琉球大学

保険フォーラム
基調講演
アクチュアリーの使命とその醍醐味
2014年1月24日

山内恒人
サムスン生命保険 顧問
This presentation is intended solely for educational purposes and presents information of a generalnature. It is not intended to guide or determine any specific individual situation and persons should
consult qualified professionals before taking specific actions. Neither the presenter, nor thepresenter's employer, nor the host organization of this seminar shall have any responsibility or
liability to any person or entity with respect to damages alleged to have been caused directly or
indirectly by the content of this presentation.

日本アクチュアリー会の主な年表
元号

西暦

日本アクチュアリー会

日本の状況

明治13年

1880

近代的な生命保険会社の創設（旧安田生命＝共済五百名社）、なお翌年に明治生命成立

明治22年

1889

藤澤利喜太郎『生命保険論』発行
日本帝国憲法発布

明治31年

1898

最初の保険業法制定

明治32年

1899

大正14年

1925

昭和11年

1936

昭和14年

1939

昭和16年

1941

アクチュアリー会第一回会報

昭和42年

1967

会員数が1000名を突破

昭和47年

1972

アクチュアリー講座の開講

昭和63年

1988

年金数理人制度の発足

平成7年

1995

生保標準生命表1996を作成

平成8年

1996

平成11年

1999

日本アクチュアリー会 創立100周年

平成18年

2006

標準生命表2007の制定

平成24年

2012

CERA試験開始

日本アクチュアリー会創立

大正12年関東大震災
日本アクチュアリー会正会員試験開始
保険業法改正・保険計理人制度の発足
太平洋戦争勃発

翌年 オイルショック

阪神・淡路大震災
新保険業法施行
介護保険制度発足

主な業務
保険業法の保険計理人の関与事項などにこだわることなく列記• 責任準備金に関する事象全般• ソルベンシー・マージンに関する事項• 主な財務諸表への関与• 保険料の策定・計算• 商品開発への関与• 負債全体の監視• リスク管理全般• 募集関連の規定や報酬の策定• 必要となる人材の育成• ＩＲ• その他たくさんWhat is an Actuary?
Society of Actuaries HP
An actuary is a business professional who analyzes the financial consequences of risk.
Actuaries use mathematics, statistics and financial theory to study uncertain future
events, especially those of concern to insurance and pension programs. They evaluate
the likelihood of those events, design creative ways to reduce the likelihood anddecrease the impact of adverse events that actually do occur.
Actuaries are an important part of the management team of the companies that
employ them. Their work requires a combination of strong analytical skills, businessknowledge and understanding of human behavior to design and manage programs
that control risk.
SOA members work in life insurance, retirement systems, health benefit systems,
financial and investment management and other emerging areas of practice. The
majority of actuaries work within the insurance industry, although a growing numberof actuaries work in other fields.
http://www.soa.org/about/about-what-is-an-actuary.aspx

What is an Actuary?
Society of Actuaries HP
アクチュアリーはリスクがもたらす財務的な結果（ダメージ）を分析する専門的な職業です。アクチュアリーは主に保険や年金に関する事柄など、不確かな将来事象を探求するために数学、統計そしてファイナンシャル理論を用います。アクチュアリーはリスクイヴェントが起きる可能性を計量し、その可能性を低減するク
リエーティブな方策をさぐり、それが現実に発生したときに生じる有害事象のイン
パクトを軽減する方法もデザインします。
アクチュアリーは所属する企業のマネージメントチームにおいて重要な役割を果たします。その職務においては、確実な分析能力、ビジネスについての知識、人間の行動についての理解についての統合的な考え方が要求されます。それによって、リスクをコントロールするためのプログラムを考案し運営することができます。
SOAのメンバーは生命保険、退職制度、健康保険制度、ファイナンスと投資マネジメントやその他新たな領域で仕事をしています。アクチュアリーの多くは保険業界で仕事をしていますが、その他のフィールドで仕事をするアクチュアリーも増えています。

解説1
アクチュアリーはリスクによる財務的な結果（ダメージ）を分析する専門的な職業です。

 ここに「保険」の文字が入っていないことに注意解説２
アクチュアリーは主に保険や年金に関する事柄など、不確かな将来事象を探求するために数学、統計そしてファイナンス理論を駆使します。
ここでも「保険」や「年金」は例としてあげられているだけです。｢不確かな将来事象」の一つの類例としての「保険」や「年金」ですその際、数学・統計・ファイナンス理論を用いますので、それらを知っておく必要があります解説３
SOAのメンバーは生命保険、退職制度、健康保険制度、ファイナンスと投資マネジメントやその他出現したエリアで仕事をしています。アクチュアリーの多くは保険業界で仕事をしていますが、その他のフィールドで仕事をするアクチュアリーも増えています。

ＳＯＡはアメリカのアクチュアリー会(Society ofActuary)を指します。
ここでも保険業界から出て多くのフィールドを目指していることがわかります本日は次の箇所を中心に考えてみます【第１段落に戻り】アクチュアリーはリスクイヴェ
ントが起きる可能性を計量し、その可能性を低減するクリエーティブな方策をさぐり、それが現
実に発生したときに生じる有害事象のインパク
トを軽減する方法もデザインします。

リスク発生の計量とクリエーティブな逓減方策
有害事象のインパクトを軽減する方法

保険数理とファイナンスのミニレクチャー

保険料の計算保険会社の主なキャッシュフローは保険料  収入
保険金  支出
純保険料
保険会社の副次的なキャッシュフローは利息  収入（支出）
事業費  支出営業保険料

営業保険料計算の仮定• 予定の集合体• 予定死亡率• 予定利率• 予定事業費率

一度決めたらまず変えられない長期の固定割引金利
アクチュアリーはコンサルタントとして占い師を雇っている？？？？

アクチュアリーには保守的な視点が求められる予定

度胸と横並びで保険料を決めた時
代は過去の話
5年

10年

100年

ミニファイナンス講座1

＄1

100円

利息

円ドルレートと外債＄1.2

ドル安・円高80円

資産は目減り
100円

96円

13

ミニファイナンス講座2金利と債券価格

１年後100円が償還される次の二つの債券の金利を計算せよ（割引債）
債券Ａの現在価格は90円
債券Ｂの現在価格は80円
それぞれ金利を計算すると債券Ａの金利は11.11％
債券Ｂの金利は25.00％

100÷90ー1
100÷80ー1

貴君は2年後に100を支払う養老保険を販売しようとしている。現在の金利が25％だったのでこれが2年続くと想定して64の価格で販売しようと考えた（死亡は無視する） （ここで、64＝100×（1/1.25）2 ）貴君の国では1年物の債券しか存在しなかったとする
1年後64×1.25＝80となっている。
さて意に反して、翌年金利は１１．１１％まで下がったとすると、貴君は困ったことになる⇒
なぜか
90を用意しないと100にならないのに、手持ちが80しかないからである

次はどうなりますか？？？

10 years JGB Earning rate past 40 years

A

B

C

Which direction is most likely?

16

10 years JGB Earning rate past 40 years

A

B

C

Which direction is most likely?

17

10 years JGB Earning rate past 40 years

18

過去40年間の国債の応募者利回り［月別データ］
1980年4月
8.888%
1990年10月
7.786%

現保険業法施行1996年

1987年6月
3.969%

2003年6月
0.548%
2012年7月
0.836%

破綻が集中

19

金利の高い時にはいい歌が生まれる
1980年4月
8.888%
1980年：
もんた&ブラザーズ 『ダンシング・オールナイト』
クリスタルキング 『大都会』『蜃気楼』
久保田早紀 『異邦人』
海援隊 『贈る言葉』
甲斐バンド 『ビューティフル・エネルギー』『漂泊者（アウトロー）』
長渕剛 『順子』
ロス・インディオス&シルビア 『別れても好きな人』
オフコース 『さよなら』『Yes-No』
シャネルズ 『ランナウェイ』『トゥナイト』
田原俊彦 『哀愁でいと』『ハッとして!Good』
松田聖子 『裸足の季節』『青い珊瑚礁』『風は秋色/Eighteen』
谷村新司 『昴』
竹内まりや 『不思議なピーチパイ』
ジューシー・フルーツ 『ジェニーはご機嫌ななめ』
アリス 『秋止符』『それぞれの秋』『狂った果実』
五十嵐浩晃 『ペガサスの朝』
五輪真弓 『恋人よ』
八神純子 『パープルタウン 〜You Oughta Know By
Now〜』『Mr.ブルー 〜私の地球〜』
さだまさし 『道化師のソネット』『防人の詩』
山口百恵 『さよならの向う側』『ロックンロール・ウィ
ドウ』『謝肉祭』『一恵』
沢田研二 『TOKIO』
高田みづえ 『私はピアノ』
引退：山口百恵・長嶋茂雄

20

1990年10月
7.786%

1987年6月
3.969%
1987年： オリコン
1位 瀬川瑛子：『命くれない』
2位 中森明菜：『TANGO NOIR』
3位 吉幾三：『雪國』
4位 光GENJI：『STAR LIGHT』
5位 松田聖子：『Strawberry Time』
6位 中森明菜：『難破船』
7位 中森明菜：『BLONDE』
8位 尾形大作：『無錫旅情』
9位 五木ひろし：『追憶』10位 少年隊：『君だけに』不毛な年だった
１０月ブラックマンデー

1990年： オリコン
1位 B.B.クイーンズ：『おどるポンポコリン』
2位 米米CLUB：『浪漫飛行／ジェットストリーム浪漫飛行』
3位 LINDBERG：『今すぐKiss Me』
4位 たま：『さよなら人類／らんちう』
5位 プリンセス・プリンセス：『OH YEAH!』
6位 中森明菜：『Dear Friend』
7位 THE BLUE HEARTS：『情熱の薔薇』
8位 工藤静香：『くちびるから媚薬』
9位 サザンオールスターズ：『真夏の果実』
10位 ダイアナ・ロス：『イフ・ウィー・ホールド・オン・トゥゲ
ザー』
11位 氷室京介：『JEALOUSYを眠らせて』
12位 PINK SAPPHIRE：『P.S. I LOVE YOU』
13位 山下達郎：『クリスマス・イブ』
14位 DREAMS COME TRUE：『笑顔の行方』
15位 オヨネーズ：『麦畑』

現保険業法施行1996年

2003年6月
0.548%

2003年：
・りそな銀行発足
・三井住友銀行とわかしお銀行が合併、改めて三井住友銀行発足。
・イラク侵攻作戦開始（イラク戦争開戦）。
・中国で新型肺炎SARSが大流行、死者700人超。
・郵政事業庁が日本郵政公社に。
・六本木ヒルズがグランドオープン。
2012年7月
・小惑星探査機「はやぶさ」打ち上げ0.836%
・りそなホールディングス1兆9600億円の公的資金注入・7月26日「宮城県北部地震」宮城県北部
で震度6クラスの地震が3回発生
・9月26日 - 北海道釧路沖で地震が発生（2003年十勝沖地震）
・鳥インフルエンザ感染発生

Year end values of stock (Nikkei Average) 1950～
A

B

C
Which direction is most
likely?

