Masters in Actuarial Science

- Portuguese representative of the CEA's Health Committee
- President of the Health Technical Committee at "Associação Portuguesa de Seguradores"
- Member of the Board of Management and Member of the Executive Committee of "Companhia de Seguros Tranquilidade"
- Member of the Board of Management of "BES Seguros"
- Member of the Board of Management of "Esumédica"
- Member of the Board of Management of Advancecare

"The master in actuarial sciences is a well achieved program comprising a modern and global vision of the most relevant issues either in the life or in the non life sectors. It counts upon a varied group of professors who have a recognised academic, professional and pedagogic merit. Within a context of global markets, increased competition and risks, this master allows one to reinforce skills on the analysis of risk and return, for product development, underwriting policies and taking management decisions in one of the most challenging and complex businesses. The fact of completing the master after some years of exposure to the analysis and management of this kind of subjects, allowed me to make even better use of the advantages of science and theory by applying them to the practical problems that I used to face in my daily activity, providing new ways of analysing, creating solutions and deciding matters. I am sure that the quality of my decisions and management would have been quite poorer should I have not reinforced my skills with this master. This course is a tool for the daily life of those who wish to have a more adequate answer to the challenges of risk management."

- Senior risk and solvency analyst at the Portuguese Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority
- Member of the Internal Models Expert Working Group of the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors ( CEIOPS)

"The insurance sector is under a deep restructuring process, due to several challenges of which I underline the future European solvency system, the so called Solvency II system. The new risk based regime will induce significant changes in the management of insurance undertakings and in the supervisory review process, emphasising the actuarial science role. Modern actuarial science goes far beyond underwriting risk and reserves calculation, providing robust and consistent theoretical background for modelling the main quantifiable risks that affect insurance activity.
ISEG was the pioneer university in teaching and researching actuarial science in Portugal, and has been able to constantly adapt itself in an effective way to the new developments. The current curriculum is well balanced, updated and innovator in the main areas of actuarial science: non life, life, pension funds and financial actuarial science. Its academic staff has members of acknowledged international scientific and professional merit, driven by high standards of didactic practices.
This MSc in Actuarial Science has been fundamental for the acknowledgement of new concepts and its application in my professional field, providing myself with a coherent and integrated view of the insurance activity."

- Chief Actuary General Insurance Zurich - Companhia de Seguros SA

"ISEG is an outstanding School of Actuarial Science, as corroborated by:
- the recognised preparedness of its professors and researchers, in order to respond to the increasing challenges faced by the financial and economic sector professionals and assuring adherence to the most recent tendencies in the actuarial world;
- the dedication of the teachers to their students, demonstrating an extraordinary ability to share knowledge and external visibility;
- the international recognition it has, as well as its close relationship with the national companies;
In this context, completing the Master Degree on Actuarial Science in ISEG was much more than a fundamental step for my professional development, also an important element of motivation and personal enrichment. "

- Technical Senior Supervisor at the Portuguese Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority -ISP

"The Master Degree (MSc) in Actuarial Science that I attended at ISEG had a decisive importance in my professional valorisation, due to the acquisition of new competences and also it gave me the possibility to study new and more sophisticated tools that are indispensable for my profession.
Nowadays, the development and investment centred in know-how is highlighted, demanding a major reinforcement of specialized knowledge, a simple skills acquisition is surely not enough to face those challenges: it is needed an actualization capacity and a proactive attitude when developing those competences, particularly the ones that integrate our areas of expertise, conditions that became more important when facing the new challenges resulting from the adoption of the new European solvency regime.
ISEG, the oldest academical school of economic and business sciences in the country, constitutes the most natural choice for this continuous improvement process, for the special adaptation of curricula of courses and also for their teachers' and researchers' technical excellence."

- Actuarial Consultant - ARIMA Actuarial Solutions

"I believe that my trip to Portugal was utterly important to improve my academic background in order to better perform my career. ISEG taught me to study more in depth a range of technical theories already known.
Moreover, the fact of being taught by worldwide well known actuary lecturers and the time spent amongst peers benefited my personal and professional life."

- Leader of The Lisbon Shared Service Center on Actuarial Valuations at Mercer

"My Master in Actuarial Science and Financial Risk Management at ISEG has contributed significantly to growth and consolidate my technical actuarial skills but also help me having a better view of the role of an Actuary in the business. In a world that is more and more global, a successfully career depends on the continuous update of our technical competences ("how to do") and interpersonal competences ("how to be"). I suggest all professionals to invest in training through masters, MBAs or other specific courses."

