science, you might wonder if you need a backup plan? What happens if you have trouble passing the certification exams, which are notoriously challenging tests? If you find that you don’t enjoy the work of an actuary, will your degree be useless because it is so narrowly focused on this one career path?

An actuarial science degree combines studies in math with studies in business and in computer science and programming. The degree itself may be specialized, but the subjects you study to earn it still equip you with versatile knowledge and skills. Graduates from an actuarial science degree program can also use their education to become business analysts, budget analysts, analysts intelligence agencies, research analysts, financial analysts, insurance underwriters or insurance claims adjusters. With a little further schooling in a slightly different field of study, you could become qualified to work as a personal finance advisor, investment banker or risk manager.

Actuaries

Career, Salary and Education Information

 What They Do: Actuaries use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty.

 Work Environment: Most actuaries work for insurance companies. Although most work full time in an office setting, some actuaries who work as consultants may travel to meet with clients.

 How to Become One: Actuaries need a bachelor’s degree and must pass a series of exams to become certified professionals. They must have a strong background in mathematics, statistics, and business.

 Salary: The median annual wage for actuaries is $102,880.

 Job Outlook: Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 20 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 5,000 new jobs over the 10-year period. Actuaries will be needed to develop, price, and evaluate a variety of insurance products and calculate the costs of new, emerging risks.

 Related Careers: Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of actuaries with similar occupations.

Following is everything you need to know about a career as an actuary with lots of details. As a first step, take a look at some of the following jobs, which are real jobs with real employers. You will be able to see the very real job career requirements for employers who are actively hiring. The link will open in a new tab so that you can come back to this page to continue reading about the career:

Top 3 Actuary Jobs

• Associate Actuary – USAA – San Antonio, TXCoordinates, prepares and performs actuarial analyses required to develop new products, project future results, reprice existing products, and/or determine financial strength. Under minimal …
• Actuary Director – Life Valuation – American United Life Ins Co – Indianapolis, INManagement, leadership, and development of actuarial students on the team Job Requirements * FSA preferred, though career ASA’s with significant experience will be considered * 7 years of relevant …
• Actuarial Associate – Ameritas – Chalco, NEWork on special projects as directed by the managing actuary or the department head. * Document decisions made, processes put into place and other work performed. * Make progress toward attaining the …

 What Actuaries Do

Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk of potential events, and they help businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk. Actuaries’ work is essential to the insurance industry.

Duties of Actuaries

Actuaries typically do the following:

• Compile statistical data and other information for further analysis
• Estimate the probability and likely economic cost of an event such as death, sickness, an accident, or a natural disaster
• Design, test, and administer insurance policies, investments, pension plans, and other business strategies to minimize risk and maximize profitability
• Produce charts, tables, and reports that explain calculations and proposals
• Explain their findings and proposals to company executives, government officials, shareholders, and clients

Most actuarial work is done with computers. Actuaries use database software to compile information. They use advanced statistics and modeling software to forecast the probability of an event occurring, the potential costs of the event if it does occur, and whether the insurance company has enough money to pay future claims.

Actuaries typically work on teams that often include managers and professionals in other fields, such as accounting, underwriting, and finance. For example, some actuaries work with accountants and financial analysts to set the price for security offerings or with market research analysts to forecast demand for new products.

Most actuaries work at insurance companies, where they help design policies and determine the premiums that should be charged for each policy. They must ensure that the premiums are profitable yet competitive with other insurance companies.

Actuaries in the insurance industry typically specialize in a specific field of insurance, such as one of the following:

Health insurance actuaries help develop long-term care and health insurance policies by predicting expected costs of providing care under the terms of an insurance contract. Their predictions are based on numerous factors, including family history, geographic location, and occupation.

Life insurance actuaries help develop annuity and life insurance policies for individuals and groups by estimating, on the basis of risk factors such as age, gender, and tobacco use, how long someone is expected to live.

Property and casualty insurance actuaries help develop insurance policies that insure policyholders against property loss and liability resulting from accidents, natural disasters, fires, and other events. They calculate the expected number of claims resulting from automobile accidents, which varies with the insured person’s age, sex, driving history, type of car, and other factors.

Some actuaries apply their expertise to financial matters outside of the insurance industry. For example, they develop investment strategies that manage risks and maximize returns for companies or individuals.