21

Year end values of stock (Nikkei Average) 1950～22

日経平均の年末値（各年の12月末の取引最終日）1950～1989年12月
38915.87円

現保険業法施行1996年

破綻が集中

23

円ドルレート
現保険業法施行1996年

1985年9月
プラザ合意

破綻が集中

24

Assumed Interest Rate for Premium and Valuation
6.25％

3.75％
2.75％

Many Failed Companies

5.00％

1.50％

25

皆さんは ご自身についてどこまで推測できますか










3分後生きている
30分後生きている
3時間後に生きている
3日後生きている
3週間後生きている
3か月後生きている
3年後生きている
30年後生きている

平均余命を鑑賞する〔完全生命表〕

生命保険の破たん事例

生命保険会社の破たん事例
予定利率

破綻時

処理完了

債務超過額

破綻前
（平均）

破綻後
（上限）

日産生命

97年04月

97年10月3,029億

不明

2.75％

東邦生命

99年06月00年03月6,500億

4.79％

1.50％

第百生命

00年05月01年04月

3,177億

4.46％

1.00％

大正生命

00年08月01年03月

365億

4.05％

1.00％

千代田生命

00年10月01年04月5,950億

3.70％

1.50％

協栄生命

00年10月01年04月6,895億

4.00％

1.75％

東京生命

01年03月01年10月

731億

4.20％

2.60％

植村信保著「経営なき破綻」平成生保危機の真実（日本経済新聞社・2008年）3頁
以下、同著を頻繁に引用します。その際、[植村]で略記します。

一時払い養老保険

一
時
払
保
険
料

契約開始

死
亡
保
険
金

途中の保険料の払込は必要なく、死亡時には死亡保険金、満期時に生存している場合には死亡保険金と同額の満期保険金が支払われる極めて単
純な保険

満
期
保
険
金

保険期間満了年金保険ローン

金融機関
募集代理店
消費者

保険会社
前納に対する8％程度の利回り負担 ＋ 配当負担

日産生命の例
止められなくなった何か日産生命の事例
年金保険ローン：1987～88年頃

金融機関
募集代理店
消費者

保険会社
前納に対する8％程度の利回り負担 ＋ 配当負担

日産生命の事例
総資産の推移
日産生命

生保全体

年度

資産（億円）

前年比

年度

資産（億円）

前年比

1985

3,680

19.1%

1985

538,706

17.8%

86

4,441

20.7%

86

653,172

21.2%

87

6,964

56.8%

87

792,684

21.4%

88

13,23090.0%

88970,82822.5%

89

16,27023.0%

891,173,439

20.9%

90

18,55514.0%

901,316,188

12.2%

91

19,4434.8%

91

1,432,341

8.8%

92

20,2854.3%

921,560,111

8.9%

93

21,0293.7%

931,691,221

8.4%

94

21,461

2.1%

94

1,779,655

5.2%[植村]91頁から引用

過去40年間の国債の応募者利回り［月別データ］
1980年4月
8.888%
1990年10月
7.786%

1987年6月
3.969%

総資産が約2倍になった

現保険業法施行1996年

2003年6月
0.548%
2012年7月
0.836%

35

日経平均の年末値（各年の12月末の取引最終日）1950～1989年12月
38915.87円

現保険業法施行1996年

総資産が約2
倍になった
破綻が集中

36

円ドルレート
現保険業法施行1996年

1985年9月
プラザ合意

業務停止命令総資産が約2倍になった
外債投資も急
拡大
破綻が集中

37

日産生命の事例
日産生命の資産構成
1986年度末

1989年度末

資産額（億円）構成比（％）

資産額（億円）構成比（％）

4,441

100.0

16,270

100.0

現預金

348

7.8

1,227

7.5

金銭信託

138

3.1

1,111

6.8

公社債

578

13.0

1,761

10.8

株式

775

17.5

3,501

21.5

外国証券

581

13.1

3,408

20.9

その他証券

37

0.8

71

0.4

貸付金

1,646

37.1

4,226

26.0

不動産および動産

223

5.0

587

3.6

総資産

[植村]94頁から引用

国債の応募者利回りと日産生命社長の就任
Ｙ氏社長就任

提携ローン個人年金開始
社長にＳ氏就任
実質的に債務超過状態
社長にＹ氏（アクチュアリー）業務停止命令総資産が約2倍になった39

日産生命の事例

当時の本社スタッフのオーラルヒストリー
 87年には、すでに８％の利回り負担を財務部門と数理部門が問題視していた。だた、営業部門を抑えられなかった。
 その後も資産急拡大について社内で何回も議論し、総資産が1兆円を超えたころ（88年）には保険計理人が経営陣に対し、非公式に警告を出している。しかしこれらは経営に全く生かされなかった。
 社長には『○○だから大丈夫』という情報ばかりあがっていた

90年代に入り経営が厳しくなってからも 社長自らがリーダーシップを持って再建に取り組むことはなかった。
『何とかしろ』と言うだけで主体的に動くことはなかった
 大蔵省から指摘を受け、それを社長に伝えても、『できるわけないだ
ろう』と言うだけで、問題を会社全体のものとしてではなく、自分に降りかかってくる災難としてとらえた[植村]92頁ならびに97頁から引用

第百生命の例
失速して頓死高く上がったフライを見つめるばかりで誰も取らなかった第百生命の事例＝

失速的な頓死背景
 第百生命は川崎系の会社で、川崎家出身の社長が続いていた。
 川崎大治郎氏（社長：65～73年）は中興の祖
 社長退任後87年まで取締役を続けたので社内の影響力は大きかった アクチュアリーは重く扱われた
 全体的に穏やかな社内の雰囲気が醸成されていた

当時の本社スタッフのオーラルヒストリー
 社内には息子の真次郎氏がいて、入社当初から社長候補と見られていた。経営陣は常に大二郎氏を意識しながら判断せざるを得ず、『貯蓄保険をやめる』『銀行株を売却する』といった思い切った判断はできなかった
 議論をすると、対応策として常に『保障性商品の拡販』『コストの削減』『株式売却』といういつものお題目が出てきたが、実行可能かどうかの議論はなく、着手するとすぐに実態と乖離してしまう
 一時払い商品に注力したというよりは、むしろ売れてしまったというのが正しいかもしれない[植村]130頁近辺からの引用

第百生命の事例＝

失速的な頓死専門家に対するスタッフのオーラルヒストリー
 第百（第百生命）のアクチュアリーは、経営にかかわるという意味ではよくやっていたと思う。ただ、経営内容が経営陣の間で共有化されていなかった。出てきた数字だけでは中身はわからない。経営からしばしば『計理はわからない、難しい』といわれることがあった。その結果、走り出したのが遅かった。行政に頼りすぎ、経営に自主性がな
かったとも言える 途中で自ら妥協案を出してしまうなど、主張を徹底できず、最後は大勢に流されてしまった
また、数理部門と財務との間では；
 数理部門は株式の売却を主張し、財務は売れるものを売却した。財務部門が何かを隠していたうぇあけではないが、相互に不干渉な体制だったため、銀行株への集中という意図せざる結果になってしまった[植村]132頁近辺からの引用

千代田生命の例
貯蓄性商品⇒ハイリスク運用
運用部門の象牙の塔化
不良債権
信用不安による資産流出

千代田生命の事例
総資産の推移
千代田生命

生保全体

年度

資産（億円）

前年比

年度

資産（億円）

前年比90

51,54414.1

901,316,188

12.2%

91

56,2149.1

91

1,432,341

8.8%

92

59,8296.4

921,560,111

8.9%

93

63,1665.6

93

1,691,221

8.4%

94

63,963

1.3

94

1,779,655

5.2%

95

64,4250.7

951,874,925

5.4

96

58,163-9.7

961,886,590

0.6

9750,282-13.5

971,901,110

0.8

98

43,599-13.3

981,917,684

0.9

9935,019-19.7

991,900,329-0.9[植村]148頁から引用

千代田生命の事例
背景
 失地回復が会社の陰の行動原理
 八〇年代後半に高利率、高配当の貯蓄性商品を大量に販売するなかで、リス
クの高い、問題の多い運用手段を選択した
 投資部門のフロントとエンドの担当者が同じ人になった
 総資産6兆円のうち負債サイドには4兆円は団体年金と一時払い養老保険、一方資産サイドは流動性の低い貸付金や不動産が三兆円もあり、しかも穴があいていた。株式にはまだ2000億円以上の含み益があった また、営業に資する資産運用が優先され「営財一体活動」とも言われた

当時の本社スタッフのオーラルヒストリー
一時払い養老保険については、6年のものが節税商品として脚光を浴びた マスコミが勝手に宣伝してくれた
 顧客が保険を買うために窓口に並ぶのを見たのは、この時が最初で最後だった 神崎氏が社長になってから契約高や総資産、保険料といった主要指標で挽回
し、外部から『大手八社』と言われるようになった」
 大手復帰がバブル経済初期に重なってしまったことが、結果的に大きな意味を持っていたいように思う」[植村]139頁近辺からの引用

千代田生命の事例

アクチュアリーついて
神崎社長時代には内部の経営チェック機能はほとんど機能していなかった。アクチュアリーも同様であった
アクチュアリーについても数理部門が独立しておらず、企画部門内にあった
 経営陣からは『単なる計算屋』と言われていた。保険計理人は『保険業法にあるから仕方なく置いている』『当局が見るからそれで十分』といった感じだった
 便利だが頼りにならない存在と言われていた[植村]第2章五からの引用

国債の応募者利回りと千代田生命
Ｋ社長が就任：失地回復へ厳しい営業が開始される
ホテルニュージャパン問題が表面化（92）
不良債権2316億円を公表（93）：数字が突出していただけ
でなく、会社が公表した数値よりもマスコミが入手していた資料の方が近い値だった
Ｓ＆ＰがシングルＢと格付け
翌年日産生命が破綻し「次に危ない会社」
Ｙ氏社長就任
会社更生手続き開始の申し立て

内
部
資
料
流
出

48

協栄生命の例
偉大すぎるファウンダーの影
二重・三重の財務諸表

協栄生命の事例
総資産の推移
協栄生命

生保全体

年度

資産（億円）

前年比

年度

資産（億円）

前年比1985

12,124

20.5

1985

538,706

17.8%

86

16,03724.0

86653,17221.2%

87

18,99626.3

87792,684

21.4%

88

24,60129.5

88970,82822.5%

8930,00922.0

891,173,439

20.9%

90

35,34316.7

901,316,188

12.2%

91

39,34312.3

91

1,432,341

8.8%

92

44,80413.9

921,560,111

8.9%

93

50,64113.0

931,691,221

8.4%

94

54,3577.3

94

1,779,655

5.2%[植村]161頁から引用

協栄生命の事例
元来協栄生命は保障性商品を中心にして販売をしていた
 養老保険主流の保険業界で自衛隊・教員などを中心として集団定期保険を主軸として販路を広げ、マーケットと一体となった商品開発を行った 予定利率も3.75％と当時の他社よりも低い保守的なものだった

川井三郎氏は流行となっていた一時払い養老には消極的だった
 しかし、営業を中心として、一時払い養老への要望が高まった。
 1987年（昭和63年）方針を転換、一時払い養老を販売し、予定利率も5.5％に上昇させた
 一時払い養老を一般消費者ではなく提携顧客に販売していたことから販売停止が他社よりも遅くなった。特に、教職員に対する退職金の受け皿としての役目を負っていた[植村]159頁近辺より引用

協栄生命の事例
数理部門のオーラルヒストリー
 川井氏の指示で90年前後から数理部門では将来収支分析を行い『惨憺たる結果』が明らかになっていた。しかし、『十年あれば外部環境も変わるだろう』という判断から、売り止めなど抜本的な対応をなか
なか取らなかった。川井氏自身もこの件については嫌な顔をするだけだった。十年満期（協栄生命では一時払い養老は十年満期だけだった）と長いので、その間には持ち直すはずという意識があった 92年ごろになると、さすがに営業からも『このまま売っていていいのか』という声が出るようになった。だが、営業担当役員が反対し、ブレーキがかけられなかった。（しかし、会社の秘密主義からこの担
当役員も正確な情報を得ていなかったとみられる）
最終的に一時払い養老保険を販売停止にできたのは、経常赤字決算となった94年であり手遅れだった側近たちは川井氏の片言をご宣託として聞いた[植村]162頁近辺より引用

長期の世相と運用を見る目とは

例として再度 円ドルレート
現保険業法施行1996年

1985年9月
プラザ合意

破綻が集中

54

対外投資について前提となる年表
生命保険会社の配当原則はインカム配当原則といい、利回りの確保が急務であった。
 昭和52年（1977）
 昭和55年（1980）
 昭和56年（1981）
 昭和60年（1985）

日米の金利差が逆転
外為法が改正となり対外取引が原則自由
米国の流通利回りは13％となった
プラザ合意 その後急激なドル安円高となる

 全生保において昭和50年に34億円に過ぎなかった外国債券は昭和63年には11兆円となった
 昭和60年（1985） 大量の為替差損が顕在化 9400億円
 昭和61年（1986） 為替差損 1兆円
 昭和62年（1987） 為替差損 1兆5000億円
 昭和63年（1988） 為替差損 5000億円
 為替ヘッジによるヘッジ損も顕在化する

対外投資について
昭和年間の生命保険会社の資産運用中外国債券等への投資割合推移(%)

対外投資について生命保険の対外投融資の推移（外国債券のみ）

億円

日経平均の年末値（各年の12月末の取引最終日）1950～1989年12月
38915.87円

現保険業法施行1996年

破綻が集中

58

さて、皆さんはいかがですか？？
為替差損
 昭和60年（1985） 大量の為替差損が顕在化 9400億円
 昭和61年（1986） 為替差損 1兆円
 昭和62年（1987） 為替差損 1兆5000億円
 昭和63年（1988） 為替差損 5000億円
 為替ヘッジによるヘッジ損も顕在化する
この当時次のように言われていた 利回り確保が前提である ⇒ インカム配当原則
 為替差損は株式の含み益の実現で補えばよい
 その証拠に1989年末には日経平均は最高値となる（前ページ参照）
 本来利子で埋めるべき損失を株式売却益で埋めるので多くの利息収入が生まれる
 外債投資は国も後押しをするように解禁している
 外債投資については運用枠も広がり、業界の自主規制だって撤廃されている
 国債の金利低下局面で配当率を確保するには外債投資が合理的
 事情はどこも同じで他の生保会社だって積極的に採用している
 現状に問題があるはずもなく、もしも、金利状況が現状悪くとも10年経てば、すべて持ち直す

本日は次の箇所を中心に考えてみます【第１段落に戻り】アクチュアリーはリスクイヴェ
ントが起きる可能性を計量し、その可能性を低減するクリエーティブな方策をさぐり、それが現
実に発生したときに生じる有害事象のインパク
トを軽減する方法もデザインします。

リスク発生の計量とクリエーティブな逓減方策
有害事象のインパクトを軽減する方法

さて、皆さんはいかがですか？？

皆さんは1980年代の後半に社会人として生命保険会社に身を置いていたとします。皆さんは会社の社長から、このような外債の投資政策を意気揚揚と聞かされ、最後は「わが社は大丈夫」と満面の笑みの中で聞かされたとします。
さて、この状況の中で、自分の首をかけて、『社長このような投資政策は間違っている。
ＮＯ！』と言えるでしょうか・・・？？

いろいろなことが考えられます
下記はあくまで個人的な意見です









修正をしながら決断をする
長期の将来を概望できる人はわずか誰にでもできることを考える
方法化することは必要最低限にとどめる
良い話に乗らない
偶然は必ず発生する
理性では判断できないことも多い。とくに「決断」は常にミステリーご清聴ありがとうございました

