Actuarial Science Careers

While actuaries work on all sorts of projects in diverse business environments, they have one thing in common:  They use quantitative skills to analyze and plan for future financial situations.
Using these skills, actuaries may be involved in projects as varied as:

• Placing a price on a company about to merge with another business.
• Estimating the impact of seat-belt laws in automobile losses and determining appropriate rate discounts.
• Projecting Social Security benefits so money can be collected to pay workers planning to retire in 20 years.
• Determining why malpractice insurance costs for doctors are skyrocketing.
• Projecting what the AIDS epidemic will cost life and health insurance companies in five, ten and twenty years.
• Determining the price for a liability policy. Collecting and investing enough money so that an insurance company can pay claims.
• Designing a new retirement program for a company.
• Calculating the price to charge for insuring a satellite launch.
• Estimating the benefit costs for a labor union contract.
• Answering questions like “What risks are insurable,” and “How much and where should companies invest money?”

Check out the interview with an actuary—a “hot job”.

Insurance companies: About two-thirds of all actuaries work for life, health, and property/casualty insurance companies, which heavily rely on the actuary’s judgment to ensure their financial security.  For example, before a company insures the health of one individual or a corporation’s 5,000 employees, or before it issues a policy on a family car or a fleet of trucks, the actuary helps determine the risks of sickness or accidents that will result in claims.  The actuary then makes sure the insurance company charges a fair price to assume the risk, has enough money available to pay claims and operates profitably as a business.

Consulting firms: An increasing number of actuaries work as independent consultants.  Some operate their own offices, while others work for large, nationwide actuarial consulting firms.  They consult not only on the purely technical aspects of an insurance risk, but also on many of the complex financial workings of virtually every industry in existence.  Consulting actuaries work with and advise chief financial officers, chief operating officers and often chief executive officers, especially in the financial services risk management and health care fields. Another important field is pension consulting.  It has grown substantially since 1974, when government regulators required actuarial review of all tax-deductible pension contributions.

Fueled by the liability crisis of the mid-1980s, an increasing trend toward self-insurance among corporations, governments, and hospitals has also created a need for property/casualty consultants to evaluate liabilities and assets for these organizations.

Other areas: Actuaries also find significant and rewarding opportunities in government and education, with many serving as university professors or as senior officials with the U.S. Social Security Administration, the Health Care Financing Administration, the Canadian Department of Insurance, and other government bodies, such as state and provincial insurance departments. Actuaries also are key financial people in many other organizations, including insurance rating bureaus, public accounting firms, large industrial corporations, labor unions, and fraternal organizations.

Most actuaries were first attracted to the profession as a way to use their mathematical ability.  While mathematics is the basic building block of an actuarial career, actuaries are, first of all, business men and women who needbroad-based business skills. To find out whether your aptitudes and interests make you a good candidate for an actuarial career, take this short quiz:

• Are you an above-average student, and do you excel in your mathematics courses?
• Are you curious and do you like solving complicated problems?
• Do you like writing?  Do you like talking with people?
• Are you interested in historical, social, legislative and political issues?
• Would you describe yourself as a self-motivated achiever who gets results?

If your answers are yes, consider becoming an actuary.

Poojan Shah, FSA, CERA, MAAA

Consulting Actuary, Milliman

B.A., Major – Actuarial Science
Minors – Mathematics, Business Administration

What did you like about Butler?

Butler offers so many opportunities – from courses to sports to organizational activities.  The sky is the limit when it comes to what you can do here.  And what makes it even more accessible, easier, and fun is the size of the school; you cannot ask for anymore personal attention.  Another “component” that makes Butler unique is the people; everyone from professors to students is in one word, awesome!  Wherever you go, you see tons of diversity, which broadens your horizons and mindset – it shapes you into a better person and gets you prepared for the real world.  In short, my experience at Butler was simply phenomenal – and I am not exaggerating when I say this!

What did you do after graduation?

Right after I graduated, I went to work for Towers Watson (previously Towers Perrin) as a pension actuary.  However, I found the retirement industry a little dry and moved to Allstate Financial in November 2008, as a result.  I worked in the life insurance field, specifically in the Modeling department, where we project and analyze company financials. I am now a Consulting Actuary at Milliman in Chicago.

Lindsey Effner

Michelle Brown ASA, MAAA

Actuarial Analyst III

BA Actuarial Science, 2007
Minors: Mathematics, Business Administration, and Spanish

michelle.brown2@wellpoint.com

What did you like about Butler?

Lots of things! Academically, I had a great experience in the Math and Actuarial department at Butler. It was a big advantage to graduate with a degree in Actuarial Science, since not many Universities offer an AS degree. The coursework was directly related to the Actuarial exams, so it was great to be able to get a jump start on the exams while still in school. The majority of my Actuarial Science classes were just me and a couple of other students, and I liked having the 1×1 instruction. Aside from all the academic aspects, I really enjoyed living at Butler and knew I wanted to stay in the Indianapolis area after I graduated. I live out on the northeast side of town now, but I try to get back to campus whenever I can!

What did you do after graduation?

After I graduated from Butler I started working as an Actuarial Analyst at WellPoint downtown Indianapolis. I had an internship at WellPoint while I was at Butler and had accepted a full-time job with them after graduation.

What are you doing now?

I’m still working at WellPoint and have been here for about four years. I recently completed all of my requirements for an FSA, so I am excited to finally be done studying for actuarial exams! I’m currently working as a lead pricing actuary for our individual medical insurance products. With the health care reform law passed last year, it’s been a very challenging and exciting time to be working in the individual health insurance market! In my personal life, I got married about two years ago and my husband, Kevin, and I live in Lawrence with our dog, Binkley.