Actuaries pride themselves on their ability to make financial sense of the future.
This expertise gives the actuarial profession an unrivalled appreciation of financial risk management - one of the most fundamental, but poorly understood, areas of business. Being skilled mathematicians, actuaries are able to analyse past events, assess the present risks involved, and model what could happen in the future. Actuaries may then forecast the long term financial implications of business decisions to assess the most likely outcomes and the chances of more or less favourable outcomes occurring. Traditionally, actuaries have played a vital and irreplaceable role in the design, management and control of pension funds and insurance companies that millions of people rely on for a dignified retirement and financial security for their families. But now actuarial skills are being applied to many other areas of business as well.