Appendix
1. 数学と統計学が重要
2. アクチュアリーの日常は淡々としたものである
3. PC skill, 特に Microsoft Excel, Excel VBA, Word,
Access and PPT は重要.
4. Programing languages もやはり何か一つは知っていた方がよい.
5. 忍耐強く精勤することが成功の鍵

References

Fred E. Szabo
Actuaries’ Survival Guide
How to succeed in one of the most desirable
professions
2004 ELSEVIER Academic Press

THE ROLE OF THE ACTUARY 2013 June
By International Actuarial Society
2013 June
http://www.actuaries.org/LIBRARY/Papers/Role_Actuary_EN.pdf

About SOA

What is an Actuary?
An actuary is a business professional who analyzes the financial consequences of risk.
Actuaries use mathematics, statistics and financial theory to study uncertain future
events, especially those of concern to insurance and pension programs. They evaluate
the likelihood of those events, design creative ways to reduce the likelihood anddecrease the impact of adverse events that actually do occur.
Actuaries are an important part of the management team of the companies that
employ them. Their work requires a combination of strong analytical skills, businessknowledge and understanding of human behavior to design and manage programs
that control risk.
SOA members work in life insurance, retirement systems, health benefit systems,
financial and investment management and other emerging areas of practice. The
majority of actuaries work within the insurance industry, although a growing numberof actuaries work in other fields.
http://www.soa.org/about/about-what-is-an-actuary.aspx

About SOA

The Professional Life
Wherever there is risk, there are opportunities for
actuaries. And the recent financial crisis has further
highlighted the skills actuaries bring to the table.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rQop4TLj4WIWhat is an Actuary
Professional Options• The word actuary comes from the Latin word actuarius, whichreferred to shorthand writers in the days when things liketypewriters and computers hadn't even been thought of.
• Today, actuaries work for insurance companies, consulting firms,
government departments, financial institutions, and other agencies.
• They provide crucial predictive data upon which major businessdecisions are based. True to their historical roots, actuaries still
use a rather extensive shorthand for many of the special
mathematical functions required for this work.
• Actuarial science is an exciting, always-changing profession, basedon fields such as mathematics, probability and statistics, economics,
finance, law, and business. Most actuaries require knowledge andunderstanding of all of these fields and more.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p1

What is an Actuary
Professional Options• To ensure that this is really the case, all actuaries must pass special
examinations before being recognized as members of the profession. To
perform their duties effectively, actuaries must also keep abreast of
economic and social trends, as well as being up-to-date on legislation
governing areas such as finance, business, healthcare, and insurance.
• No doubt you have heard about the actuarial examinations you need topass to become an Associate or Fellow of one of the actuarial societies.
• The efforts required to succeed in these examinations are in many ways
analogous to those required to become a doctor, lawyer, or other highranking professional.
• So are the rewards. For several years now, the Jobs Rated Almanac has
considered an actuarial career to be one of the most desirable professions
in America.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p1

Job rates almanac
The Best Jobs of 2013 - Actuary #1• The job “actuary” has been rated as 2013’s best job in the United States by
Careercast.com. Careercast.com ranked actuary as No. 1, biomedical engineer
at No. 2, and software engineer, the top job of 2012, at No.3.
• Careercast.com ranks careers based on dozens of factors, such as the degree of hazards personally faced, physical demands (crawling, stooping bending, etc.),
 income growth potential,
 employment outlook, competitiveness, travel and contact with the public.
The firm used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other government
agencies to determine the rankings. As in prior years, the 200 jobs were selected
for their relevance in the current labor market as well as the availability of reliable
data.
Careercast.com- See more at: http://www.beanactuary.org/news/?fa=view&id=2218#sthash.LQAL7ab1.dpuf

Job rates almanac
The Best Jobs of 2013 - Actuary #1
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The Ten Best Jobs:
Actuary
Biomedical Engineer
Software Engineer
Audiologist
Financial Planner
Dental Hygienist
Occupational Therapist
Optometrist
Physical Therapist
Computer Systems Analyst

Careercast.com- See more at: http://www.beanactuary.org/news/?fa=view&id=2218#sthash.LQAL7ab1.dpuf

What is an Actuary
Professional Options• Actuaries are experts in the assessment and management of risk.
Traditionally, the risks managed by them have been insurance andpension funding risks, although the management of business risks
is also among the responsibilities of insurance actuaries.
• So is the insurance of insurance, known as reinsurance. Moreover,many actuaries are now also managing asset-related risks inmerchant banks and consulting firms.
• Actuaries are often chosen to be general managers in insurancecompanies. This is because upper management and boards of
directors have a high regard for the knowledge and skills of
actuaries, and because the need of a company to maintain its
financial integrity makes an actuary's numerical skills invaluable.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p2

What is an Actuary
Actuarial Terms, Acronyms, and Definitions• You will quickly discover that actuarial science is full oftechnical terms, acronyms (abbreviations), and definitions.
• This session is not the place for explaining them in detail,because the definitions involved are readily available intextbooks and on the Internet.
• The main objective of this session is to introduce you to thecareer opportunities that exist in the actuarial world and to
sketch for you the steps required to enter that world.
• Actuaries can be grouped in different ways. As theirfunctions change in response to changes in the world
around us, the distinctions become less sharp. However,the categories of employment will give you an initial idea.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p2

What is an Actuary
Valuation Actuaries• Reserves are important to the long-term financial healthof a company.
• Because insurance companies are dealing with events thatare uncertain in time and amount, they must put aside
what they consider to be the most likely amount of money
they will need to pay future claims and expenses, and thenput aside a little more, just in case.
• The role of valuation actuaries is to determine theappropriate amount to be put aside and validate theexpected number of claims, which should be what was
taken into account when setting the price of the insurance.
• Valuation actuaries also certify the reserves to government
agencies.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p2 - 3

What is an Actuary
Pricing Actuaries• Pricing actuaries are responsible for determining how much money
a company is likely to make on a product.
• A product can be life insurance, which pays an agreed-upon sum toyour beneficiary when you die, an annuity, which pays an agreedupon sum every month as long as you live, or some form of healthinsurance, which covers the costs of medical care not paid for by agovernment plan, for example, dental and drug expenses.
• Pricing actuaries use the same assumptions as valuation actuaries
when calculating the price of insurance to guarantee consistency
and ensure that when valuation actuaries believe that they areadding a little extra to the reserves, they are really doing so.
• Pricing actuaries generally do not certify anything to anyone
outside of the company.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p3

What is an Actuary
Consulting Actuaries• Consulting actuaries spend a good deal of their time advising on defined
benefit pension plans.
• These are trusts set up to fund tax-assisted retirement benefits at a rate
spelled out in a legally certified document.
• In the United States, senior consulting actuaries are usually members of theConference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA). To become a Member of the CCA,
candidates must have completed a minimum of 12 years of responsible
actuarial work, defined as "work that requires knowledge and skill in solving
actuarial problems."• They must also be a Fellow or Associate of the Society of Actuaries or the
Casualty Actuarial Society; or a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries,
the Faculty of Actuaries, or the Institute of Actuaries; or be enrolled with the
Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries (EA), thus having acquired the titleof Enrolled Actuary; or be a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries,
the Asociacion Mexicana de Actuarios Consultores, the Asociacion Mexicanade Actuarios or the Colegio Nacional de Actuarios.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p3 - 4

What is an Actuary

Pension Actuaries
•

•

•
•
•

Pension actuaries look at all members of a pension plan, their ages and salaries, and projects how mucheach would receive at retirement on average, given that some will terminate before retirement, somewill get salary increases, and other such assumptions as to what might happen in the future. Then theylook at the assets the pension plan has invested and determine, based on these two analyses, how muchthe plan's sponsor (usually an employer) needs to contribute to the plan each year. The pension actuary
certifies that the contributions needed to fund the plan are adequate and qualify for a tax deduction forthe sponsor.
Pension laws and pension regulations are country-specific. This is the one area in which the global
mobility of actuaries is somewhat restricted. Special examinations must be passed in the country of
employment to be a pension actuary. In the United States, pension actuaries must be Enrolled Actuaries
to be eligible to perform government-related pension fund audits. Enrolled actuaries are also employedin the human resource departments of large companies.
Senior pension actuaries in the United States are usually also Fellows of the American Society of Pension
Actuaries (ASPA), a designation that is awarded only after successful completion of a series ofprofessional examinations.
The basic examinations are those required to become an Enrolled Actuary, together with three additional
ASPA examinations.
A Fellow of the Society of Pension Actuaries must also be a Fellow or Associate of one of the following
societies: the Society of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, theFaculty of Actuaries, and the Institute of Actuaries, or be a Member of the American Academy ofActuaries, the Asociacion Mexicana de Actuarios Consultores, the Asociacion Mexicana de Actuarios, or
the Colegio Nacional de Actuarios. Although you will see later in this chapter that the actuarial
profession is globally mobile, pension actuaries in many countries must meet certain specific national
certification standards.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p4

What is an Actuary
Financial Actuaries
•
•
•

•
•

As the worlds of banking, insurance, and finance become more entwined, a new
breed of actuary is emerging, known as a financial actuary.
An advertisement for a senior financial actuary on the Internet describes one of
the novel roles of actuaries in business.
A company was looking for a senior financial actuary whose responsibilities
included developing, analyzing, and testing models of Internet credit card
processing systems including product pricing, positioning, and consumer credit, inorder to minimize risk and improve return on investment.
You will communicate assumptions, results, and alternatives to staff and provide
guidance in systems reengineering.
A suitable candidate was expected to have at least a Bachelor's degree in actuarial
science, finance, mathematics, or a related field and be an Associate Actuary. In
addition to appropriate experience, the candidate was expected to be an effective
communicator, and creative thinking skills were essential. The company waslooking for a self-starter with a strong statistical background and proven expertisein modeling techniques. Moreover, knowledge of the financial and management
needs of an Internet real-time credit card processing company was expected.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p5

What is an Actuary
What Does It Take to Become an Actuary?
•
•
•

•
•

Skills needed include mathematical ability, knowledge of and comfort withcomputers and computer modeling systems, and the ability to communicatecomplex topics in terms that customers can understand.
Most actuarial positions require that you are at least an Associate of the Society ofActuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, or
have equivalent standing in an actuarial society of another country.
If you are in a position that requires you to certify actuarial valuations and reports,
you must usually be a Fellow of these societies.
Many actuaries in the United States are also members of the American Academyof Actuaries (see Appendix D), the public policy, communications, andprofessionalism organization for all actuaries in the United States.
Actuaries in different countries belong to wide variety of national andinternational professional organizations that define and direct the future of theprofession. At the international level, the International Association of Actuaries
plays a central role in coordinating and advancing global actuarial interests.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p5

Benefit and Rewards

Benefit and Rewards

The author of the quoted book has interviewed hundreds of students who have chosen to be actuaries. They all have
one thing in common - they all love mathematics. Here is what some of them, and some of their employers, havegiven as reasons for their career choice.

Q Did you ever consider working in a non-actuarial field of applied mathematics (such as engineering) and if so,

what tipped the scales in favor of an actuarial career?
Twenty-five percent of all respondents to the survey said "No." There was no doubt in their minds that all they everwanted to be was an actuary. The rest had considered other careers. Here is what some of them had to say.
• Answer I am currently working in a non-actuarial field where strong mathematical and financial skills are highly
valuable. Elements that persuaded me to leave the actuarial field were salary and opportunity at the top
management level.
• Answer Yes. Communications and media. But I found that an actuarial career provides a more secure job, a great
work environment, a good reputation, excellent job opportunities, and diversification of tasks, especially at theentry level.
• Answer I considered studying engineering. I decided to follow an actuarial career instead because I didn't likesome subjects in engineering (chemistry) and because the business part of an actuary's job interested me.
• Answer I considered studying engineering. But I like the fact that being an actuary means that you need to acquire
knowledge not only in applied mathematics (the primary reason why we're all in this field), but also finance,
economics, taxes, politics, and all those things make an actuarial career so interesting.
• Answer I did consider many other fields, including engineering and medicine.
• Answer I initially was seriously considering going into pure and applied mathematics and even engineering, until I
stumbled upon actuarial science. It was the combination of the high-level applied mathematics and business skills
required in this field that finally tipped the scales in favor of an actuarial career. The fact that actuarial science led
to a much more rounded career appealed to me immensely and really made all the difference.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p6

Benefit and Rewards

Benefit and Rewards (continue)• Answer Not really-I've been gunning for this since Grade 10. The workload of an engineering student
at university steered me away from that, and I didn't want to be a computer programmer for myentire life.
• Answer Yes. Statistics. But I felt a training in actuarial mathematics was broader and that it would
be easier to switch from actuarial mathematics to statistics than the other way around.
• Answer Yes. I applied to engineering. I then chose to become an actuary because it is more of a bigpicture profession than engineering. To be an actuary you need to have a long-term vision. You needto understand trends in the economy and be able to predict where the economy will be moving in
the future. The concepts and theories you learn in statistics train you to think critically, to analyze,
and to recognize patterns and trends. Engineering is a more technical field and is not as conceptualas actuarial mathematics and statistics. I'm a big-picture man, and I believe that in the actuarial
profession you get to see a lot more of the picture sooner. I assume that this training can also be
applied to other fields in the future. It is a way of thinking and goes beyond technical knowledge.
• Answer I haven't so far, but I'd like to keep my options open. The biggest stumbling block would beto realize how much effort I've put into the SOA exams to become qualified as an actuary and thenask myself, "Do I re ally want to ditch everything I've done for my career, put more time into studying
something else, and take a 30% drop in salary?"• Answer I thought of being a teacher, but decided I didn't have the patience for that and I was drawn
to a rotational-program setting at an insurance company so that I could have the exam support andvariety of rotations. I would consider being an adjunct college professor or teaching an exam review
class.
• Answer Yes. But I decided to go in actuarial science because it was something less well-known to me
and I found that to be a real challenge.
• Answer I did consider it, but the job market favored actuaries at the time.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p6 - 7

