What is an actuary? Actuaries are professionals, and strategic thinkers, who use their mathematical and forecast skills to help measure the probability and risk of future events as well as their impact.
Role of an actuary- 1. An Actuary’s role is to analyze the insurance rates for cars, homes, or life insurance. 2. He strategizes the risks involved by applying statistical methods, thus evaluating the pros and cons to arrive at a sane decision in the case of the corporate world like mergers and acquisitions. 3. He forecasts the price of new insurance products. 4. He analyses various investment programs and helps to take prudent decisions for big companies. Areas of working- An actuary is mainly required in insurance companies, the corporate world, investment companies, financial institutions, health care etc. Expected salary- The starting salary of an actuary is estimated to be 15 to 20 lakhs per annum in India. The salary of an experienced actuary is estimated to be 4 to 5 lakhs per annum Eligibility for students pursuing Actuarial Science – Candidates who seek undergraduate courses in Actuarial Science must compulsorily study mathematics till class 12. He/She can apply for the ACET exam in order to pursue the Actuarial Science Course offered by the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) after passing class 12. How to apply- You can apply online for the exam on the official website of IAI: actuariesindia.org. The registration fee (non-refundable) is Rs.3000 which includes the cost of the study material, ACET online exam, and online tutorials. Payment can be made through credit/ debit card or internet banking. Candidates who are pursuing their graduation, post-graduation, management courses, engineering courses, CS, and CA also be eligible to apply for the exam. EXAMS ACET is a 2-hour exam and consists of multiple choice questions(MCQs). Incorrect answers will result in a negative marking worth half the marks. There will be 55 questions in total worth 100 marks. The break up of questions and marks is:
- 25 questions – 1 mark each
- 25 questions – 2 marks each
- 5 questions – 5 marks each
Frequency of exams- ACET is a computer-based exam that will be conducted twice every year – in the months of June and December. After clearing the ACET, a candidate needs to clear a series of 15 papers prescribed by the IAI to be awarded the Fellowship in Actuary (FIAI) to be designated as a Qualified Actuary. It could take anywhere between four and six years to clear all 15 papers depending on the time devoted.
The fifteen actuarial exams conducted by IAI include nine written exams and three practical exams.
CT1 – Financial Mathematics
CT2 – Finance and Financial Reporting
CT3 – Probability and Mathematical Statistics
CT4 – Models
CT5 – General Insurance, Life and Health Contingencies
CT6 – Statistical Methods
CT7 – Business Economics
CT8 – Financial Economics
CT9 – Business Awareness Online Module (Practical Exam)
Stage 2: Core Application (CA)
You need to pass all these three exams:
CA1 – Actuarial Risk Management
CA2 – Model Documentation Analysis and Reporting (Practical Exam)
CA3 – Communication (Practical Exam)
Stage 3: Specialist Technicalities (ST)
At this stage you can specialize and choose any two subjects out of the 6 offered:
ST1 – Health and Care
ST2 – Life Insurance
ST3 – Pension and Other Employee Benefits
ST4 – Finance and Investment A
ST5 – Finance and Investment B
ST6 – General Insurance Reserving and Capital Modeling Specialist Technical
ST7 – General Insurance Pricing Specialist Technical
ST8 – Enterprise Risk Management
Stage 4: Specialist Application (SA)
You can choose any 1 subject (preferably corresponding to the ST subjects you chose):
SA1 – Health and Care
SA2 – Life Insurance
SA3 – General Insurance
SA4 – Pension and Other Employee Benefits
SA5 – FinanceSA6Investment
Once you clear all nine CT papers & all three CA papers, you are eligible to become an Associate Member of the IAI. And once you clear all 15 papers you can become a Fellow Member of the IAI.
Top colleges in India for Actuarial Sciences-
1.BISHOP HEBER COLLEGE(UGC approved)-Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu.
2. AMITY UNIVERSITY(NCTE accredited)-Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
3. CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY (NCTE ACCREDITED)- Chandigarh.
4. YESHWANTRAO CHAVAN MAHARASHTRA OPEN UNIVERSITY (UGC ACCREDITED), Nashik, Maharashtra.
5. INSTITUTE OF ACTUARIAL AND QUANTITATIVE SCIENCES-(IAQS), Mumbai, Maharashtra
All the best!