Masters degrees in Actuarial Science equip postgraduates with the skills to apply statistical concepts to practices within the financial industry, including the analysis of monetary transactions and processes.
Related subjects include Financial Management. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject such as Accounting or Finance.
The Master of Actuarial Science (Specialisation) is a four semester degree that provides students with an undergraduate degree in an alternative field an opportunity to complete Part I with the Actuaries Institute. Students have the opportunity to undertake a specialisation to assist them to identify as an expert in an area of actuarial science. The recommended specialisation is Big Data, however, students also have the option to choose any other Bond Business School specialisation. The Master of Actuarial Science is taught in smaller classes for personalised attention and unparalleled access to Bond University's Macquarie Trading Room and Bloomberg data-sourcing terminals. The program will develop skills in the challenge of crunching 'big data' numbers to create practical solutions for real world problems. Employment opportunities include working as an investment analyst, portfolio manager or actuarial consultant.
Bond is the only university in Queensland to offer the fully accredited program by the Actuaries Institute.
The Master of Actuarial Science (Specialisation) will prepare students for rewarding careers in a range of disciplines, including:
Master of Actuarial Science (Specialisation) students must complete the following eleven subjects:
Plus four subjects from one of the specialisations.
Plus one elective subject
Students may also choose one of the following opportunities to use one or more of your elective subjects to have an international experience or an Internship opportunity provided you meet the requirements. Please discuss with the Enrolment and Student Engagement Officer in the Student Business Centre.
If you have strong technical ability and an interest in solving business problems, becoming an actuary is one of the most rewarding career choices you can make. The MSc in Actuarial Science will propel you into the profession. It offers you a firm grounding in the fundamentals of actuarial science in insurance, finance and investment. You’ll undertake a detailed study of the mathematical and statistical techniques for measuring the probability and risk of future events and their financial impact on a business and/or their clients.
On this course, you will study statistics, probability, stochastic processes, survival models, economics, finance and investment, insurance, pensions and financial contracts valuation. This broad and varied syllabus is equivalent to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Core Technical professional examinations (Subjects CT1-CT8), and enables you to gain exemptions from them.
The course is delivered via face-to-face lectures from qualified actuaries, academics and other subject-specialists, complemented by dedicated online support, easy access to faculty members, and advice on study and exam techniques. Lecturers use their commercial experience and research expertise to deliver a challenging, relevant and intellectually stimulating course.
Assessment of modules on the MSc in Actuarial Science, in most cases, is by means of coursework and unseen examination. Coursework may consist of standard essays, individual and group presentations, group reports, classwork, unseen tests and problem sets. Please note that any group work may include an element of peer assessment.
We review all our courses regularly to keep them up-to-date on issues of both theory and practice.
To satisfy the requirements of the degree students must complete:
and either
During the induction period, which is compulsory, a variety of activities are offered to students, to support them in their learning and professional development. Cass Careers offers workshops with a focus on the key skills that employers are looking for, as well as preparing students for the application process. The annual MSc Careers Fair at this time provides the opportunity to meet more than 60 companies who are recruiting across many sectors including insurance, pensions, finance, energy, and other fields. Furthermore, innovative workshops are run on advanced study skills and obtaining practical insight to actuarial work.
Actuaries are experts in risk management. They mainly work for insurance companies, consultancy firms, banks and investment managers. They work in the areas of:
An actuarial career is a global professional passport. Our graduates from the MSc in Actuarial Science are well prepared to tackle actuarial and risk analyst, consultancy and underwriting roles in leading firms such as EY, PwC, KPMG, Willis Towers Watson, Munich Re, to name a few, that are as challenging as they are rewarding with starting salaries that far outstrip their peers in other industries.
A career as an actuary has been consistenly ranked within the top 10 best jobs for five years running (CareerCast)
The MSc in Actuarial Management serves as a continuation of the MSc in Actuarial Science allowing successful candidates to focus on the application of concepts learned, study the key areas of actuarial practice and choose from the various actuarial specialist subjects and attain further technical knowledge. Students taking that MSc get an opportunity to obtain further exemptions from the later Core Applications and Specialist Technical subjects of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
This Masters degree in actuarial science has been developed to produce actuarial science graduates who can clearly demonstrate an understanding of the mathematical models used in actuarial calculations, their computer implementations, and the financial and economic contexts of these calculations.
The programme is an innovative cross-faculty alliance between the Strathclyde Business School and the Faculty of Science.
The course has been designed so that students who have a strong aptitude for mathematics and statistics, but who have not studied these topics in detail in their first degree, can learn the necessary skills to move into the financial industry. So the first semester provides foundation classes in statistics, mathematics, finance and economics that require no previous background in these topics.