A Typical Day
A Typical Day
Let us take a look at a day in the life of an actuary. What are the typical tasks, and how does the day evolve? Obviously
the answers depend on the nature of the company and the seniority of the actuary.
Here is what several actuaries and actuarial students had to say about this in the survey:

Q Describe a typical day In the life of an actuary.
• Answer Corporate stuff. Reserve valuations. Asset and liability management. Dynamic capital adequacy testing. Pricing.
• Answer Reading, replying and sending e-mail, letters and phone-mail. Keeping in touch with the daily activities of myclients and current economic developments. Talking many times a day with the consultants I work with to keep track of
the many projects going on and address issues if necessary. Producing reports of different kinds when a consultant has
to meet with a client, depending on the client's needs and what the consultant wants to show them. Calculating
performance figures from the different managers investing money for a client's fund, reviewing their historicalperformance and comparing it with a universe of funds and benchmarks. Following up on previous reports prepared forclients that need to be updated for the coming quarter. Verifying trust statements at the end of the month to makesure there are no discrepancies with the manager's data. Carrying out all kinds of calculations that are required by the
consultants in their work with clients. Lots of teamwork.
• Answer In the pension consulting industry, a typical day includes many phone calls with clients on subjects as varied
as plan funding and investments, tax legislation, particular situation of given plan participants, union negotiations,benefit improvement, accounting treatment of pension plan, etc. Also, peer review of actuarial valuation results,
planning and management of projects, business development, formal or informal training, internal or client meetings. It's
rarely nine-to-five.
• Answer A normal day in the life of an actuary at my level involves a lot of work with computers. Checking data, using
programs to calculate liabilities for pension funds, personal calculations, all that can be done in a normal day. It is also not
unusual to have training sessions on hot issues or new tools.
• Answer I get to the office and check the e-mail and voice-mail messages. In the morning, I tend to work on projects
until lunchtime and to contact my clients when problems arise. In the afternoon, I often have meetings with teams orclients, and I then keep on working on specific projects with different people.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p6 - 7

A Typical Day (continue)

A Typical Day• Answer Consulting in group health insurance: technical work on actuarial valuation of post-retirement benefits. Core consulting:renewals, review of financial reports, benefits redesign, analysis of insurer's quotations on group insurance benefits. Generaladvice to clients about current issues on group insurance benefits: phone calls, client meetings.
• Answer For an actuarial intern, there is no such thing as a typical day. The tasks vary by intern and company but usually startwith daily routine johs such as updating data, checking the results of jobs run the previous day, and meeting with your supervisor.
The remainder of the day is spent working on one or possibly several projects you've been assigned. Having junior status, anintern may work for more than one actuary and is often asked to run illustrations, compute premiums, search for data, makegraphs, etc.
• Answer There aren't too many typical days. Every day has some new wrinkle or challenge. 'Things that are done pretty much
every day are working with spreadsheets to perform actuarial calculations, checking the reasonableness of the results of calculations(Are results reasonably consistent with your prior expectation of what the results should be?), communicating with both actuarial
and non-actuarial co-workers in person, by phone, or by e-mail. And during exam season, studying for exams if you're still taking
them.
• Answer Here is an account of a typical day at the office. It's basically a 10-hour day: 8:00
Walk to the office.
 8:30Arrive at the office; read e-mail and news
 9:00
Finalize calculations for the report to client ABC; give directives to assistant 10:30 Preparation for meeting with client A at 1 p.m.
 12:00 Lunch with investment manager of firm
 13:00 Meeting with client A: presentation of the report submitted three days ago, discussions of the next steps andanswer questions and recommendations.
 14:30 Prepare memo to client A following meeting concerning issues raised 15:00 Debriefing with manager for client.
 15:15 Consult voice-mail and e-mail.
 15:30 Peer review report for client B.
 16:30 Help junior analyst with calculation program for client C.
 17:00 Contact Trust D for trust statement figures as of mm.dd.yyyy
 17:05 Search for client E: Investment manager for an equity mandate.
 17:55 Time entry for the day.
 18:00 Go home (and study for actuarial exams!!!).

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p6 - 7

A Typical Day
A Typical Day (continue)• Answer Internship in a pension consulting firm: every day is different. Different projects and obstacles to overcome. Challenging.
It's hard to adjust between school und work routines. When beginning an internship, I often find myself very restless because I am
not used to sitting in one place for long. At school, I never sit in one place for more than an hour.
• Answer I arrive at the office at 7:30a.m. I am usually the first one there, and I enjoy the quiet time to go through my e-mail.. do somedeep thinking, and plan the day's work. I am in the corporate actuarial department. We set valuation policy for the company or, moreaccurately, develop our company's interpretation of the valuation standards set by regulators and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. I
am currently working on standards for applying the new Consolidated Standards of Practice to our valuation.
 E-mail. The first thing I do in the morning is to read my e-mail. I send an immediate response where I can, delete any notes
where no further action is needed, store notes that form part of a discussion thread, and print anything that I need to spend
more time on during the day.
 Calendar. Next, I check my calendar to see what meetings I have scheduled. Meetings can be a very significant portion of aworking day, and if I have a memo or some other piece of work due that day, I need to do some short-term planning on how
the work will get done on time. At this point I decide what I will actually do during the day. This will include meetings, projectwork, occasionally production work, and research.
Project work is a catchall phrase for deliverables that take longer than a day. This could include developing standards forvaluation, implementing a new computer valuation system, collecting and coordinating data from different business units insupport of a corporate decision. There always are one or two projects on the go that can absorb any available time in aworking day not taken up by short-term requirements.
Production work is usually tied to a particular time of the month or year, and relates to reporting requirements of one kindor another. My production work is to examine and analyze the source of earnings reporting for the company. Research means
reading some of the CIA or OSFI (Canadian Office of Superintendent of Financial Services) papers that have been pre pared forour education. Most of this is directly relevant to my current job since my department interprets these papers for thecompany.
 The Rest. The rest of the day is spent doing the work I have planned. My door is open, and the plans I have laid out are easily
derailed if something comes up with a higher priority, such as a question from upper management

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p10

A Typical Day
A Typical Day (continue)•••

Answer This greatly depends on the level of responsibility held by the actuary, the size of the organization inwhich the actuary works, and the type of company: life versus PIC [Property and casualty], consultant versus
insurer, and so on.
The answer also depends on the period in question. For example, year end will keep corporate actuaries very busy,
while no overtime may be required the rest of the year. In any event, a day in the life of this actuary (meaningme) goes something like this. Bear in mind the following back ground information: I currently work for a small PIC
reinsurance company (five employees), with both actuarial and underwriting responsibilities.
 Rating. Most of the day I work with Microsoft Excel. My work involves rating (calculating reinsurance
premiums), production of reports, or corporate functions such as calculating IBNR [incurred but notreported] loss reserves, doing DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing] work, and analyzing quarterly
financial information. Knowledge of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access is also required, since we often
write memos and reports and all our data is stored in Access.
 Lunch. Lunch is usually spent at my desk, reading e-mail, newspapers or trade magazines, in order to stayabreast of current events in the world and in the insurance industry in general. From time to time, I may goout for a lunch meeting with a client or broker. Some travel is required from time to time.
 The Day. A typical day will see me coming in the office at 8:15a.m. and leaving at 5:45p.m.
Answer The day in the life of an actuary depends on a variety of circumstances: insurance versus consulting, life
versus PIC, big company versus small, traditional role versus non-traditional role, and especially the line ofbusiness the actuary is involved with-and even that can vary from day-to-day!
Actuaries I have met have handled pricing, reporting, risk management, reinsurance, and corporate and industry
issues. Some are in non-actuarial roles like underwriting and senior leadership positions. Some work ongroup benefits (long-term disability, short-term disability, life, accidental death and dismembership), some workon annuity products (fixed and vari able), some work on life products (term, variable universal life insurance,
universal life insurance), some work in investments, etc.
I don't think that there is just one way to describe an actuary's day!

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p11

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities
How do beginning actuaries spend their time at work, and how do these activities change as an actuary's career advances?

Q What are some of the typical actuarial projects on which you have worked, and what specific knowledge

and skills were required? Please give some illustrative examples.
•
Answer Union negotiations: they require strong analytical skills, a talent for multitasking, and the ability towork well under pressure.
•
Answer Basic actuarial valuation: calculating the plan's liabilities from the data of the participants of theplan. Basic actuarial projects require rigor, methodology and planning. Preparation of accounting
disclosure and calculation of pension expenses: knowledge of accounting rules and their application.
•
Answer I've worked on annual statements. A good knowledge of Microsoft Excel and pension plans was
required. Being methodical and having good organizational and language skills are important. I've also
worked on actuarial evaluations. The same skills and knowledge as for the statements were needed, plus agood knowledge of valuation software, as well as familiarity with the law and the valuation process (gainand loss, reconciliation, etc.).
•
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Valuations. Actuarial valuations: determination of the present value of annuity benefits taking into
consideration demographic factors (mortality, termination, retirement, etc.).
 Reports. Financial reports: understanding how balance sheets work, statistical knowledge, analyticalskills, credibility notions, software skills (Fortran, Microsoft Excel).
 Computing. Software skills are crucial in the actuarial field. A good grasp of Excel, AXIS, Microsoft
Visual Basic for Applications, and even APL are a great advantage and are widely used in the field.
The main project I worked on consisted of reviewing and updating a computation made in thevaluation system of an insurance company. My work was very specific and involved many calculations,running illustrations, and analyzing results.
 Products. I also needed to have a good knowledge of the various products sold and their specificdetails. For example, if my results seemed irregular, my first instinct was to look up the product I was
examining for distinct features such as product design or recent re-pricing.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p6 - 7

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)
•

•

•

•

Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Reserves. Calculating reserves: needed knowledge of actuarial mathematics (life contingencies,
theory of interest) and general structure of reserves, as well as computer software. Knowledge ofprofessional standards of practice is also needed.
 Balances. Calculating fund balances for retirement and investment products: actuarial knowledgeof the theory of interest and computer software were essential. Knowledge of legislation regulatingsuch products is also needed.
 Design. Design of insurance and investment products: Knowledge of the different mechanisms of
insurance products, knowledge of different investment products, rules and regulations regarding
those products, computer software, communications skills when working with others were essential.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with include actuarial valuations of pension plan
liabilities; costing of plan benefit changes; pension expenses.
The skills required for these projects were basic technical skills: mathematical, actuarial and accounting
rules, knowledge of internal valuation software, and knowledge of laws affecting pension plans.
I have also written reports to clients: letters, actuarial valuation reports, investment manager monitoring
reports, etc.
The skills required for this type of work are the ability to translate complex issues into understandable
words, writing skills, and communication skills.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with include the production of reports, writing, graphing,editing charts; project management (requires good planning); communication with consultants (requires
knowledge of the clients I work with, knowledge of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel); re turns calculations:requires knowledge of the database, and basic financial mathematics.
Answer Reserve valuations, year-end and quarterly pricing, new products, modification of current
products, DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing], business projections for the next five years,
performed once a year, and MCCSR [minimum continuing capital and surplus requirements] calculations.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p14

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)••

Answer Most are in line with post-retirement benefit valuations. Specific knowledge
required: applying discount and mortality data to benefits scheduled for a future date.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Valuations. Pension plan valuations. They are needed to ensure that the retirement
benefits promised to employees by their employers are available for their retirement
life. A valuation calculates the value of those retirement benefit promises (pension
liabilities) and compares them to the assets invested. A fully funded pension plan is aplan that currently has a level of assets sufficient to cover its pension liabilities.
Skills required: actuarial background to calculate the required values; programmingskills to understand/program/run the system on which the li abilities are calculated;
analytical skills to check, compare and compile results; up-to-date knowledge on
current market and economic issues used to set and understand the assumptions used in
the valuation.
 Benefits. Administering the benefits of expatriates working in various countries.
Expatriates add another layer of complexity in benefits valuation since coordination isrequired between the host and home countries, as well as potential social security
benefits earned in various countries.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p14

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)•

Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 DCAT. A lot of work has been done recently on DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing].
Essentially, this is a financial model that projects the future financial condition of acompany. The model can be deterministic or stochastic in nature. In my last three jobs, I
have been involved to various degrees with this.
This type of project requires good understanding of accounting concepts (projectionof balance sheet and investment income), investment concepts (calculation of market
and book value of investments under various economic scenarios), financial concepts(calculation of corporate income tax), and statistical concepts (calculation of various
probability scenarios). Developing appropriate business knowledge through finance,
economics, investment and management courses can never be stressed enough.
 Computing. Other projects that I have been involved with usually only re quire a goodunderstanding of actuarial concepts, acquired through coaching and through theexamination process. Expertise with Excel is always a must. So are other computing
skills: Microsoft Visual Basic and SAS being the most common ones.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p14

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)•••

Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Annuities. I've worked on developing new annuity products and riders (i.e., product management:
seeing an idea develop into a real product that is sold to contract holders). Within that process, I
have worked with all business areas (compliance, legal, marketing, systems, etc.) to get an idea into aworking product.
 Ratemaking. Other projects included setting the credited rates for our various fixed and variableannuity products.
 Profitability. I have worked with in-house actuarial software to examine profitability.
 Verifications. I have verified client illustrations to verify that what is being shown to a client for anannuity product's subaccount growth and death benefit calculations is accurate.
 Reviews. I have also done product reviews of our existing products to validate the pricing.
 Economic Value. I've worked on economic value-determining which areas of the company arecontributing what value to our theoretical stock price.
 Reinsurance. I also worked in reinsurance where I dealt with reinsurance intermediaries and brokers
to renew contracts. This also involved assessing the risk within our existing contracts.
Answer Renewal analysis (group insurance); financial statement analysis (group insurance); reserves
analysis; post-retirement benefit valuation; report writ ing; various types of research; preparation of
benefit statements; policies and booklets verification.
Knowledge and skills: Computer knowledge (programming, Microsoft Word and Excel), communication
skills (in French and English), writing skills, planning ability.
Answer Actuarial valuations (knowledge: methods for valuing liabilities); ac counting procedures(knowledge: basic accounting); calculations (knowledge: laws and regulations, ability to draft reports,
good reading comprehension); plan design (knowledge: industry trends).

