Actuary: job description and salary

According to Robert's Dictionary's definition, the term dates back to 1872 and stems from the Latin word actuarius, which means “the stenographer, scribe in charge of minutes, acta.” Currently, it stands for the “specialist in statistics and calculations of the probabilities applied to insurance problems, employee benefits and amortization”.

Originally, the actuarial analyst is mainly responsible for the production of figures, that is, the achievement of mortality tables in life insurance. But the job has considerably evolved following the social and economic changes especially technological progress which made it possible to develop more and more complex risk-modelling tools.

Who uses the services of an actuary?

The actuary's role has been extended to new tasks and its scope of action opened up to sectors of multiple activities:

• Insurance companies
• Retirement and employee benefit funds
• Stock companies
• Financial institutions
• Services of economic surveys for banks and giant corporate firms

What does an actuary do?

In insurance, the two main classes of business of the actuary's activity are life insurance and property insurance. Consequently, they play a major role in:

• Assessing and sharing risks
• Elaborating tariffs
• Negotiating the various procedures attendant upon contract establishment
• Calculating technical provisions
• Defining reinsurance programs and their costs
• Monitoring portfolios and analyzing their profitability
• Supervising financial statement and finance management

To do so, they collect and process data to assess:

• The probability of risk occurrence
• The level of the granted guarantees
• The profitability of investments

Within the company, the actuarial analyst acts as backup in various management tasks such as audit and consultancy. But the current dominant trend is the exercise of the profession in independent firms of actuarial consultancy.

Nowadays, the actuarial consultant is master of all trades: a risk manager, an expert in prospective statistics, a top-level strategist and a negotiator.

The globalization of capitals, the growing needs in terms of risk command and the emergence of new clients account for the greater recourse to actuarial services. Companies are desperately seeking graduates, sometimes even before their graduation offering them key positions, high salaries and advantageous career promotion prospects.

How much does an actuary make?

The annual salary of a beginner actuary in France amounts to 40 000 USD, and is poised to rise to 89 000 USD in mid-career.

In the United States, the grid of salaries ranges between 41 000 USD and 84 000 USD.

How to become an actuary?

Becoming an actuary is particularly long and arduous. It requires solid scientific knowledge and background (mathematics, probability, statistics, and computer sciences) as well as a great working, processing and judgement skills.

The constant evolution of this craft and its working tools requires a permanent effort of adaptation.

The training programs must include new disciplinary fields such as geostrategic theories applied to the economy, political science, sociology, communication and management.

Universities & colleges with actuarial programs

Most of the European and American universities are offering subjects in actuarial sciences.

• In France, for instance, there are no less than ten specialized establishments among which:
• Financial Science and Insurance Institute, Lyon University,
• The Paris University Statistics Institute,
• The Brest University Actuarial Sciences Euro Institute,
• The Paris Conservatory of Arts and Crafts.
• Switzerland: The Lausanne University Actuarial Sciences Institute.
• Belgium: UCL-Louvain-la-Neuve Actuarial Sciences Institute.
• Great Britain:
• The School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Edinburgh, Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics,
• The London School of Economics, London.
• Canada: The Laval University Actuarial Sciences School.
• Africa and the Middle East: Training programs in actuarial sciences have been provided by universities in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and in Jordan. Other channels have been opened in Algeria and Morocco.