actuarial exemptions (2 Viewers)

movie hunter

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keithmoon said:
The good news is that in a few years time, associates will also be allowed to use the title 'Actuary'. That's very good news.

And no, you dont have to repeat ECON1201....I am fairly certain. Don't quote me on it though 'cause im not 100% sure...just 99.95% sure.
in the 2nd semester of 1st year, we use math1251 to substitute econ1203(QMB), if drop out from actuarial after the 1st year, then would need to take econ1203 ??but in order to take econ1203 , the prerequisite is econ 1201...so if dont have econ1203 , how to proceed to econ1203?
 

Pwnage101

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keithmoon said:
The good news is that in a few years time, associates will also be allowed to use the title 'Actuary'. That's very good news.

And no, you dont have to repeat ECON1201....I am fairly certain. Don't quote me on it though 'cause im not 100% sure...just 99.95% sure.
Really?? Never knew that.

Nice!!!
 

dvse

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Pwnage101 said:
Really?? Never knew that.

Nice!!!

It may not pass if it ever goes to general vote. Also signing any statutory documents that go to APRA / ASIC will still require an FIAA, so not sure what the actual implications will be.
 

alanbrucelee

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Question:

I'm in my final year at UNSW, and planning on doing non-awards for part II. However, I was unable to get my CT7 Economics exemption.

Do students normally just overload and do the UK exams in the final year?
Or do they just do it in the 4th, postponing the part II courses?
Or does UNSW allow them to do everything simul. in the 4th?

Help would be appreciated.
 

dvse

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alanbrucelee said:
Question:

I'm in my final year at UNSW, and planning on doing non-awards for part II. However, I was unable to get my CT7 Economics exemption.

Do students normally just overload and do the UK exams in the final year?
Or do they just do it in the 4th, postponing the part II courses?
Or does UNSW allow them to do everything simul. in the 4th?

Help would be appreciated.

UNSW seems to be pretty backwards about the requirements for Part II - they definitely will let you do it in MQ, better course too (and they have a class in the city).
 

dvse

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Can any one help me with questions I have about the actuarial industry/profession?

p.s I have searched the IAA website extensively
What are your questions?
 

akqjt

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What are your questions?
I'm looking at doing a masters in actuarial studies as a way to get into the profession, but there's a lot I don't know to see if it's worth it.

- What are the main areas of employment that ACTL grads get into upon graduation? Please detail the type of role, duties, remuneration, future career path(s) etc. For every area/role you provide me with could you also tell me how 'easy' it is to get in terms of what employers require of you etc. I'm just checking that I don't have to get an 80+ WAM to be employable upon graduation

- Does graduating with L2 exemption make you significantly more employable than a grad with just L1 exemption? The reason I ask if because, for masters, you have 4 electives of which you can choose risk mgmt subjects, L2 subjects or other faculty subjects. I'm considering doing 4 MATH#### subjects in case I ever want to get into quantitative finance, or a non-actuarial position. What do you think? I've read a vault.com article about a financial service actuary talking about strategies to maximise investment returns and shiz, sounds interesting.

Thanks
 

dvse

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- What are the main areas of employment that ACTL grads get into upon graduation? Please detail the type of role, duties, remuneration, future career path(s) etc. For every area/role you provide me with could you also tell me how 'easy' it is to get in terms of what employers require of you etc. I'm just checking that I don't have to get an 80+ WAM to be employable upon graduation
The only real areas are GI, Life and (defined benefit) super. Outside of these one is fairly unlikely to think of himself as an actuary. These jobs exist both in insurance companies and consultancies. 80 WAM would help, but 75 should probably be okay. Not sure if anyone will be able provide the statistics you are looking for. Have a look at the IAAust annual report to see member distribution by practice area etc. There is definitely an oversupply of grads so getting in isn't easy in any area, particularly with ongoing consolidations.





- Does graduating with L2 exemption make you significantly more employable than a grad with just L1 exemption? The reason I ask if because, for masters, you have 4 electives of which you can choose risk mgmt subjects, L2 subjects or other faculty subjects. I'm considering doing 4 MATH#### subjects in case I ever want to get into quantitative finance, or a non-actuarial position. What do you think? I've read a vault.com article about a financial service actuary talking about strategies to maximise investment returns and shiz, sounds interesting.

Part 2 exams will probably help, try to do a part 3 exam if you can as well. If you are going to do maths courses, fundamental areas like linear algebra, analysis and differential geometry would be considerably more helpful than stochastic processes etc if your aim is to actually understand what's going on - also helpful for machine learning used in algo trading.

"Portfolio optimisation" is largely a pseudoscience, but your call.
 

akqjt

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The only real areas are GI, Life and (defined benefit) super. Outside of these one is fairly unlikely to think of himself as an actuary. These jobs exist both in insurance companies and consultancies. 80 WAM would help, but 75 should probably be okay. Not sure if anyone will be able provide the statistics you are looking for. Have a look at the IAAust annual report to see member distribution by practice area etc. There is definitely an oversupply of grads so getting in isn't easy in any area, particularly with ongoing consolidations.