Pension and retirement benefits actuaries design, test, and evaluate company pension plans to determine if the expected funds available in the future will be enough to ensure payment of future benefits. They must report the results of their evaluations to the federal government. Pension actuaries also help businesses develop other types of retirement plans, such as 401(k)s and healthcare plans for retirees. In addition, they provide retirement planning advice to individuals.

Enterprise risk actuaries identify any risks, including economic, financial, and geopolitical risks that may affect a company’s short-term or long-term objectives. They help top executives determine how much risk the business is willing to take, and they develop strategies to respond to these issues.

Actuaries also work in the public sector. In the federal government, actuaries may evaluate proposed changes to Social Security or Medicare or conduct economic and demographic studies to project future benefit obligations. At the state level, actuaries may examine and regulate the rates charged by insurance companies.

Some actuaries are considered consultants and provide advice to clients on a contract basis. Many consulting actuaries audit the work of internal actuaries at insurance companies or handle actuarial duties for insurance companies that are not large enough to keep their own actuaries on staff.

 Work Environment for Actuaries

Actuaries hold about 25,000 jobs. The largest employers of actuaries are as follows:

Finance and insurance	71%
Professional, scientific, and technical services	15%
Management of companies and enterprises	6%
Government	4%
Self-employed workers	1%

Actuaries typically work on teams that often include managers and professionals in other fields, such as accounting, underwriting, and finance.

Although actuaries usually work in an office setting, those who work for consulting firms may need to travel to meet with clients.

Actuary Work Schedules

Most actuaries work full time and some work more than 40 hours per week.

 How to Become an Actuary

Actuaries need a bachelor’s degree, typically in mathematics, actuarial science, statistics, or some other analytical field. Students must complete coursework in economics, applied statistics, and corporate finance, and must pass a series of exams to become certified professionals.

Education for Actuaries

Actuaries must have a strong background in mathematics, statistics, and business. Typically, an actuary has an undergraduate degree in mathematics, actuarial science, statistics, or some other analytical field.

To become certified professionals, students must complete coursework in economics, statistics, and corporate finance.

Students also should take classes outside of mathematics and business to prepare them for a career as an actuary. Coursework in computer science, especially programming languages, and the ability to use and develop spreadsheets, databases, and statistical analysis tools, are valuable. Classes in writing and public speaking will improve students’ ability to communicate in the business world.

Licenses, Certification, and Registrations for Actuaries

Two professional societies—the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and the Society of Actuaries (SOA)—sponsor programs leading to full professional status. The CAS and SOA offer two levels of certification: associate and fellow.

The CAS certifies actuaries who work in the property and casualty field, which includes automobile, homeowners, medical malpractice, and workers’ compensation insurance.

The SOA certifies actuaries who work in life insurance, health insurance, retirement benefits, investments, and finance.

Both professional societies require applicants to complete certain educational coursework in economics, finance, and mathematical statistics while in college. Applicants also must pass seven exams for associate-level certification.

Many employers expect students to have passed at least one or two of the initial actuary exams needed for professional certification before graduation.

In addition, both CAS and SOA require that candidates take seminars on professionalism. Both societies have mandatory e-learning courses for candidates.

It typically takes 4 to 7 years for an actuary to earn the associate-level certification, because each exam requires hundreds of hours of study and months of preparation.

After becoming associates, actuaries typically take 2 to 3 more years to earn fellowship status.

The SOA offers fellowship certification in five separate tracks: life and annuities, group and health benefits, retirement benefits, investments, and finance/enterprise risk management. Unlike the SOA, the CAS does not offer specialized study tracks for fellowship certification.

Both the CAS and the SOA have a continuing education requirement. Most actuaries meet this requirement by attending training seminars that are sponsored by their employers or the societies.

Pension actuaries typically must be licensed by the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries. Applicants must meet certain experience requirements and pass two exams administered through the SOA to qualify for enrollment.

Other Experience for Actuaries

Because there are different types of practice areas, including health, life, pension, and casualty, internships may be helpful for students deciding on which actuarial track to pursue.

Actuary Training

Most entry-level actuaries start out as trainees. They are typically on teams with more experienced actuaries who serve as mentors. At first, they perform basic tasks, such as compiling data, but as they gain more experience, they may conduct research and write reports. Beginning actuaries may spend time working in other departments, such as marketing, underwriting, and product development, to learn all aspects of the company’s work and how actuarial work applies to each one.

