Actuary Powered by Actuary Overview Actuaries are vicarious risk-takers. They calculate risk by analyzing statistics and, based on their analysis, make decisions regarding pricing and investment strategies. Some actuaries work in the financial services industry, while others specialize in insurance and pension plans. Whatever the industry, actuaries decide whether a venture is financially sound.
Actuaries are the reason teenagers driving sports cars pay such prohibitively high premiums.
Actuaries ensure that insurance prices will enable the company to pay all claims and expenses and that the price yields a profit. Their keen mathematical skills and analytical abilities are a boon in investing, classifying risk, planning pensions, managing credit, and pricing corporate offerings. Once they reach upper-level management positions, actuaries are often called upon to determine and implement complex company policies. Actuaries also often testify in court to verify the loss incurred by a policyholder who has been disabled or killed and in divorce cases as to the current value of pension benefits. Actuaries may also appear before public agencies to contest legislation that affects their businesses.