- Chief Actuary at SGF, Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensões

" The master's degree in Ciências Actuariais was important so that I can fulfill the functions of Pension Fund's Chief, confident in my capacity to value the inherent risks.
I highlight the excellent quality of the professors and the unique opportunity for exchanging experiences with others actuaries who, like me, wanted to deep their knowledge.
I stand out also, the efforts and partnerships developed by my dissertation supervisors who allowed the publication of my dissertation in the Astin Bulletin and its presentation at Heriot-Watt University."

- Director of the Non-Life Actuarial Department and Chief Actuary at the "Liberty Seguros"
- Former member of the Directive Board of the Portuguese Institute of Actuaries, IAP

"The Master in Actuarial Science provides a deep and strong basis for actuaries as it covers the most important issues of the actuarial needs. It constantly adapts to give response to new challenges of the real insurance world. Measuring the risk is not an easy task but ISEG has been on the top of passing that knowledge to their students.
To every actuary, I strongly advice to take advantage of the best Portuguese actuarial school.
To the managers of companies whose business has any kind of risk, I advice to accept an intern from ISEG."

- Current student

" The master in Actuarial Science has a theoretically and practical component which make it very well designed. The former prepares professionals to the challenges that appear every day in this area and the latter prepares the students to the problems they will need to solve in an insurer.
The actuarial area is in a constant development, therefore a theoretically support is important to overcome the challenges that appear every time and to find answers to the needs of the insurer market. The master is updated with the market reality and with the changes on this area over the past years.
The master has the purpose of educate students to be great professionals in an insurer and be capable to make their own decisions. Moreover, the master prepares the students for an academic life and so is a very complete master.
ISEG is a recognized university in actuarial area and teachers are professionals with recognized academic and professional background and always available to teach and help the students to enjoy the master.
The master gave me the necessary tools to do my work and prepare myself to a career in this area."

During my bachelor degree in mathematics I was especially interested in probability and statistics. I decided to do a master degree in Actuarial Science. It was a good choice to do the master at ISEG. The relatively small group together with the professors' enthusiasm, their interest and genuine concern about the student creates a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom to work in.

In the last semester of the curriculum you have the opportunity to do an internship. I went to Melbourne, Australia for half a year to work as an intern at Taylor Fry Consulting Actuaries.

As a student from the Netherlands, it was a great experience to study in another culture and to do an internship on the other side of the globe.

I ended up with friends from almost every continent of the world. Besides from that the completion of the master resulted in several job offers from banks and insurance companies. I decided to start my career at the Central Bank of the Netherlands where I work at the actuarial services and risk management department.

The Master in Actuarial Science at ISEG provided me an excellent insight about the Mathematics, Statistics and Finance applied to insurance. The professors are all excellent professionals with great teaching experience, they are always available to help in classes and they offer time to help outside classes .The Master is very well structured, it covers a vast variety of topics, both in Life and Non-life insurances, the possibility of exemption from some of the exams of the Institute and Faculty of actuaries is a great plus! Students with a good background in Mathematics and Statistics will feel much more comfortable to finish the Master.

In the final semester I did a thesis but I could have done an Internship that is also an excellent choice due to the variety of possibilities that this course offers. This Master was an excellent preparation to my professional life and allowed me to find a great job in a short period of time after finishing it.

After I finished my first degree in Mathematics Applied to Economics and Management I felt that something was missing, I needed to specialize myself. Then I discovered a field in full expansion and development, where the main topics addressed are modeling, as well as the analysis and management of risks - I found the actuarial world.
Today, I believe that the master in Actuarial Science at ISEG was, with no doubt, a wise choice, which exceeded all my expectations and requirements. This is a master extremely well structured, with a panel of teachers of excellence that gave to me all the foundations and tools for a future that has everything to be promising.

I decided to pursue my degree in Actuarial Science as part of a career pivot. I was in Sales and Marketing and wanted to move into something more challenging and lucrative. After weighing my options for schools in the USA and Europe, I chose ISEG for the affordability and location of Lisbon, small class sizes, emphasis on internships, and, most importantly, the ability to earn exemptions from actuarial exams during my studies.
I am happy to say that I found a job as a pricing Actuarial Analyst only a month after graduating. Most of the companies that I interviewed with were impressed that I could participate in a very technical conversation right out of school and surprised to find that I had earned exemptions from five IFoA exams. Having the exemptions has put me on a fast track to becoming an Associate with the SOA or CAS and a valuable Analyst on the team. Graduating with this degree was the most difficult thing I've done but has been equally rewarding.