Most employers support their actuaries throughout the certification process. For example, employers typically pay the cost of exams and study materials. Many firms provide paid time to study and encourage their employees to set up study groups. Employees usually receive raises or bonuses for each exam that they pass.

Advancement for Actuaries

Advancement depends largely on job performance and the number of actuarial exams passed. For example, actuaries who achieve fellowship status often supervise the work of other actuaries and provide advice to senior management. Actuaries with a broad knowledge of risk management and how it applies to business can rise to executive positions in their companies, such as chief risk officer or chief financial officer.

Important Qualities for Actuaries

Analytical skills. Actuaries use analytical skills to identify patterns and trends in complex sets of data to determine the factors that have an effect on certain types of events.

Communication skills. Actuaries must be able to explain complex technical matters to those without an actuarial background. They must also communicate clearly through the reports and memos that describe their work and recommendations.

Computer skills. Actuaries must know programming languages and be able to use and develop spreadsheets, databases, and statistical analysis tools.

Interpersonal skills. Actuaries serve as leaders and members of teams, so they must be able to listen to other people’s opinions and suggestions before reaching a conclusion.

Math skills. Actuaries quantify risk by using the principles of calculus, statistics, and probability.

Problem-solving skills. Actuaries identify risks and develop ways for businesses to manage those risks.

 Actuary Salaries

The median annual wage for actuaries is $102,880. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $61,140, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $186,110.

The median annual wages for actuaries in the top industries in which they work are as follows:

Professional, scientific, and technical services	$108,920
Finance and insurance	$103,010
Government	$102,240
Management of companies and enterprises	$97,110

Most actuaries work full time and some work more than 40 hours per week.

 Job Outlook for Actuaries

Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 20 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 5,000 new jobs over the 10-year period.

Actuaries will be needed to develop, price, and evaluate a variety of insurance products and calculate the costs of new risks.

More actuaries will also be needed to help companies manage their own risk, a practice known as enterprise risk management. Actuaries will help companies avoid, manage, and respond to any potential financial risks across all areas of their business operations. This analysis helps companies adjust their business or investment strategies to achieve economic returns and respond to new financial regulations and requirements.

Insurance companies will need actuaries to analyze the large amount of information, such as medical or property data, collected from consumers. The increase in available data will allow insurance companies to better develop new products, set competitive prices, predict consumer behavior, and make more accurate projections of future risks and costs.

In addition, health insurance companies will require more actuaries to help evaluate the effects of changing healthcare regulations and guidelines, expand into new insurance markets, and offer products to new customers.

Job Prospects for Actuaries

Job opportunities should be somewhat competitive for entry-level applicants because the number of students sitting for actuarial exams has increased in the past few years. Students who have passed at least two actuarial exams, have had an internship while in college, and have strong analytical and business skills should have the best job prospects for entry-level positions.

Occupational Title	Employment, 2018	Projected Employment, 2028	Change, 2018-28
Percent	Numeric
Actuaries	25,000	30,000	20	5,000

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Financial Analysts

Financial analysts provide guidance to businesses and individuals making investment decisions. They assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments.

Insurance Underwriters

Insurance underwriters decide whether to provide insurance, and under what terms. They evaluate insurance applications and determine coverage amounts and premiums.

Mathematicians and Statisticians

Mathematicians and statisticians analyze data and apply mathematical and statistical techniques to help solve real-world problems in business, engineering, healthcare, or other fields.

Personal Financial Advisors

Personal financial advisors provide advice on investments, insurance, mortgages, college savings, estate planning, taxes, and retirement to help individuals manage their finances.

Postsecondary Teachers

Postsecondary teachers instruct students in a wide variety of academic and technical subjects beyond the high school level. They may also conduct research and publish scholarly papers and books.

The Actuarial Analyst Career – Everything You Want to Know

If you’re looking for a professional career that involves solving problems, working with tons of numbers, and analysing data, well, the becoming an actuarial analyst may just be the job for you!

You may not already know me, but I have been in an actuarial analyst position for the past 4 years. So, I have tons of knowledge about the career, what an actuarial analyst does, and how you can become one yourself.

Exactly what you were looking for? If so, keep reading!

What is an actuarial analyst?

Before we talk about what an actuarial analyst is, it’s important that you first understand what an actuary is. Because, an actuarial analyst is just the job title of someone that is working in a role as an actuary, but isn’t yet a fully qualified actuary.