Quoted from “Actuaries’ survival Guide” p16

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)•••

Answer Most are in line with post-retirement benefit valuations. Specific knowledge required: applying discount andmortality data to benefits scheduled for a future date.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Valuations. Pension plan valuations. They are needed to ensure that the retirement benefits promised to employeesby their employers are available for their retirement life. A valuation calculates the value of those retirement benefit
promises (pension liabilities) and compares them to the assets invested. A fully funded pension plan is a plan thatcurrently has a level of assets sufficient to cover its pension liabilities.
Skills required: actuarial background to calculate the required values; programming skills to understand/program/run
the system on which the li abilities are calculated; analytical skills to check, compare and compile results; up-todate knowledge on current market and economic issues used to set and understand the assumptions used in thevaluation.
 Benefits. Administering the benefits of expatriates working in various countries. Expatriates add another layer ofcomplexity in benefits valuation since coordination is required between the host and home countries, as well as
potential social security benefits earned in various countries.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 DCAT. A lot of work has been done recently on DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing]. Essentially, this is a financial
model that projects the future financial condition of a company. The model can be deterministic or stochastic innature. In my last three jobs, I have been involved to various degrees with this.
This type of project requires good understanding of accounting concepts (projection of balance sheet andinvestment income), investment concepts (calculation of market and book value of investments under various
economic scenarios), financial concepts (calculation of corporate income tax), and statistical concepts (calculationof various probability scenarios). Developing appropriate business knowledge through finance, economics, investment
and management courses can never be stressed enough.
 Computing. Other projects that I have been involved with usually only re quire a good understanding of actuarialconcepts, acquired through coaching and through the examination process. Expertise with Excel is always a must. So
are other computing skills: Microsoft Visual Basic and SAS being the most common ones.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p14

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)•••

Answer Most are in line with post-retirement benefit valuations. Specific knowledge required: applying discount andmortality data to benefits scheduled for a future date.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 Valuations. Pension plan valuations. They are needed to ensure that the retirement benefits promised to employeesby their employers are available for their retirement life. A valuation calculates the value of those retirement benefit
promises (pension liabilities) and compares them to the assets invested. A fully funded pension plan is a plan thatcurrently has a level of assets sufficient to cover its pension liabilities.
Skills required: actuarial background to calculate the required values; programming skills to understand/program/run
the system on which the li abilities are calculated; analytical skills to check, compare and compile results; up-todate knowledge on current market and economic issues used to set and understand the assumptions used in thevaluation.
 Benefits. Administering the benefits of expatriates working in various countries. Expatriates add another layer ofcomplexity in benefits valuation since coordination is required between the host and home countries, as well as
potential social security benefits earned in various countries.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included:
 DCAT. A lot of work has been done recently on DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing]. Essentially, this is a financial
model that projects the future financial condition of a company. The model can be deterministic or stochastic innature. In my last three jobs, I have been involved to various degrees with this.
This type of project requires good understanding of accounting concepts (projection of balance sheet andinvestment income), investment concepts (calculation of market and book value of investments under various
economic scenarios), financial concepts (calculation of corporate income tax), and statistical concepts (calculationof various probability scenarios). Developing appropriate business knowledge through finance, economics, investment
and management courses can never be stressed enough.
 Computing. Other projects that I have been involved with usually only re quire a good understanding of actuarialconcepts, acquired through coaching and through the examination process. Expertise with Excel is always a must. So
are other computing skills: Microsoft Visual Basic and SAS being the most common ones.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p14

Typical Responsibilities
Typical Responsibilities (continue)•••

Answer Cash flow testing, economic value benchmarking, product development and pricing. Helpful
courses: Life contingencies, theory of interest, knowledge of fixed income securities.
Answer An actuarial background is not a prerequisite to work in the asset consulting services group. Someof my colleagues have a finance background. In fact, the projects I work on are not purely actuarial
projects.
Answer Typical projects that I have been involved with included the following: Assets. How should the assets of a pension plan be invested? These projects are mostly worked on byactuarial people. They require a knowledge of both the liability and assets sides of a pension plan:
demographics, financial results, investment markets, etc.
 Investment. Review the pension plan (statement of investment policy and procedures).
 Management. How to implement an investment policy, how many investment managers to assign toeach asset class, what kind of investment man agers to select (large/midsize/small capitalization,
value/growth/core in vestment style).
 Personnel. Selection of investment managers for each asset class (Canadian equities, US equities,
international or foreign equities, fixed income, etc.). A management structure and the manager
selection require a good knowledge of the institutional investment market; you need to know theplayers, their investment process and style, and so on.
 Monitoring. Monitor the investment performance of each manager. It requires a good knowledgeof their style as well as how the markets are per forming in order to really understand their numbers
and be able to explain their performance to clients. You need to know the team players in order tomonitor any changes and turnover of people.
 Mandates. Put in place the appropriate paper documents between the pension plan and theinvestment managers.
 Records. Defined contribution record keeper selection.
 Options. Defined contribution investment options selection.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p18

Progression of Responsibilities
Progression of Responsibilities
Q What are typical SOA and CAS career paths and where should successfulactuaries or actuarial students be at age 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 in (a) SOA, (b) CAS?
• Answer At 20: at school. At 25: junior consultant. At 30: pre-senior consultant. At
35: senior consultant. At 40: advanced senior consultant. At 45: responsible formajor clients, line of business, direction, etc.
• Answer I don 't think there is such a thing as a typical career path. For SOA, actuaries
should have a firm client relationship with clients by the time they're 30. At 45, theyshould be established as client managers, responsible for high-level work and therelationship with clients.
• Answer At 25: SOA graduate with the first three or four exams. Then continue towrite exams while working and finish before 30. At that age, actuaries should befamiliar with the technical concepts and begin to be relatively autonomous inestablishing what needs to be done on different projects. At 30, they should be able
to review the work of junior students and have their own clients. At 35, they should
be senior consultants.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p23 - 24

Progression of Responsibilities
Progression of Responsibilities
Q What are typical SOA and CAS career paths and where should successful actuaries or
actuarial students be at age 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 in (a) SOA, (b) CAS?
• Answer At 20: finishing an undergraduate degree in statistics or actuarial sciences and have atleast written the exam. At 25: be at about Courses 4 or 5, and have spent one or two years as
an actuarial assistant. At 30: have completed all courses and have gathered five to eight yearsof experience in one or more companies and hold an Assistant Manager's position. At 35: manager or director. At 40: permanent senior position, secure and confident in the position they
are holding.
• Answer In my opinion, this should be stated in terms of duration from when the first exam is
attempted, rather than by age. People get into the field at different ages and different places;
they have different average ages upon graduation from college. Thus, it is not uncommon forsomeone to get their FSA prior to age 25 in the United States, whereas it is less common in
Ontario because Ontario students graduate from university when they are between 23 and 24,
instead of 21 or 22. I have met people who didn't start taking exams until their 30s because
they switched careers. Most students should get their Fellowship about 8 to 10 years after they
started taking exams. The average age of new FSAs is usually in the rnid-30s, although the SOA
wants to reduce the exam travel-time and, indirectly, the average age of new FSAs. They want
to do this, but I doubt it will happen.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p23 - 24

Progression of Responsibilities
Progression of Responsibilities (continue)• Answer I will cover only the SOA exams. At 20: start the exams if you want to be an actuary. At 25, you should havecompleted Courses I through 4. During the first few years of your actuarial career, you will be a junior actuarial
analyst. At 30, you should at least be an ASA. You will be a senior actuarial analyst or junior consultant. At 35, you
should be an FSA or have decided whether you want to continue writing exams. Life consists of more than SOA
exams!!! You should be an intermediate consultant. At 40, you should be a senior consultant.
• Answer I would like to have finished all of my SOA exams by the age of 24. After a three-year university program, asolid goal is to have passed four exams.
• Answer At 20, you should be in university and have started the first two or three exams. At 25, you should ideallyhave finished your exams and should be waiting for the completion of your PD [professional development]
requirement credits. At 30, you should have two or three persons to whom you delegate work and start helping
them build their knowledge. At 35. you should focus on networking and meeting people, start bringing clients toyour consulting firm and maintain relationships with existing clients. At 40, you should probably be at the peak ofyour responsibilities.
• Answer At 20: actuarial student. At 25: senior actuarial student. At 30: FSA. At 35: Associate Actuary. At 40:
Assistant Vice-President. At 45: Assistant Vice-President or Vice-President.
• Answer From the SOA point of view: At 20: in university. At 25: starting out, passing exams, gaining experience at
an actuarial firm, deciding on insurance versus consulting, SOA versus CAS, is or is close to being an ASA. At 30: is
or is close to being an FSA, settling into the actuarial field with preference for insurance or consulting, SOA or CAS.
At 35: twelve or more years of experience. Consultant level with expertise in a preferred field. Providing valuableadvice to clients on a wide range of client issues, and a good source of intellectual capital for peers.
• Answer In my answer, I will focus on a CAS career. At 20: nice to have passed at least one exam. At 25: two yearsof experience and at least four exams. At 27: five exams. Very good candidates will have access to a managerial
position. At 30: will probably be a Fellow by this age-if not, no problem, but focus on finishing the exams. At 30 to
35: outstanding candidates will have access to senior management positions. Over the first ten to fifteen years ofan actuary's career, it is not uncommon for a person to have worked for several employers.
• Answer I will describe a typical SOA path. At 20: junior staff in consulting firms or insurance companies. At 25:
almost a consultant. At 30 and above: senior consultant for clients and relationship manager.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p23 - 24

Progression of Responsibilities
Progression of Responsibilities (continue)••

Answer I will answer this question from the CAS perspective.
 Student. Typically, at 20, you will still be in university. You will hopefully get some summer work experience,
if not working for an insurance company, at least getting some exposure to the office world. You should beplanning to write a few actuarial exams while in university to show prospective employers your willingness towrite exams, and your capacity for writing them successfully.
 Intermediate. At 25, you should be making the transition from entry-level to intermediate actuary. You
should have written several exams by now, including basic ratemaking and reserving (although notnecessarily passing them), which will prove invaluable in the new responsibilities being handed to you.
 Associate. At 30, you should be an Associate, even a Fellow if you are one of the more gifted. This is thepoint in your actuarial career where you are handed management responsibilities. Although everyone wants
to be a manager, very few understand what is involved. If working for a good company, the actuary will havebeen sent to some form of management and other business-training seminar. But the very motivatedindividuals will not rely on the company, and will read up on these subjects at home.
 Vice-President. At 35, most CAS Fellows are Vice-President or its equivalent such as partner in a consulting
firm (at least, in Canada). Responsibilities start shifting from the pure actuarial areas to the areas of company
management and client management.
 Career Peak. At 40 and 45, your level of responsibilities will slowly increase, but essentially, things willremain the same until retirement.
Answer I cannot respond with respect to the CAS, so the answers below are with respect to the SOA.
 College. At 20: taking college courses towards a mathematics degree or actuarial degree. Investigatinginternship opportunities. Planning to take one or two exams before graduation.
 Work. At 25: working at a company with one to three years of experience. Have passed two or more exams.
 Almost FSA. At 30: working for a company with 5 to 8 years experience. Be close to attaining FSA if notalready an FSA.
 FSA. At 35: have the FSA designation, have 10 to 13 years of experience, have a staff working for you, have amore prominent position and be out of the "rotational" student program. Know your specific area ofinterest or track the one you want to pursue in depth.
 Leadership. At 40 to 45: have a significant leadership role within the company and a staff working with you.
Be accessible to newer students in the program who want advice.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p26