Part 2 exams will probably help, try to do a part 3 exam if you can as well. If you are going to do maths courses, fundamental areas like linear algebra, analysis and differential geometry would be considerably more helpful than stochastic processes etc if your aim is to actually understand what's going on - also helpful for machine learning used in algo trading.

"Portfolio optimisation" is largely a pseudoscience, but your call.

How about areas that are non-traditional actuary work? (outside insurance). Positions at IBs, trading firms etc. How far does a degree in actuary qualify you to try your hand at quantitative finance?
 

dvse

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How about areas that are non-traditional actuary work? (outside insurance). Positions at IBs, trading firms etc. How far does a degree in actuary qualify you to try your hand at quantitative finance?
In Australia specifically, you have a reasonable chance of getting into graduate programs at commercial and investment banks, probably the same as a finance degree or economics degree.

The actual material you learn in the program leaves you completely unprepared for anything that is usually called "quantitative finance", in that respect it's nearly as useless as a finance major. You need graduate level maths and some decent programming skills and actl doesn't come close.
 
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dvse

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Yeah, regarding salary, it's probably around $150k 5 years post qualification in an insurance company.
 

akqjt

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In Australia specifically, you have a reasonable chance of getting into graduate programs at commercial and investment banks, probably the same as a finance degree or economics degree.

The actual material you learn in the program leaves you completely unprepared for anything that is usually called "quantitative finance", in that respect it's nearly as useless as a finance major. You need graduate level maths and some decent programming skills and actl doesn't come close.
Thanks dvse
 

akqjt

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dvse, another couple questions:

I've been reading the most attractive feature of being an actuary (one that works in an insurance line) is that the hours are strictly 9-5 and once you become an FIAA, you could potentially be making 150k-250k whilst still maintaining a healthy 40 hour work week. What are your thoughts?

Do you know any thing about risk management? I mean, all big banks and trading houses have a risk management division, which I assume is like market risk, credit risk, liqduity risk etc - I've been reading that actuaries can also find employment in this industry (true/false?), what are the condition like?
 

dvse

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dvse, another couple questions:

I've been reading the most attractive feature of being an actuary (one that works in an insurance line) is that the hours are strictly 9-5 and once you become an FIAA, you could potentially be making 150k-250k whilst still maintaining a healthy 40 hour work week. What are your thoughts?
This is fairly accurate, yes, but the trends are not encouraging. It is probably fair to say that the salaries have been falling in real terms for quite some time. For 250k you will have to be a department head.

Do you know any thing about risk management? I mean, all big banks and trading houses have a risk management division, which I assume is like market risk, credit risk, liqduity risk etc - I've been reading that actuaries can also find employment in this industry (true/false?), what are the condition like?

All this VaR based stuff is now largely seen as somewhat inadequate. It will not be surprising if there are pretty big changes to how 'risk management' is done. You can probably get an entry level job with an actuarial degree, statistics/computer scence with some finance or economics would be more useful.
 

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dvse, another couple questions:

I've been reading the most attractive feature of being an actuary (one that works in an insurance line) is that the hours are strictly 9-5 and once you become an FIAA, you could potentially be making 150k-250k whilst still maintaining a healthy 40 hour work week. What are your thoughts?

Do you know any thing about risk management? I mean, all big banks and trading houses have a risk management division, which I assume is like market risk, credit risk, liqduity risk etc - I've been reading that actuaries can also find employment in this industry (true/false?), what are the condition like?
my boss' regular hours are 8:30 to 6/7 and potentially you could earn billions without going to uni.
 
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Dt 08

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hey

i am thinking of possibly doing actuarial studies, but am a bit worried about the difficulty of the course and the high dropout rates

would anyone roughly know how many first years end up becoming fully qualified as an actuarist?

thanks
 

lyounamu

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Ok, let me get this straight (Since there seem to be some contrasting ideas and views about actuarial II exemption.

So if you do ANY combined degree at UNSW (e.g. commerce/eco), u can get the exemption for the part II of Actuarial qualifacation?

hey

i am thinking of possibly doing actuarial studies, but am a bit worried about the difficulty of the course and the high dropout rates

would anyone roughly know how many first years end up becoming fully qualified as an actuarist?

thanks
More research would be helpful.
 
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azureus88

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Ok, let me get this straight (Since there seem to be some contrasting ideas and views about actuarial II exemption.

So if you do ANY combined degree at UNSW (e.g. commerce/eco), u can get the exemption for the part II of Actuarial qualifacation?
If you do any combined degree, you still have to complete the UNSW Part II courses ACTL4001 and ACTL4002 along with your combined degree if you want the part II exemptions. Also, in order to enrol for ACTL4001 and ACTL4002 you need to first:

1) complete your part I
2) average mark of at least 70% in the ACTL courses completed to date and have at least 3 months work experience in a financial services company

For more info, check out this site. It's got a pretty detailed explanation towards the end:

http://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/students/current/ugactuarialprograms.html
 

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