Actuary Job Details

An actuary is someone that quantifies risk. They use statistics, probabilities, and financial concepts in order put a financial dollar value on an event that may or may not occur in the future.

They typically work in insurance companies determining how much to charge for insurance policies, or figuring out how much money an insurance company needs to save in order to keep their commitments to policyholders.

I’ve written all about what an actuary is and how one would go about quantifying risk in my other posts, so I won’t go too far into that here. You should read that post after you’re done here in order to get a better understanding of the actuarial profession overall.

The key thing to understand here is that becoming a fully qualified actuary takes many years. Usually between 7-10 years actually. But anyone that is in the process of becoming an actuary can still work in the actuarial field (as an actuarial analyst) before they’re fully qualified.

Why work as an analyst?

This allows them to gain valuable work experience and industry knowledge well before they’re fully qualified. That’s important because fully qualified actuaries have a huge amount of responsibility and their job requires lots of professional judgement that can only be attained through years of experience.

So, sometimes the job title of an actuary that isn’t yet fully qualified is “actuarial analyst”. But this is just a job title. Another common job title (which means the exact same thing) is “actuarial associate”.

In some cases, the job title may just be “actuary”, “pricing actuary”, “valuation actuary” or something else along those lines. The job titles often vary from company to company.

What does an actuarial analyst do?

It’s most common for an actuarial analyst to be heavily involved in either the calculation of insurance premiums or reserves. Reserves are the industry term for the amount of assets (bonds, stocks, mortgages, private placements, etc.) that an insurance company needs to own in order to ensure that they are financially stable.

Since insurance contracts can last 50+ years, it’s important that insurance companies properly manage their cash flows to ensure they have enough money to pay any insurance claims that are made in the future. That’s why reserves are so important.

If you want to learn more about what an reserving actuarial analyst (also known as a valuation actuarial analyst) does.

An actuarial analyst isn’t a fully qualified actuary and is still gaining knowledge and expertise in their industry. Because of this, they often do much of the technical work required in order for their immediate manager (usually a fully qualified actuary) and upper management to make informed decisions.

By doing much of the technical work, an actuarial analyst is able to dig deep into the details and fully understand how actuarial processes work, how reported values are calculated, and they’ll often investigate inconsistencies in data.

Having this in-depth insight into the business workings allows the actuarial analyst to develop in their career and become prepared for the requirements of a fully-qualified actuary.

How do I become an actuarial analyst?

There are two primary requirements that are necessary in order to be an actuarial analyst. First, you need to get a Bachelor’s degree, and second you need to pass at least 1 actuarial exam.

Bachelor’s Degree

Due to the nature of an actuarial analyst position, you need to be well-versed in topics such as finance, business, statistics and economics.

As a result, the first thing you’d need to do in order to become one is get a Bachelor’s degree. It doesn’t have to be a degree in one of the fields listed above, but it would be helpful in your career if it was. Actually, a degree technically isn’t required, but nearly all good candidates have one and an actuarial employer would be unlikely to hire someone without one.

Another option is to get your Bachelor’s degree in “actuarial science”. These courses are only offered in certain colleges and universities. They teach math concepts that are very specific to the actuarial field.

Actuarial Exams

In order to become a fully qualified actuary, there is a series of 10 professional exams that one needs to pass. These exams cover all the mathematics that an actuary will need, as well as in-depth background knowledge of how insurance works and all the regulatory requirements surrounding it.

These exams take most people between 7 and 10 years to complete, which is the second reason that aspiring actuaries work as actuarial analysts until their fully qualified. (The first reason being that they need to develop their knowledge and expertise in the industry before they’ll be ready for the responsibility of being a fully qualified actuary)

Technically someone may be able to get an actuarial analyst position without having passed any actuarial exams, but it’s unlikely. Before hiring, employers like to see that an actuarial analyst job candidate has taken some initiative towards the actuarial career, and that they’re able to understand the mathematical concepts tested on the exams.

So although it is possible to become an actuarial analyst without any exams, it’s more likely that you would need to pass 2 or 3 exams before being considered for a position.

I’ve gone into tons of detail about the actuarial exam process here.

How much money does an actuarial analyst make?