This one year programme has been developed to fully prepare students for careers within the actuarial profession and also in banking and finance including risk management, and highly quantitative and data facing roles particularly in the financial services industry. You’ll gain:
As well as actuarial roles, this Master’s degree could also open up opportunities for the following job titles:
The curriculum provides a good balance between finance, economic, and mathematical theory, computer implementations of this theory, and practical skills and knowledge all underpinning actuarial science.
Core classes are undertaken in the first semester, and address themes such as Principles of Finance, and foundation classes in Mathematics, Statistics and Economics. At the optional class stage (Semester 2), you can begin to tailor the programme to suit your own particular areas of interest and are able to choose from a wide range of classes, offered by all four contributing departments.
You may be able to undertake an industrial based MSc project. This takes place in the third semester of the course between June and September. The placement can be based in the UK or in another country and are typically paid internships.
The summer project will involve you working on a topic of relevance to the actuarial profession and this might involve you working directly with one of our industrial collaborators such as KPMG, Tesco Bank, Lloyds, Hymans Robertson, Prudential, Xafinity Consulting and Barnett Waddingham.
The Department of Mathematics & Statistics has teaching rooms which provide you with access to modern teaching equipment and access to University computing laboratories with all necessary software available.
You'll also have access to a common room facility which gives you a modern and flexible area which can be used for individual and group study work and is also a relaxing social space.
Classes are delivered by a number of teaching methods:
Teaching is student-focused, with students encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and development.
Classes are supported by web-based materials.
The form of assessment varies from class to class. For most classes the assessment involves both coursework and examinations.
A career as an actuary is named one of the safest careers there is by a CareerCast report in 2016.
The increasing accessibility of healthcare and changes to insurance regulation are driving high demand for actuaries and, once qualified, actuaries are able to work anywhere in the world.
Graduates of this course wishing to pursue a career as an actuary will typically work at an insurance company or at a consultancy.
Most graduates enter the profession by joining a company as an actuarial trainee or risk analyst at the same time as studying for professional exams.
This course is in the process of seeking accreditation from the associated professional body the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).
Most trainees begin their careers in the financial services industry, particularly in the traditional employment areas of insurance and pensions.
Actuaries typically work in these areas:
The Government Actuary's Department (GAD) is an independent actuarial consultancy working within government in the Government Actuary’s Department. Graduates wishing to pursue an actuarial career advising public sector organisations in the UK, and internationally, on insurance‐related issues, principally the regulation and supervision of insurance companies, can apply to the Trainee Actuary Programme.
A wide range of career opportunities that require high‐level quantitative skills will be open to graduates of this course, including within the wider financial services.
The Master of Actuarial Practice at Bond University is a five-semester degree that provides those with an undergraduate degree in an alternative field the opportunity to complete all actuarial Part I and Part II subjects. In addition, you will have the opportunity to undertake a specialisation. The recommended specialisation is Big Data, however students also have the option to choose any other Bond Business School specialisation. This 92-week program contains a 20-week thesis component in the final semester designed to support learning, personal development and professional practice. Bond Actuarial graduates are thus very well placed in the job market and the skills are highly transferable between countries. Any completed relatable undergraduate program will also gain you up to 40 credit points towards the Master of Accounting program.
Bond is the only university in Queensland to offer the fully accredited program by the Actuaries Institute.
Provisionally accredited by the Actuaries Institute, the Master of Actuarial Practice is an innovative and immersive program that combines advanced mathematics, statistics, data analytics, actuarial risk theory, finance, economics and accounting with large-scale, real-life commercial data analysis to develop techniques for the management of risk and business decision making. An integral part of this degree is the development of research skills and actuarial judgement through the Actuarial Control Cycle subjects and the Actuarial Research Thesis subject.
The Master of Actuarial Practice will deliver smaller classes for personalised attention and unparalleled access to Bond University's Macquarie Trading Room and Bloomberg data-sourcing terminals. The program will develop skills in the challenge of handling ‘big data’ to create practical solutions for real world problems.
The Master of of Actuarial Practice will prepare students for rewarding careers in a range of disciplines, including:
Master of Actuarial Practice students must complete the following eleven subjects:
Plus the following four professional subjects:
Plus five approved elective subjects.
or
One of the postgraduate specialisations plus one elective subject.
Students may also choose one of the following opportunities to use your elective subject to have an international experience or an Internship opportunity provided you meet the requirements. Please discuss with the Enrolment and Student Engagement Officer in the Student Business Centre.
Complete four subjects from one of the following specialisations:
Actuaries are highly skilled quantitative professionals who are primarily concerned with the identification, quantification, analysis, and management of various types of risk, particularly those with long-term financial consequences. Their expertise is essential to the proper management of life, general, and health insurance companies, pension funds, and investment firms, their skills are very highly regarded and valued throughout the financial services industry, and their opportunities to practise worldwide are strong and growing.
On satisfactory completion of the PgDip, students may elect to continue to the award of Master of Science (MSc) by undertaking an appropriate supervised programme of actuarial science research over a period of three months and submitting a corresponding Dissertation.
