The Actuarial Profession

Actuaries are applied mathematicians who manage risk for insurance. They are also certified professionals who have gone through a series of examinations to obtain a professional designation. A great deal of useful information about the profession and the examinations can be found on the Internet at http://www.BeAnActuary.com.

Actuaries work reasonable hours and earn good salaries. As a career, it is consistently ranked among the top professions by the Jobs Rated Almanac. In some years, it has been ranked number one. (In the most recent edition, it tied for fourth place out of 250 professions.)

Preparation for the Actuarial Profession

Most actuaries have begun as undergraduate mathematics majors, but any student who has taken the full calculus sequence and advanced courses in probability and statistics is prepared to begin taking actuarial exams. In recent years majors in economics and finance with strong mathematics minors have become good candidates for actuarial careers. The ASU mathematics department offers assistance with the actuarial exams to any qualified major or minor. The appropriate courses for the first actuarial exam are discussed below.

Students who wish to prepare for an actuarial career while majoring in Mathematics at ASU should concentrate on mathematics courses in Probability and Statistics. Actuarial students are advised to include in their related fields introductory courses in Accounting, Economics, and Finance.

As mentioned above, it is also possible for a major in Economics or Finance to minor in Mathematics and pursue an actuarial career. The minor should include the classes below.

It is not possible for a student to begin work on the first actuarial examination until completion of MAT 270, 271, 272, and STP 326 or STP 421. Prospective actuarial students should begin work on those classes and schedule an appointment with an actuarial advisor after passing MAT 271.

For additional information on being an actuary or on actuary exams, contact

Toni Coombs Garcia
ECA 207
Email: coombs@math.la.asu.edu

ASU Courses for Actuarial Exam Preparation

There are two national accrediting organizations, the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society. The two organizations share three of the first four exams. After that, the organizations require passing an additional three or four exams to be certified and admitted to membership.

The exams which a student is most likely to be able to take on graduation from an undergraduate degree (along with the corresponding course work) are:

Exam P - Probability (Society of Actuaries), Course 1 (Casualty Actuarial Society) STP 326 or STP 421.
Exam FM - Financial Mathematics (Society of Actuaries), Course 2 (Casualty Actuarial Society) MAT 340

The other exam which is common to both actuarial societies is:

Exam C - Construction and Evaluation of Actuarial Models, (Course 4)

Actuarial students must also obtain credit in approved statistics, economics and finance courses. An actuarial coordinator will work with students to meet this requirement.

Advanced Actuarial Courses

Actuaries often get their first jobs by passing one of the exams above and proceed to study for exams in their free time (nights and weekends) for an additional four to ten years. ASU offers free exam preparation seminars for ASU students for all four of the above exams.

Annual Actuarial Career Day

Every spring semester the Mathematics and Statistics Department sponsors a career day for students who are interested in actuarial careers. Actuaries from leading Arizona companies appear on panels to answer questions about what actuarial work is like and what are the requirements for getting a beginning actuarial job. Students have the opportunity to visit with actuaries during breaks and to offer resumes to potential employers.

Actuary Club

Actuary Club homepage with actuary links, events, and job info.

Mathematics Minor for Business Majors

If you are a business major and have always done well in Mathematics, you might want to consider a Minor in Mathematics. Many specialties in modern business require some advanced Mathematics. Derivative specialists on Wall Street use mathematical probability extensively, and firms hire Finance and Economics experts with strong backgrounds in probability. The minor in Mathematics is quite helpful for students considering graduate work in Economics or Finance. Students who have majored in Finance or Economics and also minored in Mathematics make excellent candidates for careers as actuaries. The Mathematics Department has an actuarial advisor who is an actuary and works closely with students who wish to take actuarial examinations.