As an actuarial analyst you can expect to make somewhere between $44,000 and $160,000 annually. It depends on several factors, such as how many years of experience you have, how many actuarial exams you’ve passed and your geographical location.

Entry-Level Salary

When you’re just starting in your first job and only have one or two exams passed, you should expect a salary closer to the lower end of that range. Fortunately, your salary can increase fairly quickly just by passing exams.

Many insurance companies will automatically increase your salary for every exam you pass. Earlier exams may result in a salary increase of $2,000 or $3,000 while later (more difficult) exams may result in raises of $4,000 to $6,000 per year.

Some companies also offer first attempt bonuses for those that pass an exam on the first try. (I should note that the actuarial exam process is quite tough and often results in many failed exams along the way – persistence is important).

Salary After Several Years of Experience

Since there are 10 exams in total which can be passed at a rate of 1 or 2 per year, you can probably see how the salary can increase quite quickly if you put a lot of effort into passing exams.

Someone that has passed about 7 exams and has 5 or 6 years of experience will likely earn somewhere around $110,000 per year. This is quite variable though and depends on many different factors.

Actually, switching jobs every 3-5 years can also increase your salary fairly quickly due to raises that often occur at each transition.

Other Salary Considerations

As a full-time actuarial analyst, you’ll likely also get other employee benefits such as life insurance, health and dental insurance, disability insurance, paid study materials, paid study time, and 3-5 weeks of paid vacation time. The work itself isn’t very stressful as an analyst, and the work hours are typically very reasonable.

Actuarial Analyst vs Actuary. What’s the difference?

An actuarial analyst is often the job title of someone that is hasn’t yet passed all the actuarial exams and other requirements needed in order to be a fully qualified actuary. The job titles can be misleading though because an “actuary” job title doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re fully qualified either.

Job Responsibilities are the Main Difference

Aside from those requirements and the salary, there is a big difference in the job responsibilities of an actuarial analyst and a fully qualified actuary.

The Actuary

A fully-qualified actuary will often be using their knowledge and expertise in order to make critical business decisions. They’ll rely extensively on their past experiences in the industry, as well as concepts learned by studying for the later actuarial exams.

They’ll often use data summaries, industry reports, and company objectives in order to make decisions that are best for the company overall. To do this, an actuary will regularly collaborate with other actuaries in the company in order to get different perspectives, discover potential drawbacks and ideas.

Combining expertise in this way can be very powerful and reduces the possibility of overlooking potential issues that may arise in the future.

The Actuarial Analyst

On the other hand, an actuarial analyst often isn’t involved in as many of these high-level, decision-making collaborations. Instead, the analyst is typically responsible for collecting, analysing and summarizing all the data that is needed for the fully-qualified actuaries to make their decisions.

The actuaries need to take into consideration many different factors when making decisions, and quite often it requires large amounts of data to be summarized into numbers that can easily be interpreted. This is where the analyst comes in.

The analyst will put everything together for the actuaries that they report to. This gives the actuaries more time for higher-level thinking and decision making rather than being caught up in the weeds of all the data.

Analysts are often also responsible for the monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting processes that need to be completed by the actuarial departments. These are often fairly manual processes that require the analyst to fully understand the data, calculations and results.

Although analysts may not attend all the collaboration meetings, their inputs and perspectives are still very valuable. Oftentimes the actuary that they’re providing data to doesn’t know all the nuances of the data, calculations and results that are produced.

So, an analyst can make them aware of any potential problems that may arise in the actual implementation of business changes and decisions.

As may be expected, the job responsibilities of an actuarial analyst are much more technical than those of an actuary. But both are needed in order to allow the insurance company to function.

Actuarial Analyst vs Actuarial Assistant. Are they the same?

An actuarial analyst and an actuarial assistant are not the same job. An actuarial analyst does most of the technical work involving gathering, analysing, and interpreting data whereas an actuarial assistant often works alongside a team of actuarial analysts. The assistant will help do the tasks that need to be done but don’t require the expertise and skill set of the analysts.

In order to do their job, and actuarial analyst often needs to know how to write code to automate tasks. They also spend time formatting reports, cleaning data, and entering data into the computer.

But, these tasks aren’t really utilizing the specialized knowledge and analytical abilities of the analyst. So, it makes sense to have someone else do these tasks rather than the analyst. The analyst can then spend more time on understanding and interpreting results.