The University of Southampton is one of only three universities in England to offer such a professionally approved full-time postgraduate actuarial science programme, and is one of only two such within the Russell Group of elite UK universities.
This postgraduate degree programme provides quantitative graduates with an intensive and coherent programme of specialist education in actuarial science. MSc students also undertake a summer research project in actuarial science or a related discipline.
All of our actuarial science programmes provide students with a professionally recognised education. By doing sufficiently well in corresponding modules, you will kick-start your graduate career with exemption from Subjects CT1-CT8 of the Core Technical professional exams of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, which are internationally recognised. On graduation you’ll be well equipped to begin your actuarial career with advanced professional standing, or to follow many other careers that require high-level quantitative skills, including within the wider financial services industry.
This postgraduate degree programme is designed to provide quantitative graduates with the opportunity to undertake an intensive and coherent programme of specialist education in actuarial science, to gain exemptions from certain of the professional examinations of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries, the UK professional actuarial body, and to thereby enable graduates of the programme to subsequently enter employment as actuarial analysts with advanced professional standing.
View the programme specification document for this course
The Master of Financial and Actuarial Engineering programme provides students with up-to-date, sound and advanced financial, actuarial and statistical skills. It is an intensive, advanced, one-year programme for university graduates interested in a career in risk management, financial and/or actuarial engineering within financial institutions. The discipline focuses on the application of quantitative methods to problems involving risk or uncertainty. You will gain an understanding of current and future problems and solutions in insurance and banking and be equipped with fundamental and conceptual knowledge of the mathematical and economic aspects of financial theory and insurance techniques.
The programme provides advanced insights into the actuarial aspects of life insurance, general insurance and risk theory as well as financial mathematics and the inter-relationship and integration of actuarial sciences and finance. The programme draws on over sixty years of experience and international recognition. The research team for risk theory, finance and statistics has a strong research profile and is ranked among the world top in terms of actuarial research productivity. The programme is jointly offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Science at KU Leuven, in collaboration with Université Catholique de Louvain.
The main goal of the programme is to provide the students with an sound knowledge of finance and actuarial science. They develop the capabilities to understand current and future problems and solutions in the actuarial and financial context. They will be equipped with fundamental and conceptual knowledge of the mathematical and economic aspects of financial theory and insurance techniques. Graduates holding both the degree of Master of Financial and Actuarial Engineering and 'Master in de verzekeringen' (Dutch-language initial master at KU Leuven) are eligible for membership in the professional body of actuaries in Belgium (IA|BE), and the international actuarial professional body (IAA).
At the end of the programme students will:
The programme addresses the rapidly-changing needs resulting from the accelerating globalisation of the banking and insurance sector. As such, it provides a sound basis for a career in various areas of risk management, financial and actuarial engineering and insurance. Most graduates find employment in insurance companies, whose financial stability depends on actuarial calculations (e.g. premiums, provisions, capital requirements, reinsurance policy).
As an expert in the field of risk and uncertainty, you can also play an important role in banking and finance. The increasing convergence between the insurance and financial markets as well as the use of mathematically based instruments, such as options and futures, offers excellent career prospects. Graduates are well placed to find employment in banks, pension funds, reinsurance companies, consulting and audit companies.
Some graduates go to work in government, for instance in social security or economic affairs departments. Graduates holding both the degree of Master of Financial and Actuarial Engineering and 'Master in de verzekeringen' (Dutch-language initial Master's programme at KU Leuven) are eligible for membership in the professional body of actuaries in Belgium (IA|BE).
The Master in Actuarial Science at ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, was designed according to the international requirements for the actuarial profession. It is meant to cover most of the course materials indispensable for the accreditation of an actuary in the European Union.
The programme offers a solid academic foundation in actuarial science, statistics and finance, providing you the skills to become a successful actuary.
Our Masters in Actuarial Science is one of only a few to be accredited by the UK actuarial profession, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. A good performance can lead to exemptions from the professional examinations CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT6 and CT8. If you have a BSc from ISEG you may have also exemption from CT7.
Our Master is also in the SOA (Society of Actuaries, in North America) UCAP list.
During the fourth semester, you may take a training post in an insurance company.
It is accredited by the Portuguese Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education - A3ES.
ISEG Actuarial Science Club is entirely managed by our students. They arrange a series of seminars by industry professionals (most of them alumni from our Masters) and popular social events.
Credits: 120 ECTS
Language : English
Application: Online
Computational Tools for Actuaries
Financial Mathematics
Financial Markets and Investments
Probability and Stochastic Processes
Risk Models
Generalized Linear Models
Loss Reserving
Survival Models and Life Contingencies
Risk Theory
Time Series
Actuarial Topics
Asset-Liability Management
Finance and Financial Reporting
Models in Finance
Pension Funds
Ratemaking and Experience Raking
Solvency Models
Internship/Project/Dissertation