Progression of Responsibilities
Progression of Responsibilities (continue)
•

•
•

•

Answer In my answer, I will focus on a CAS career. At 20: nice to have passed at least one exam. At 25: two yearsof experience and at least four exams. At 27: five exams. Very good candidates will have access to a managerial
position. At 30: will probably be a Fellow by this age-if not, no problem, but focus on finishing the exams. At 30 to
35: outstanding candidates will have access to senior management positions. Over the first ten to fifteen yearsof an actuary's career, it is not uncommon for a person to have worked for several employers.
Answer I will describe a typical SOA path. At 20: junior staff in consulting firms or insurance companies. At 25:
almost a consultant. At 30 and above: senior consultant for clients and relationship manager.
Answer Here is a typical CAS career path: School. At 20, students are still in school, completing their Bachelor's degree (or Master's degree, eventhough it is not required in the actuarial field). While in school, students generally start taking actuarial
exams. A successful student should have passed the first two exams before graduaion and should have had
at least two internships related to the actuarial profession or insurance industry.
 Analyst. At 25, students should have a year or two of experience and be well established as an actuarial
analyst. At that point, a successful student would have passed 5 or 6 actuarial exams.
 Almost Fellow. At 30, actuaries have typically been exposed to various aspects of the actuarial profession
and have expanded their experience to pricing and reserving different lines of insurance. They also haveanalysts reporting to them and should be close to obtaining their Fellowship (if not done already).
 Vice-President. By 35, actuaries should definitely have their Fellowship and be in a management position(either as a senior consultant in a consulting firm or a Vice-President, or Assistant Vice-President, in an
insurance company).
 Partner. At 40, a successful actuary would be a partner in a consulting firm or an officer in an insurancecompany.
 Retired. At 45, a very successful actuary would retire.
Answer At 20: in university. At 25: actuarial student, 35 hours per week on the job and 40 hours per week
studying. At 30: new Fellow, supervisor or manager of a few actuarial students and clerks, or a highly technicalposition without direct reports. At 35 and above: continually increasing responsibility, demonstrated by increased
staff and budget or required technical knowledge.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p26 - 27

Skills
Mathematical Skills
Q What general mathematical competencies are required by an actuary? Give some examples andrelate them to the SOA or CAS examinations.
• Answer Problem-solving, but this has nothing to do with any university course or actuarial exam.
• Answer Calculus is needed for the first actuarial exam. Financial mathematics is very useful in the
day-to-day work as well as for the exams (tested on more than one exam). The whole of actuarial
theory is based on statistics, so it is, of course, a required competency.
• Answer For the first exam, you need a lot of basic probability and calculus competency. The second
exam is more about financial mathematics, macro- and microeconomics, and finance. The generalmathematical competencies required for this exam are mostly integrals and derivatives. After that,you will always be using a variety of mathematical competencies (again basic probability, integrals
and derivatives), but they will become more specific.
• Answer Course 1 deals with basic probability and calculus competencies. An ability to deal withthem and apply them to actuarial problems is crucial. In general, a deep understanding andcompetency in probability and statistics is essential to passing SOA and CAS examinations since they
are the foundation of actuarial mathematics. A strong background in statistics is necessary.
• Answer Knowledge of probabilities and statistical distributions, life contingencies, theory ofinterest, calculus, geometric series. The calculus is often tested via continuous distributionfunctions where integration of a function is required (Course 1). Probabilities of people living anddying are combined with geometric series to create the mathematics of insurance and annuities(Course 3). The theory of interest is used for the principles of interest discounting andaccumulation (Course 2).
• Answer Theory of interest, life contingencies.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p26 - 27

Skills
Mathematical Skills (continue)• Answer Theory of interest is a must (time value of money). Probabilities are also very important.
• Answer Well, everything that's mathematical in the exam syllabus. Plain and simple!
• Answer Competency in calculus, statistics, algebra, probability is essential, especially for the earlyexams.
• Answer Actuarial mathematics such as life expectancies, survival models and projections, annuity
factors-regression analysis--e.g., calculating trends, building models, etc.
Calculus: background used in most programs and models.
Statistics: always needed to calculate averages, medians, quartiles, etc.
• Answer This is a difficult question. The answer also depends on the level of sophistication reached in
the various companies. PIC companies in Canada are small and not a lot of complex mathematicalmodels are built. I know of one or two companies working on that front, and they have hired aperson with a Master's degree in statistics to do the work. However, these people are supervised byactuaries. Advance knowledge of calculus, statistics, theory of interest, life contingencies, and loss
distributions are generally required to pass the first four exams. Past that point, at least on the PIC
side, mathematical competency almost boils down to being able to add and multiply. Basicknowledge of the above is all that is required. And as I said, I find the same is true for our day-to-day
life at work.
• Answer CAS: only basic mathematical competencies are required. Regression and modeling may bebeneficial, but are not a must. It is a common mistake to believe that extensive knowledge ofmathematics is required to be an actuary. However, one must like to work with numbers to enjoy
being an actuary.
• Answer Basic mathematical skills needed. The examinations helpful for a career are the ones that
discuss the different methods for valuing liabilities, accounting, and finance.
• Answer Calculus, probability and statistics.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p28 - 29

Skills
Theory of Interest
Q Why do actuaries need the theory of interest? Please give examples and relate them to the SOA
or CAS examinations.

• Answer Very important for what I am doing, time value of money is a key concept, actuarial present values, rateof return formulas, amortization tables, etc., are all concepts that I have to play with very often in my work even if
the way I work with them is different from an examination in Course 2, for example. Excel is used a lot in playing
with these concepts.
• Answer This is the basic clement of the calculation of today's value of any future payment of one dollar. It is thecornerstone of our field.
• Answer It is essential for the calculation of annuities and the understanding of the time value of money. For
example, we use it when we calculate things payable at retirement with money accumulated today, or when wewant to know what is the value of a pension fund today considering what the membership of the fund might be in
the future. Again, it is tested directly in one of the first exams and comes back indirectly in the others.
• Answer When dealing with a client, we are looking at the overall result of the company, and this includes
investment income, future claims, future revenues, etc. The theory of interest is crucial when it comes the time totake those amounts into consideration. It would not be right to use an amount that will be obtained in 10 years,
and this is where discounting comes in. The whole point of theory of interest is to calculate the company's
financial situation at a certain point in time.
• Answer Similar to the previous question, virtually every business problem the life actuary deals with involves theassessment of risk, i.e., the value of a future event contingent on assumed probabilities. The present value of afuture event requires the application of the theory of interest.
• Answer Theory of interest is the basic of many actuarial mathematics and finance concepts. This material
teaches you the value of money in the time. This has many applications in the every day and in the work life. It isalso a big part of the second exam.
• Answer Present value of annuities.
• Answer The theory of interest is needed to understand the basics of actuarial mathematics. The simple
concepts of Present Value and Annuities are present, introduced and explained in details in theory of interest, andare everywhere in actuarial science. In Course 2, these skills are tested.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p33 - 34

Skills
Theory of Interest (continue)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•

•
•

Answer Time value of money (i.e., accumulation and discounting) and under standing the basic structureof a bond are very important for calculating re serves, premiums. They are crucial for asset-liability
management. Courses 2 through 8 use these concepts.
Answer Basis for discounting future value of loss, benefits, etc. Also used in projecting figures in the future.
Answer That is the required course. If you don't understand this one, you may as well forget an actuarial
career.
Answer The theory of interest is crucial. The time value of money is one of the underlying principles of
the insurance industry, only insurance takes it one step further by applying statistics.
Answer Probably not all that necessary now that most work is done on computers using interest vectors.
Answer The theory of interest is one of the essential building blocks of actuarial mathematics. It is needed
to define present and future values, for example. Concepts such as calculating present values of bonds
and calculating loan payments and outstanding mortgage values involve the theory of interest.
Answer Actuaries in property and casualty insurance are constantly discounting future streams of
payments to calculate present values. They also need to understand annuities since they are sometimes
used in the claims settlement process. Beyond this, it is not being used too much.
Answer In pension, the theory of interest is an important subject. The payment stream after retirement isbased on mortality and interest. It is also needed to project ahead or discount employee contributions.
Answer Interest theory and time value of money are extremely important in any investment-productcontext (Course 2 of the SOA exams). Reviewing cash flows, profitability, and understanding gain/loss
scenarios all hinge on the theory of interest. It is particularly important for actuaries in the investment
field.
Answer CAS only: present and future value calculations (investment of insurance funds and discountingof loss reserves). Some annuity calculations.
Answer For valuating pension plans we need the concept of present value.
Answer Calculation of present value of future stream of payments.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p34 - 35

Skills
Mathematics of Finance
Q Why do actuaries need the mathematics of finance? Please give examples and relate themto the SOA or CAS examinations.

• Answer Finance is a big part of second exam.
• Answer Mathematics of finance is also needed to understand the basics of actuarial mathematics. In Course 2, an extensive
and deep understanding of finance is needed. This knowledge and skill will also be used in the work place. Often, an actuary
will be asked to do some financial analysis. A good basis in mathematics of finance is necessary for a good actuary.
• Answer Actuaries need to understand assets as well as liabilities in order to properly set reserves and premium and dividend
rates. Actuaries now need to understand both sides of the balance sheet to do their job correctly. Courses 5 through 8(SOA) really hit on this.
• Answer Needed when working on the asset side of a pension plan.
• Answer The Course 2 exam. Also, insurance products relate very closely to the time value of money and finance.
• Answer Financial mathematics is used when valuing pension assets. Also, a basic knowledge of financial markets is always
useful when dealing with clients and in devising models. Investors and their advisors are becoming more and more informed,
leading to more sophisticated market developments, products and services. As an actuary, and in most cases, at least indirectly
affected by financial markets, a basic knowledge of financial mathematics is highly recommended. Course 6 of the SOA
examinations is almost entirely based on financial mathematics. Although probably more technical than most actuaries will
ever need, it provides an excellent base.
• Answer More and more actuaries are getting involved in the investment side of the business, particularly with DCAT [Dynamic
capital adequacy testing]. Although not everyone will use it, it is a good idea to be familiar with it in order to be a well-rounded
actuary. Theory around cash flow and duration matching are also in common use. I believe this is now being covered in the
CAS Course 8.
• Answer In pension, you have the promises made to a participant to receive a pension, but you also have the employee andemployer contribution that make up the assets. You need to know about investment.
• Answer CAS only: finance is not used per se in our day-to-day work. However, knowledge about the effects of diversification
may prove to be useful with respect to planned growth in PIC. This would relate to actuaries who have a more strategic role-atthe executive level, or close to that level. Knowledge about the risks related to various investments (bonds, stocks, etc.) may
prove to be useful in discussions at a higher level (executive level). Generally, knowledge about finance is very good to have,although the actual use of it is limited in the day-to-day work. No link with exams.
• Answer Finance related to good consulting when valuating liabilities.
• Answer Investment science.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p34 - 35

Economics

SkillsQ Why do actuaries need economics? Please give examples and relate them to the
SOA or CAS examinations.

• Answer Great background to have for working in retirement or asset consulting so you understand more ofwhat is going on in the real world. The only thing sometimes is that economics is a very theoretical science.
Sometimes it is difficult to see a real-world application to some theories seen in Course 2, for example.
• Answer To understand the link between the liabilities of a plan and the assets underlying the plan.
• Answer A lot of our work depends on finance. For example, with the market situation today, pension funds arelosing money. This fact should guide actuaries when they give advice to their clients on when to file anevaluation or the decision to improve the plan, for example. It is tested in the examinations in Courses 2 and 3.
• Answer Economics is a big part of the second exam.
• Answer Economics are also needed to understand the basics of actuarial mathematics. In Course 2,
competency in economics is tested. This knowledge and skill will also be used in the workplace and serve tounderstand the ways a company and the market work.
• Answer Actuaries need to be able to understand the structure and the workings of the different investment
markets in order to manage their assets that back their liabilities well. Course 2 and Courses 5 through 8 touchon this.
• Answer Set appropriate economic assumptions for actuarial valuation: discount rate, rate of return on assets,
etc.
• Answer The thing I remember about my economics class is the marginal cost theory, which I apply very often.
But I'm not sure if I needed this class.
• Answer Course 2. Also, the ideas of balance sheets are crucial even for pension plans and for the reserves of an
insurance company. Pension actuaries must weigh the assets and liabilities of a pension plan against each other.
• Answer Actuaries should have some idea of how macroeconomic events in the economy may affect the sectorsof the economy that have an impact on their business. For example, how will a slowdown in inflation affectlong-term interest rates?

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p34 - 35

Skills
Risk Theory
Q Why do actuaries need risk theory? Please give examples andrelate them to the SOA or CAS examinations.
• Answer Risk theory helps me understand the foundation of actuarial science. It is very important, I think,
to be strong in this technical area since the ideas involved come up on a daily basis.
• Answer Basic to our job is managing the risk related to a plan.
• Answer I rarely use risk theory at my level. But it is important for the examinations.
• Answer Course 3 tests these skills.
• Answer Actuaries are trained to put a value on risk and handle future contingent events. Risk theory is thereal fundamental bridge between life contingency theory and the business of insurance. Courses 3, 5, and8.
• Answer Understand risks, model risks to eventually put a value and cost on it.
• Answer Risk theory is the heart of actuarial work. An actuary is an expert in the assessment andmanagement of risk.
• Answer Risk theory is the basic building block of the PIC business. However, as indicated earlier, the levelof sophistication is rather lacking in the Canadian marketplace. However, it is helpful to understand risk
theory in order to perform the daily work of a PIC actuary.
• Answer CAS only: This is the basis of the pricing work in PIC. I cannot say, however, that what I learned inschool with respect to risk theory helped me in my work.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p38

Skills
Loss Modeling
Q Why do actuaries need loss modeling? Please give examples and relate themto the SOA or CAS examinations.