Having an actuarial assistant also makes sense from a financial standpoint because they don’t need to be paid as high of a salary as an actuarial analyst would.

Having actuarial assistants is a company choice. Some companies have them, and others don’t. But for someone looking to get into an actuarial analyst position, an actuarial assistant job can be very beneficial in making connections and learning about actuarial work.

Is the actuarial analyst career right for you?

Most people don’t go into the actuarial profession without the intention to become a fully qualified actuary. The actuarial analyst job is a stepping stone on that journey. So, really, you have to think about whether a career as an actuary is right for you.

If you decide to stop pursuing a career as an actuary and stay as an actuarial analyst, you’ll be limited in your career growth opportunities and it may be difficult to switch companies (to another actuarial analyst position). Your exam process and work ethic will play a big part in whether this is possible.

You need to be goal oriented and persistent.
Getting through all the actuarial exams can be quite a long and difficult process. You need to be able to persevere through failures, and enjoy the challenge that each exam brings.

If you’re goal oriented, you’ll strive to complete the exams quickly, and the reward of a raise will motivate you.

Love problem solving.
Actuarial work regularly involves figuring out solutions to problems and a lot of judgement. Typically there’s no right or wrong answer in this field so it’s an analyst’s job to determine creative solutions and assess the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Enjoy math and working with numbers (a lot).
Actuaries work with numbers every single day. Most of them love to dig into the details and figure out why trends are occurring. Actuaries use numbers and mathematical concepts in order to make business decisions that are in the best interest of the company and its policyholders.

The Top 5 Skills Every Actuary Needs

An actuary specializes in evaluating the financial implications of risk and uncertainty, devising solutions to reduce the likelihood of undesirable events and decrease the negative consequences of such events when they occur.

Becoming an actuary is another option. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the profession boasted a median wage of $102,880 in the U.S. in 2018 and a job growth outlook of 22% between 2016 and 2026. Below is an outline of the majors that an actuary typically studies as well as the top five skills needed to be successful in this profession.

What Actuaries Study

To become an actuary, you will need, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree. The most direct route is to major in actuarial science, a course of study that consists of math, statistics, and industry-related topics. However, other quantitative majors can produce well-qualified candidates as well. These majors typically include computer science, economics, mathematics, physics, and statistics, among others.

Essentially, any major that includes substantial coursework in mathematics, statistics, business, management, accounting, economics, finance, and computer programming should be sufficient preparation for an actuarial career. However, an education that also includes the humanities, especially English, would be highly beneficial. Actuaries should also know about topics such as law and government and must be able to communicate effectively in writing and speech.

$102,880

The median wage of an actuary in 2018.

Top Five Skills of an Actuary

Actuaries need a wide range of skills to be successful. Five of the most important are listed below.

1. Analytical Problem Solving Skills

Actuaries need to be analytical problem solvers as their tasks include examining complex data and identifying patterns and trends to determine which factors are responsible for specific outcomes. After evaluating and weighing the significance of these factors, actuaries look for ways to minimize the likelihood of undesirable outcomes or the cost of the realization of an undesirable outcome.

2. Math and Numeracy Skills

Actuaries deal with numbers, so being able to do basic arithmetic quickly and correctly is a definite requirement. However, the math associated with actuarial science can be more complicated. Knowledge of calculus, statistics, and probability are also essential since actuaries quantify risk and determine the probable likelihood of certain events.

3. Computer Skills

Computers and a variety of statistical modeling software are the tools of the actuary trade. Actuaries frequently use models and tables to evaluate large amounts of data. Not only are basic computer skills and a knowledge of Microsoft Office absolutely essential, but being able to program in a statistical programming language is also a necessity.

4. Knowledge of Business and Finance

Businesses, financial institutions, and insurance companies often employ actuaries. As such, they are responsible for evaluating insurance or pension plans, advising businesses on how to limit exposure to financial risk, and providing banks with expert opinions on maximizing returns for a variety of investment products. This requires a sound understanding of business and financial concepts.

5. Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Actuaries often collaborate with various personnel, including programmers, accountants, and senior management, which makes it imperative that they can communicate and work effectively with others. Strong oral communication skills enable actuaries to explain complex technical and statistical details to a diverse audience, while solid writing skills ensure that findings and solutions are easily understood in memos and written reports.

Actuaries also often lead teams on a variety of projects and thus must be able to handle an assortment of personalities.