Actuarial Program

Become an actuary Jumpstart a promising career by joining the actuarial program at FDU Overview  What is an Actuary?  What skills are needed to be an Actuary?  Where Actuaries work?      What Actuaries do? How I become an Actuary? What is the career outlook for Actuaries? How can FDU help you become an actuary? Questions What is an Actuary anyway? An Actuary is a person who: • • • Analyzes, manages and measures the financial implications of future risk Works to maximize profit while managing volatility Develops and validates financial models to guide decision making Skills and Talents Needed to be an Actuary? • • Skills – Analytical and problem solving skills – Communication skills – Strong computer skills & knowledge of mathematics and finance Talents: – Motivation – Creativity – Independence – Ability to work with others Where Actuaries Work? • • • • • • • Consulting firms Insurance companies Government insurance departments Banks and investment firms Large corporations Public accounting firms Colleges and universities Typical Actuarial Projects • • • • • Designing and pricing life insurance products Estimating the amount of money to be set aside for insurance claims Setting HMO premium rates Retirement Systems: Pricing the cost of increasing retirement benefits Finance & Investments: Portfolio diversification studies Jobs Rated Almanac Rating Based on: Income, Outlook, Stress, Environment , Physical Demands, and Security • • Actuary has received the #1 job rating twice! Actuary has been rated as one of the top five jobs in each of the editions published since 1988 Career Outlook for Actuaries • Employment growth for consulting actuaries • Development of new financial tools • Growing ability to model risks • Growth in the health services industry • Growth in risk management Earning Potential Average Actuarial Salaries Range in Years of Experience Note: Compensation may vary significantly according to years of experience, geographic region and responsibilities Source: D.W Simpson & Company, Inc, 2004 S alary S urve y How to Become an Actuary? The bad news first: • Like a doctor or lawyer, an actuary achieves professional status by passing examinations to prove a certain level of knowledge • Actuarial examinations are administered by the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) and Society of Actuaries (SOA) How to Become an Actuary? … and now the good news: FDU can prepare interested students for an actuarial career on many levels • Our math and statistics courses will give you a strong math background • Our Business School offers courses in business, finance, accounting and management • Our CS courses and state of the art computer labs will help you build necessary computer skills • Our courses in English, speech or business writing will help you develop strong communication skills How can FDU’s actuarial program help you with the actuarial exams? We offer our Math majors • a well structured concentration in Actuarial Science • advising geared towards professional actuarial exams • courses in subjects covered by professional actuarial exams • independent studies and training for actuarial exams in areas not covered by our regular courses How we specifically prepare our students for the Actuarial Profession? • We assist our students with most of the topics within the area of the Preliminary Education Structure • We help prepare our students for all preliminary exams through regularly offered courses, independent studies courses or one-on-one help sessions • VEE (Validation by Educational Experience) credits can be obtained through approved FDU courses How else we help our actuarial program students? • Help finding summer internships • Summer Research Grants Questions and Comments To learn more about the actuarial profession, visit www.BeAnActuary.org Visit the Casualty Actuarial Society on the Web - www.casact.org or the Society of Actuaries on the Web www.soa.org Contact Dr M Slaby, Dept of Math & CS, FDU, 443-8468, mslaby@fdu.edu (973)