Updated July 21, 2023
Introduction to Actuaries
The term “actuaries” refers to the professionals using statistical methods to analyze an event’s probability and estimate its economic impact on businesses and customers.
In other words, these finance professionals can assess the monetary cost of uncertainties. Actuaries are usually considered necessary in the insurance and pension industry, where they are required to examine and estimate the value of future ambiguity of settlements. Some sectors that often employ actuaries for analyzing their underlying business risk are pension funds, healthcare, government departments, investment management, etc.
Career in Actuaries
This article will discuss some of the most sought-after job profiles in the actuaries industry that you can pursue in your career.
The job profiles are:
1. Health Actuary
As a health actuary, you will assist mid-level managers in building strategies and providing technical consulting services to health plan providers.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a health actuary include the following:
- Modeling health plans for both individual as well as small-group health care.
- Preparing SQL models that help in pricing the recent changes in health plan benefits.
- Incorporating lapse and retention rates in the models and preparing results for clients.
- Creating models for calculating the ROI of various health plans.
- Preparing incurred but not reported (IBNR) spreadsheets for audit purposes.
Educational, Skill, and Experience Requirements
A health actuary should have the following education, skill level, and professional background:
- A bachelor’s degree is a must.
- More than two years of experience in a health plan or insurance company.
- Technical knowledge of health actuarial, underwriting, and other healthcare financing.
- Strong background in health care plan designing as well as knowledge of the recent developments in the industry.
- Must have cleared at least two actuarial exams.
Salary
In the US, the annual salary of a health actuary can be as low as $49,000, which can go up to more than $423,000 at the highest level with more work experience and academic success.
Source Link: https://www.dwsimpson.com/about/salary-survey/#health
2. Pension Actuary
As a pension actuary, you will be consulting or suggesting organizations on how to design, manage, administer, and communicate various employee retirement plans.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a pension actuary include the following:
- Designing, pricing, funding, implementing, and managing various retirement programs.
- Conducting a benchmarking analysis to offer a competitive benefits plan.
- Executing asset and liability modeling.
- Estimating the valuation of annual pension and post-retirement medical for different clients by analyzing a large volume of data, reconciling plan assets, and determining plan liabilities and funding requirements.
- Assisting in the preparation of plan reporting and filing requirements.
- Performing tasks such as benefit calculation, review of plan documents, and preparation of benefit statements.
Educational, Skill, and Experience Requirements
The pension actuary should have the following education, skill level, and professional background:
- Either a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in actuarial science, statistics, mathematics, finance, or other related fields.
- Strong technical knowledge coupled with excellent client servicing skills.
- Good at verbal and written communication.
- Completion of one or more actuarial exams is preferable.
- Proficiency in MS Office, especially in Excel.
Salary
In the US, the annual salary of a pension actuary can be as low as $44,000, which can go up to more than $369,000 at the highest level with more work experience and academic success.
Source Link: https://www.dwsimpson.com/
3. Life Actuary
As a life actuary, you will design life insurance products and calculate annuities based on mortality and claim rates.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a life actuary include the following:
- Supporting setting of non-guaranteed features of all products such as annuities, retained asset accounts, etc.
- Analyzing the profitability of all the life insurance products along with the riders.
- Supporting implementation of new products by coordinating with other teams.
- Developing tools for experience analysis to understand the business operations better.
Educational, Skill, and Experience Requirements
A life actuary should have the following education, skill level, and professional background:
- A bachelor’s degree is a must.
- Candidates with Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) are preferred.
- More than seven years of experience in life or annuity insurance.
- Strong knowledge of life actuarial practices.
- Good at verbal and written communication.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills.
Salary
In the US, the annual salary of a life actuary can be as low as $51,000, which can go up to more than $504,000 at the highest level with more work experience and academic success.
Source Link: http://www.dwsimpson.com/salary#life
4. Casualty Actuary
As a casualty actuary, your primary responsibility will be to assist other actuaries in product performance analysis.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a casualty actuary include the following:
- Building financial projection and valuation software or other tools for actuarial modeling.
- Identifying possible issues with the product and then recommending mitigating steps.
- Maintaining and improving actuarial experience studies.
- Acting as the lead for projects on actuarial studies and pricing or valuation strategies.
Educational, Skill, and Experience Requirements
A casualty actuary should have the following education, skill level, and professional background:
- A bachelor’s degree in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, or other related fields.
- More than four years of experience in an actuarial setting.
- Associate Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS) or equivalent qualification is preferred.
- Strong knowledge of insurance products.
- The ability to communicate technical knowledge to non-technical counterparts.
Salary
In the US, the annual salary of a casualty actuary can be as low as $48,000, which can go up to more than $553,000 at the highest level with more work experience and academic success.
Source Link: http://www.dwsimpson.com/salary#casualty
Conclusion
So, it can be seen that actuaries are strategic thinkers who assist companies in better understanding the market. Their logical thinking and analytical acumen help the senior management to build a vision for their growth objectives. As such, a career in the actuaries industry is very lucrative, given its critical role in a company’s success.
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