Welcome to Actuarial Interest Group

What is an actuary?

Actuarial profession is ranked as one of the most desirable job in the world in terms of salary and job satisfaction
It is a social mathematician, who can do complex maths, understand very well the business and effectively communicate with senior management. 

Actuaries essentially put a price tag on risk using their skills in probability and statistics, finance and economics, computer science and business. In particular, they gather information from many sources to 

• Evaluate the likelihood and financial impacts of future events (death, sickness, disability, loss of property
• Formulate policies that would minimize the cost of that risk. 

Different from other financial service professions

• From what I understand, if you want to know the financial impact of what has already happened, ask an accountant? If you to know the potential financial impact of future events, ask an actuary!
• Dealing with long dated uncertain cashflow [life insurance 10y, 15y or 100y]

Applications

• Product pricing and asset and liability valuation
• Calculate premium scientifically for life insurance policies
• Calculate reserves (provisions for future liabilities) that an insurance company would need to cover various risks.
• Risk control and management [mortality risk for life insurance]
• Help companies make informed decision, maximize its return on investments in the light of potential risks. 
• Determine economic losses for the court cases

Career path

• Consultancies - offering advice on issues such as acquisitions, mergers and financing capital projects, and also on occupational pension schemes.  
• Investment - involved in research and on the pricing and management of investments, particularly in mitigating the risk of investments, and often using their understanding of insurance or pension liabilities to manage the corresponding assets.
• Insurance - providing a service to companies which need a huge range of numerical information investigated, analysed and explained; for example to create and price polices, or to ensure they have the money to cover claims.
• Pensions - designing and advising on company pension schemes, especially placing a value on accumulated pension commitments.

Some interesting links

UK university students have suddenly discovered that actuarial careers are a good, solid bet

Q&A: The head of Hymans Robertson in Edinburgh explains what it takes to become an actuary

My reflections 

Some people say they choose a job because of money, or being well-known. To me, what I value more than anything, is the recognition of doing a good job. Used to work as a senior actuary at Manulife Vietnam, I have always wanted to do a good job so that people sincerely appreciate for what I can do for them. That is my job satisfaction.