• Answer I guess it is very important in CAS, but is less important in fields such as asset consulting.
• Answer I am not yet familiar with loss modeling.
• Answer I think this is more of a CAS thing or perhaps also a reinsurance thing.
• You need to be able to calculate the probabilities of incurring a loss before you can accurately set a pricefor an insurance premium. Loss modeling comes up in Course 4.
• Answer CAS stuff. Used in pricing products by modeling future expected losses.
Needed since non-life risks generally have the following characteristics: time of event unknown (so needa frequency distribution) and size of loss unknown (so you need a loss distribution).
• Answer More useful for CAS, I think.
• Answer Loss modeling is a fairly useful tool that is hardly ever used, at least in my experience. Lack of size
(and therefore lack of data) is one of the problems encountered when trying to do loss modeling. Oftena lack of time and resources will also force a company to use a broad-brush approach in its pricing andreserving modeling.
• Answer CAS only: loss modeling may be used to forecast the severity of certain events, and also to
determine how variable results will be from one even to the next (link with credibility of results). For
example, in looking at auto mobile theft, vandalism and fire, loss modeling may be used to determine theshape of the curve that best describes severity (average cost). Once this is done, one can determine howvariable this severity will be, and therefore how many observations are required in order to get credible
estimates.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p39

Stochastic Ideas

SkillsQ What stochastic ideas and techniques do actuaries use? Please give examples andrelate them to the SOA or CAS examinations.

• Answer I know areas of the actuarial field where it is extensively used and is important. This is not
yet the case in asset consulting (at my level). But I know that stochastic ideas are very important inasset and liabilities management, an area I would love to get into later on in my career.
• Answer The only method used frequently is the Monte Carlo simulation, mostly for the projectionof the assets of the plan.
• Answer Continuous Markov chains are used by actuaries and are tested in Course 3, I believe.
• Answer Becoming more prevalent, especially with modeling possible future interest rate patterns
when determining reserve amounts for life insurance and annuities. Also used for sensitivity testingand pricing of minimum guaranteed death benefits for segregated funds. Course 8 had a big section
on this. Course 7 Pre-test had this.
• Answer Projections of pension plan assets or surplus based on stochastic distribution of futureinterest rates. Can then determine the future distribution of values by percentile, calculate theprobability of having a value less than some fixed amount, etc.
• Answer To forecast what are best and worst case scenarios under different sets of hypotheses forsurplus or deficit in a pension plan.
• Answer Stochastic modeling of the cost of face amount guarantees on segregated funds.
• Answer CAS only: stochastic techniques are not widely used in Canada. They may be used in thearea of DCAT [dynamic capital adequacy testing], al though I do not know anyone who has
programmed or is using a stochastic model in Canada to do DCATs.
• Answer More in asset consulting than liability consulting.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p39 - 40

Skills
Software Skills
Q What software skills should actuaries have and why? Please give examples.
• Answer All Microsoft Office tools (especially Microsoft Excel), databases (of ten firms have their own database system that is learnedon the job), and logic. Knowledge of time management software is a must to effectively manage time in and out of the office!
• Answer Skills are more related to problem-solving approach than real programming skills.
• Answer Knowing all Microsoft tools such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc., well. Being comfortable with searching for informationon the Internet.
• Answer Actuaries mostly use Microsoft Excel and should feel comfortable using it. Since we are playing with numbers all day long,
any software that performs similar operations can be used.
• Answer Programming skills are needed. Also, Microsoft Excel is a commonly used tool and the actuary should be very comfortablewith using formulas and editing data. Sometimes Microsoft Access is used for data modification or verification.
• Answer Strong Microsoft Excel skills are required, I think, in every company.
• Answer Microsoft Excel, Access and Visual Basic programming.
• Answer Microsoft Excel is a definite must. It is used in the day-to-day routine of an actuary. An actuary should also have goodcomputer programming skills and be comfortable with the Internet. Like in many careers, the computer is one of the basic tools of theactuary.
• Answer Actuaries should have good Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel, Access and Word. They should have strong programmingskills as well. Entry-level jobs, in particular, require good software skills.
 E-mail. Capacity to use e-mail (obvious, I guess).
 Excel. Capacity to use Excel (most of the calculations are done in Excel).
 Word. Word processing: to write memos/documents (speed of typing is important). To be an actuary, one must likecomputers because about 90% to 95% of the work hours are spent on a computer.
• Answer Good in Microsoft Excel, Word, and Access.
 Excel. Advanced knowledge of Excel is required since most companies use Excel to put together actuarial analyses.
 Access. At least intermediate knowledge of Access is required. The actuary who is able to run complex queries will generatebetter data as a basis for actuarial analyses.
 Word. Basic knowledge of Word is required to convey results and findings of actuarial analyses.
 PowerPoint. Basic knowledge of PowerPoint is required to prepare presentations to management or clients.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p44

Skills
Programing Skills
Q Which programming languages do actuaries need and why?
Please give examples.
• Answer Rarely. I need to write macros in Excel. That is about it.
• Answer None. All companies have their own software now.
• Answer Usually, each actuarial firm as its own program, so I don't think there is some particular programming
languages needed. Of course, Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic are used a lot. I would say that an actuary should
know at least one of the common programming languages (Fortran, C++, etc.). With that knowledge, it should beenough to adapt to others.
• Answer In my day-to-day work, I use Microsoft Visual Basic (for macros) from time to time. Besides that, it ismostly company-specific programs. There fore, more than knowing a single language inside out, I believe it is more
important to have a strong understanding of programming methodology.
• Answer I used SAS in a casualty insurance company and in government, and Microsoft Visual Basic in all of myinternships. Although I took C++ courses at university, I have never used this programming language.
• Answer I don't use any language, but the logic behind it is used for company specialized software for actuarial
valuations.
• Answer Microsoft Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications are often used in the field. Knowing how toprogram macros and use them is often a great advantage. APL, although now more and more scarce, is also a
programming language that has benefits since it is still used in some insurance companies.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p45

Skills
Business Skills
It is often said that good business skills are essential to succeed in the actuarial world. What are businessskills? Many companies now specialize in the teaching of business skills. Let us take a look at a typicalrepertoire of one of these companies. The company Learn2, for example, offers business skills courses
which include:Appraising people and performance
Articulating a vision
Coaching and counselingCommunication skills
Conflict resolutionCounseling and discipliningCustomer serviceDecision making
Effective presentations
Giving clear information
Interviewing techniques
Leadership situationsPlanning and scheduling workPlanning your presentations

Relationship strategiesTraining, coaching and delegatingTime management and prioritizing
Setting goals and standards

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p45

Business Skills

SkillsQ What business knowledge and skills do actuaries need and why?
Please give examples.

• Answer At a higher level, actuaries sell services to clients. So actuaries need to be good in persuasion.
understanding needs, and foresee problems or requests. Honesty is also very important. They need to beaware of the market in general. To understand their clients better, they also need to check specific fields inparticular (if your client is a factory, you should know if the market is good for that field , not just for your client orin general). Actuaries also get to manage clients' teams: prices to charge, tasks to perform, who's to work together,time allocated to a project, and so on.
• Answer A good background in business is necessary to an actuary. A knowledge of finance is essential in the.
study of actuarial mathematics, but even skills and knowledge in Marketing and Accounting can be useful since you
will often find actuaries in the marketing and assets and liabilities management department of an insurancecompany. Since actuaries often hold management positions, management skills can be useful.
• Answer There are others, but I would start with basic accounting (balance sheet, income statement, double-entry
accounting) and finance (investments/assets characteristics).
• Answer This depends on the ambition of the person involved. Generally, the more ambitious, the more businessknowledge and skills are required. Actuaries who are happy working in the back room and are not interacting withpeople other than their manager and co-workers probably don't need too many business skills. However, anyone
who wants to climb the corporate ladder requires business skills. Indeed, let us not forget that this is what we aredoing: running a business. The best actuaries in the field are, first and foremost, businessmen. They canunderstand the difference between an actuarial indication and the price the market will bear. They understand theimplication on the company of their decision with regard to IBNR (incurred but not reported) loss reserves orreinsurance. They get involved in projects and understand the work flow of the organization, the difference
between the bells and whistles, and necessary system enhancements. Business skills required include economics,
marketing, management (both personal, time, and project), finance, investment, and communication.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p50

Skills

Communication Skills

Q What communication skills do actuaries need and why? Please
give examples
•

•
•

•

•

Answer The more skilled actuaries are, the better they are, as I have found out since working full-time.
Especially in Montreal, being able to speak and communicate fluently in both English and French is agreat asset. For a junior consultant. it is of the utmost importance to communicate very well with theseniors so we understand exactly the work that needs to be done and once completed, to be able toexplain it to the consultant in clear words. Listening is also a forgotten skill, but very important in day-today work. Presentation skills become more and more important, I assume, as you grow in the businessand have to meet with clients and present them ideas and reports. Being able to support your ideas andorganizing your thoughts are also key skills.
Answer Clarity, since it is difficult. Simplicity, since the client must understand.
Answer Knowing at least two languages, enough to be able to communicate, is essential. It is not
unusual to encounter French-speaking clients, for example. Canada is so bilingual that it's not an option
anymore. Also, an actuary needs to be able to express his thoughts and his knowledge. It will happen
often that a more advanced actuary needs to explain something to a new one or even to a client. So
being able to be clear, not too complicated and see when the other person doesn't understand isessential. The same skill applies for writing (the annual statements, for example, ·need to be clear, but
simple).
Answer You need verbal skills to give presentations to your colleagues and to clients (particularly inthe consulting field). Your writing skills will be useful to write actuarial evaluation reports or prepareinternal status documents.
Answer Very good communication skills in order to gain credibility from people we are working with andto explain simply what we have done and why.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p51 - 52

Skills
Communication Skills (continue)• Answer Presentation skills are necessary since it is often required from
actuaries to present their research results, projects or recommendations.
Actuaries must also be able to sell an idea. In the consulting business,
actuaries will interact with clients and need to be able convince the clientof the necessity of a benefit plan for example. Actuaries also sometimes
need to explain their results and recommendations. Hence
communication skills are, as much as mathematics and business skills,
essential in the making of a great actuary.
• Answer Verbal: speaking to other actuaries in technical language,
speaking to non-actuaries in non-technical language, presenting tomanagement/board on reserves (appointed actuaries), presenting updated
pricing models to underwriters, leaving phone messages. Written:
documenting in clear and understandable language, writing some lettersand reports (especially in consulting), e-mail. Listening: gathering
information, learning about other areas of the company, learning otherpeoples' terms so you ran speak to them in their language.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p51 - 52

Skills
Communication Skills (continue)• Answer Written: you often need to write important reports for
management and regulators and/or auditors. Internal documentation ofprocesses is needed as well. You also need to use e-mail effectively tocommunicate with non actuarial staff, the field force, and customers
who need to have technical concepts explained in non-technical language.
Verbal: same reasons as above, without the written reports for regulators
and auditors. Public speaking: you are often required to makepresentations to audiences with varying actuarial knowledge.
• Answer You need good writing and verbal skills. Mastering two or morelanguages is a must.
• Answer The biggest challenge is to understand what you are doing andthen to be able to explain it to people who don't have an actuarial
background. Therefore, it requires excellent communication skills if you
don't want to spend your life in front of your computer.
• Answer You need to be able to communicate complex actuarial concepts
to a variety of audiences and levels of understanding.
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p51 - 52

Skills
Communication Skills (continue)• Answer Expression. It might often be hard to express a mathematical calculation in words, but this is anecessary ability. When working with a team, it is necessary to be able to discuss one's work and the needfor certain calculations. It is important to be able to give oral presentations and to be able to speak in frontof a crowd. In a corporation, you must speak in front of a group to share knowledge and ideas.
• Answer Verbal and presentation skills to be able to present and sell your ideas and concepts tomanagement. This is often critical when you work closely with upper management (such as corporate
actuaries).
• Answer Depending on the actuarial field, various levels of communication skills are required. For
consulting actuaries, communication skills are extremely important. The level of knowledge of clients isquite broad; ranging from clients who are well informed to clients who have only a basic knowledge anddepend on consultants to provide them with the required knowledge and information. A consulting
actuary must therefore be able to communicate technical information into laymen terms and be able totailor the information based on the level of knowledge of the clients.
• Answer Actuaries need both written and oral communication skills, especially as more responsibilities are
assigned to them. Actuarial mathematics is a difficult concept. and it is difficult to explain to a lay
audience. Further more, at least with P/C companies, actuaries interact a lot with marketing, sales, andbranch managers. In addition, all corporate actuaries interact with finance and upper management, as wellas IT [information technology]. Rarely do actuaries price a product in a vacuum. The actuarial indication is
only the beginning of the process. What good is it to price a product at the actuarially sound rate if nobody
is going to buy it? Especially if the high price· is driven from conservative assumptions. Pricing actuaries
often have to explain or sell their recommended increases to a variety of people. When involved in various
projects (or business), actuaries are often experts relied upon to help shape the requirements of the project.
Good writing skills are essential in these instances. Corporate actuaries often need to explain their IBNR
[incurred but not reported] loss reserve calculations to upper management. When a change in IBNR canerase the entire profit for a given year, not only are good communication skills necessary, political savvy isalso essential! At a certain level, appointed actuaries also have to report to the Board of Directors. To avoid
the "glassy eye" syndrome, good verbal communication skills are again essential.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p51 - 52

