Actuary – consultancy
Working with a variety of clients, an actuarial consultant will advise on pensions, mergers and acquisitions, risk management and recovery and financing of corporate projects. The majority of actuaries in the UK work within a consultancy role.
Actuary – investments
The models and techniques applied by actuaries can be used to buy and sell assets, measure and analyse investment performance and decisions and portfolio management. The use of actuary’s skills in assessing risk also apply in corporate finance and banking, to ensure maximum return on an investment. The world of investments, especially within banking, can be fast moving, slightly different from that of the consultancy, insurance and pensions world.
Actuary – insurance
You’ll generally be working in house, with your client being your employer, within the area of life or general insurance. Within life you’ll be responsible for developing and pricing insurance products, risk assessment and even marketing. Actuaries working within general insurance, which includes personal and commercial insurance, will advise on their company’s financial management. Often an insurance actuary will advise their employer on the size of monetary reserves for claims and will assess risk verses the benefit of an insurance product. Depending on the type of company an actuary is working for will depend on their area of specialism, e.g. car insurance, healthcare, finance etc.
Actuary – pensions
The mathematical and statistical work an actuary contributes to the design and format of occupational pension schemes, whether for the individual or for a large scheme with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. An actuary working in pensions must ensure enough money is available for pension pay-outs but must measure the risk of investments made with the pension reserves.
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