Actuary Around the World

Australia
•

•
•

•

•
•
•
•

Admission as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (FIAA) is granted once all five parts of the Institute ofActuaries of Australia's (IAAust) education program are successfully completed: (1) Part I- Technical Subjects. (2) Part li
The Actuarial Control Cycle. (3) Part III-Specialist Subjects. (4) The Practical Experience Requirement. (5) Professionalism
Course.
Part I is made up of nine subjects including statistical modeling, financial mathematics, stochastic modeling, survival
models, actuarial mathematics, economics, finance and financial reporting and financial economics. All nine subjects
must be completed.
Accredited undergraduate actuarial programs and non-award courses are offered by Macquarie University, Sydney, theUniversity of Melbourne, the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and the University of New South Wales(UNSW) in Sydney. Alternatively, these subjects can be studied by correspondence through the Institute of Actuaries(London).
Part II of actuarial education is the actuarial control cycle, which is an innovative means for learning how to apply
actuarial skills to business situations across a wide range of traditional and non-traditional practice areas. Developed by
the IAAust, this course is taught by four universities in Australia (as mentioned above). A strong and rigorous policy
framework for accreditation of the university courses is in place, so that the IAAust maintains quality control of theteaching and assessment of the courses. After completing Parts I and II, members achieve Associateship of the IAAust(AIAA).
Part III consists of specialist subjects, of which students must complete two, in life insurance, general insurance,
superannuation and planned savings, finance, and investment management. These yearlong courses are developed andmanaged by the IAAust and are offered by distance education.
Students must complete 45 full-time working weeks of relevant work experience after having completed Part II. Activities
that qualify as relevant experience would include work that makes use of economic, financial and statistical principles tosolve practical problems; work that deals with the financial implications of uncertain events.
The Professionalism Course is a highly participative three-day residential course conducted by the IAAust. It aims tofacilitate knowledge of the obligations, risks and the legal responsibilities of being a member of the actuarial profession.
The IAAust has concluded a number of bilateral agreements for mutual recognition of Fellows with the Faculty andInstitute of Actuaries (UK), the Society of Actuaries, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and the Society of Actuaries
of Ireland.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p73

Actuary Around the WorldFrance•

The education of actuaries in France is university-based. Three universities offer degree programs in actuarial
science: Brest, Lyon, and Strasbourg. According to Morgan (“Love it or hate it”, The Actuary 2001), "The
profession is still underdeveloped compared to the United Kingdom, and France is the only European country
where actuaries are not a legally recognized profession." Morgan points out that "as in many European countries,
the actuarial profession has been more academic and less practical than that in the United Kingdom, but this ischanging as elements of accounting, law, and tax have been added to the course of study. These days, actuaries
work in banks and consultancies as well as in insurance companies. In insurance their role is widening toinclude marketing and communication as well as just technical matters such as ALM [Asset and liability
management], and embedded values are starting to become more widespread."

Germany••

Germany has its own version of professional accreditation. In order to qualify for membership in the Deutsche
Aktuarvereinigung (Actuarial Association of Ger many), candidates must pass examinations testing their generaland specific com petence in actuarial science. The Deutsche Aktuarvereinigung has joined fo ces with theDeutsche Gesellschaft fiir Versicherungsmathematik (German Society for Insurance Mathematics) and theInstitut der Versicherungsmathematischen Sachverstiindigen (Institute of Experts in Insurance Mathematics) andfounded the Deutsche Aktuar-Akademie (DAA) (German Actuarial Academy), which provides basic and advanced
training for actuaries. The DAA holds seminars and workshops for the courses in which actuarial candidates are
examined.
The German accreditation system consists of three levels of examinations, each consisting of several courses.
Each level is considered to require one year of preparation. Level 1 consists of three examinations and one
compulsory course in data processing. The subjects examined include mathematics of the life insurance,
mathematics of finance, and other elementary actuarial topics. Level 2 consists of two examinations, chosenfrom four topic areas: P/C, pensions and stochastic methods, real estate, and health. Level 3 consists of acompulsory seminar and examination in one of the following specialties: life insurance, P/C, pensions,applications of stochastic methods, health, and finance. Several German universities offer degree programs in
actuarial science. Among them are the universities of Ulm and Gottingen.

Quoted from “Actuaries’ survival Guide” p73

Actuary Around the World

Japan
•

•

The actuarial education is profession-based. The Institute of Actuaries of Japan offers
actuarial courses that enable applicants to acquire basic knowledge and to prepare for
qualification examinations. Actuarial courses are divided into two categories, basic andadvanced courses. The basic courses are intended for students of the Institute, whileadvanced courses are aimed at persons who have completed the basic subjects.
To become an Associate member of the Institute, candidates must pass examinations in
the following five basic courses:
1. Probability and statistics.
2. Basic principles and applications of life insurance mathematics.
3. Basic principles and applications of non-life insurance mathematics.
4. Basic principles of pension mathematics and pension finance.
5. Basic principles of accounting, economics and investment theory. After
passing these courses, candidates qualify for Associate membership in the Institute ofActuaries of Japan.

Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p81

Actuary Around the World

Japan
•

•

•

•

To become a Fellow of the Institute, Associates must pass two additional advanced
courses: (LI1) Life insurance products and development and (LI2) Life insurance
accounting, settlements of accounts, or (NLI1) non-life insurance products anddevelopment and (NLI2) non-life insurance accounting, settlements of accounts andasset management, or (PI) Tax qualified pension plan scheme and pension-related tax
and accounting and (P2) Public pension system and employees' pension fund scheme.
Fellowships are approved by the Board of Directors of the Institute. New fellows arealso strongly recommended to take a half-day professionalism course.
The education system of the Institute is under review with the following objectives:
broader areas to be examined and the completion of a professionalism course forfellowship will eventually he required.
Several Japanese universities offer courses on actuarial mathematics and risk
management, but there are no exemptions for qualification examinations. In 2001, themembership of the Institute was made up as follows: 958 Fellows (including six
honorary members), 772 Associates, and 1667 Students.
[As of 31. Jan. 2011, 1,254 Fellows, 963 Associates, 2,255 Students, total 4,472.]
Quoted from Fred E. Szabo “Actuaries’ survival Guide” Academic Press (2004) p81

Occupational distribution of Japanese Actuaries
Life

Trust
Bank

Non-Life

Others

Total

Fellow

534

180

171

369

1,254

Associate

404

103

155

301

963

Student

892

153

374

863

2,255

Total

1,830

436

700

1,506

4,472

This is the occupational distribution of the actuaries of Japan. As of 31. Jan. 2011.
40.9% in the Life business, 15.7% in non-life, 9.7% in trust bank.
Historically, Life business needs many actuaries.

http://www.actuaries.jp/actuary/fields.html

Role of Japanese Chief Actuary
Article 120 (Appointment of Actuary, etc.)(1) The board of directors of an Insurance Company (limited to a Life
Insurance Company or a Non-Life Insurance Company meeting therequirements specified by a Cabinet Office Ordinance. The same shallapply in the paragraph (3) and in Article 122) shall appoint an actuary
to Participate in the matters prescribed by a Cabinet Office Ordinanceas actuarial matters pertaining, among others, to the method of
calculating insurance premiums.
(2) The actuary shall be a person with necessary knowledge andexperience with regard to actuarial science who meets therequirements specified by a Cabinet Office Ordinance.
(3) An Insurance Company shall, when it has appointed an actuary or
when its actuary has left his/her office, notify the Prime Minister
thereof without delay, pursuant to the provisions of a Cabinet Office
Ordinance.
Japanese Insurance Business Law
http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/19/ginkou/20080627-4/03.pdf

Role of Japanese Chief Actuary
Article 121 (Actuary’s Duties)(1) The actuary shall, for each accounting period, check the following
matters pursuant to the provisions of a Cabinet Office Ordinance andsubmit to the board of directors a written opinion describing his/herfindings:(i) Whether the policy reserve pertaining to the insurance contracts
specified by a Cabinet Office Ordinance has been funded
according to sound actuarial practice;(ii) Whether policy dividends or dividends of surplus to members
have been distributed in a fair and equitable manner; and(iii) Any other matter specified by a Cabinet Office Ordinance.

Japanese Insurance Business Law
http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/19/ginkou/20080627-4/03.pdf

Role of Japanese Chief Actuary
Article 121 (Actuary’s Duties) (continue)(2) The actuary shall, without delay following the submission to the boardof directors of the written opinion set forth in the preceding paragraph,submit a copy of the written opinion to the Prime Minister.
(3) The Prime Minister may request the actuary to provide explanations
about the copy of his/her written opinion set forth in the preceding
paragraph and to present an opinion on any other matter in the scopeof his/her duties.
(4) In addition to what is provided for in the preceding three paragraphs,
any necessary matter regarding the written opinion set forth inparagraph (1) shall be specified by a Cabinet Office Ordinance.

Japanese Insurance Business Law
http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/19/ginkou/20080627-4/03.pdf

Role of Japanese Chief Actuary
Article 122 (Dismissal of Actuary)
The Prime Minister may order an Insurance Company to dismiss its actuary,
when the latter has violated any provision of this Act or any measures of thePrime Minister under this Act.

Japanese Insurance Business Law
http://www.fsa.go.jp/news/19/ginkou/20080627-4/03.pdf

Actuary Around World

Korea
•

•

•
•

To be the assistant actuary, the student has to pass the 4 exam. After that, passing the three professional exams,
he’ll be a candidate to be fellow. For being the fellow, it is required to finish two years’ practical experience in thefinancial institute, or half years’ experience and the submitting the qualified article.
The detail of the subjects are presented in the following sheets. One of the distinctive subjects is the Language.
The applicant has to choice English or Japanese.
From 2014, the Korean examination system will be changed. The subjects will have much more risk management
items.
Following table shows the number of fellows and assistant actuaries in Korea. (as of June 2012)

Total

1,327

Fellow

820

Assistant Actuary507

First stage
Subject 1
Subject 2
Second stage

9:00～10:20（80 minute）
Insurance Law (contract andbusiness law)
Economics or Business science
9:00～10:40
Insurance Theory

10:50～12:40（110 minute）
Language (English or
Japanese)
Insurance Math.（Basic Life
Ins. Math., calculus andprobability）

11:00～12:40
Accounting

13:40～15:40
Actuarial Math

1. The pass mark of the each subject of the first stage is 40, however the
average of the paired subjects shall be over 60.
2. For the second stage, the pass mark is also 40 for each subject, however,
the examination committee decides the number of the successful
applicants. This number varies every year. In the past, the number was
10 to 20, but recently this number is over 100.
3. After the second stage, two years’ business experience (OJT), or halfyears’ business experience and submitting a study paper, the applicant
will be a fellow of the Korean actuary.
4. There is two years limited period to success the second stage, thecandidate has to pass all subjects of second stage within two years.

Up to 2013
1 Economics or Business science
2 Insurance Math.
3 Language
First stage 4 Insurance related Laws

Secondstage

1 Insurance theory
2 Accounting
3 Actuarial Math

From 2014
1 Economics
2 Insurance Math.
3 English
4 Law (Insurance contract, Insurance
Business and workers’ retirement
benefit law)
5 Accounting
1 Actuarial risk management
2 Actuarial Math.
3 Pension Math.
4 Actuarial modeling
5 Corporate finance and financial technology

1. Expand the Exam to the risk management and finance2. The sufficient mark of TOEIC or TOEFL is substitute for Exam of English
3. There is five years restriction period to pass the second stage, thecandidate has to complete all subjects of second stage within five years.
4. To be a fellow, it is requested business experience.

ASA Pathway to Membership
FAP

Exam P

Exam MFE
Exam C

Exam FMExam MLC

VEE
Exam P : Probability
Exam FM : Financial Mathematics
Exam MFE : Actuarial Models – Financial Economics
Exam MLC : Actuarial Models – Life Contingencies
Exam C : Construction and Evaluation of Actuarial Model
FAP : Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice
VEE : Validation by Educational Experience
APC : Associateship Professionalism Course

APC

FSA Pathway to Membership

When you are ready to take the Fellowship-level requirements, you must select a specialty track
and complete all requirements in the track (Mixing requirements from different tracks is not
permitted.). The SOA offers six specialty tracks.

Corporate
Finance and
ERM

IndividualLife andAnnuities

Group and
HealthQuantitative
Finance andInvestment

Retirement
Benefits

GeneralInsurance

FSA Pathway to Membership
Ex. Individual Life and Annuities

Regulation and Taxation Module
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)
ModuleDMAC
The Decision Making andCommunication

FAC
Fellowship Admission Course

Financial Economic Modules

Life Pricing ExamLife Finance and Valuation ExamLife Risk Management Exam or ERM Exam

CERA
Changing the conversation around risk
Risk has changed. So, too, has the kind of professional best qualified to manage it.
The most comprehensive and rigorous demonstration of enterprise risk expertiseavailable, the Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst® (CERA) is a professional who
blends the quantitative and the qualitative—who thinks critically, creatively andcollectively about risk, and acts with integrity.
Building upon a rich history and standard of excellence, the CERA credential fromthe Society of Actuaries CERA reflects the actuary’s evolution—from helping theworld better understand risk to playing a leading role in an organization’s risk
management. Today, CERAs are changing the conversation around risk—speaking
not merely to what we can lose, but to what we can gain.
No other type of risk professional is better equipped to take a 360-degree
approach to risk, to drive better decision-making and optimize risk enterprise wide.
- See more at: http://www.ceranalyst.org/index.asp#sthash.tFqATDEd.dpuf- http://www.ceranalyst.org/index.asp

CERA Pathway to Membership

FAP

Exam P

Exam MFE

Exam FMExam CVEE

ERM Module

ERM Exam

APC

About the salary survey

About the salary survey

http://www.actuaryjobs.com/

Summary
1. Mathematics and Statistics is important
2. The daily life of an actuary is so called “breadand-butter.”
3. PC skill, especially the Microsoft Excel, Excel
VBA, Word, Access and PPT are essential.
4. Programing languages are also important.
5. Patience and hard work are the key to success.