I am thinking of going into Actuarial work and was wondering if anyone can give me a heads up. How do they manage the study/work/life balance is it intensive work? How long does it take to pass the exams if you go in one sitting and are the US/UK qualifications acceptable in either country or not?
I’m an actuary. Rather than really being helpful, I’ll just point you to the actuarial forum. http://www.actuarialoutpost.com
I would humbly call myself an actuarial student; I’ve only passed 2 exams, just sat for my third. The actuarial career path is paved with great peril and dangers! Haha, just kidding. In terms of exams I would say it’s a lot harder. The mathematics involved is just levels and levels above anything you would see in CFA’s, I would daresay, without seeing the Level II and III exams. If you’re really good at math give it a shot. Also the actuarial exam path is much longer; there are 5 preliminary exams, then some modules, then more exams, and then modules. Some people get their CFA certification in 1.5 years sitting for one each time, but I think min travel time for actuaries is like 4-5 years. But yea, for more information I would also point you to the www.actuarialoutpost.com
how many people have, in fact, passed all the actuary exams? it’s gotta be less than 20,000. The valedictorian of my high school passed all of em and the dude was a genius(1580 SAT) etc.
SATs honestly are not really a good indicator of how well you will do on actuarial exams. But yes, I believe it is a fact that there are much fewer actuaries than CFA’s. The societies have done a good job of making the exam process long and grueling, and thus weeding out a lot of people from the actuarial career, which is a large part of why actuaries have such high salaries. It’s a blessing and a curse.
There are 20,000 members in the Society of Actuaries, which includes fellows (passed all exams) and associates (passed most exams). There’s also the Casualty Actuary Society and some other organizations in other countries. Your estimate of 20,000 is probably a little low but not far off. There are quite a few actuaries who study for CFA Level I for two weeks (our exams are in May and November) and pass. Obviously there’s some overlap between the exams, so that may not be as impressive as it sounds. Here’s a few comments from the CFA section of the actuarial forum: The Professional 07-24-2008, 02:18 AM I know a couple of actuaries that were able to pass CFA 1 after having just sat for 6 with just 2 weeks of studying. But that was at least 3 years ago and I think the exam may have changed a bit since then. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- stochasticsimulation 07-24-2008, 02:54 AM 1 month of studying with your course 6 backgrond should be sufficient. Make sure you pay attention to the ethics section and perhaps the accounting stuff. I passed CFA 1 with just a couple days of studying after passing AFE/FET. Have some high quality study sessions and you will be fine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IdRatherBeFishin 07-24-2008, 09:35 PM I managed to pass CFA 1 with 10 days of studying last year. Fresh out of school and still on the actuarial prelims. There wan’t much on the exam that I hadn’t covered in the business minor for my undergrad degree. It isn’t an easy exam but it isn’t on par with actuarial exams IMO. Source: http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/archive/index.php/t-143629.html
I’m going toward the CERA designation. The financial/risk management path of the actuarial degree. It’s put out there to compete against the FRM. I find the CERA path more rewarding in terms of knowledge gained and time taken to complete the exams. I believe you’ll need: exam 1 (P - probabilty) exam 2 (FM - financial mathematics) exam 3l (MFE - financial engineering) exam ERM (enterprise risk management - this one is part of the FSA curriculum). one module? ethics course? ASA you will need: exam 1 § exam 2 (FM) exam 3f and 3l (MLC - life contingency and MFE) exam 4 (forgot what this was) and couple of modules or courses FSA you will need: everything above in ASA, a specialty path: couple more exams depending on specialization + modules. Name Last, CFA, CAIA, CERA looks pretty badass if you asked me.
FRM is more recognizable no? im thinking about perhaps getting this one down the road
I don’t think anything is more recognizable or honorable than the path of Actuary. They are so few that I only have met one, and my lord, what prestige, amazing!
An actuary is someone who wanted to be an accountant but did not have the personality for it.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > An actuary is someone who wanted to be an > accountant but did not have the personality for > it. wow, that’s rough man
My dad decided to be an actuary after he saw someone’s hand get blown off in chemistry lab during college, so he made a huge switch. lol
surveyinn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t think anything is more recognizable or > honorable than the path of Actuary. They are so > few that I only have met one, and my lord, what > prestige, amazing! Well, no less than 20,000 of them around in USA - not exacly gold dust then.
I’m an actuary. Actuarial exams are much much much much much much more computationally difficult than CFA. If you are one of those people that complains that the Quant section of CFA is hard, then actuarial exams are not for you. Time to get fully credentialed varies a lot by person, but is probably a minimum of 4-5 years for most. Average time is probably closer to 7-8 years.
wake2000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > how many people have, in fact, passed all the > actuary exams? it’s gotta be less than 20,000. > The valedictorian of my high school passed all of > em and the dude was a genius(1580 SAT) etc. There are probably about 10,000-12,000 fully credentialed actuaries in the US (either FSA or FCAS). The description of your high school classmate is a typical description of an actuary - the peer group of people taking/passing exams is very strong. The majority of actuaries were “that guy who was the smartest one in their high school math class”.
CERA is less recognized than an FSA, mainly because it’s a credential that was just recently created while FSA has been around for many decades. adalfu - you were on the right track. ASA: exam 1/P - probability exam 2/FM - financial mathematics exam 3/MFE/MLC - now split into two exams, which I will call 3a, 3b, modeling for financial economics, modeling for life contingencies exam 4/C - Ahhh forgot what this one was called all of the sudden, but many of my co-workers say this is the hardest preliminary exam. Modules - half a year Midterm Assignment - kind of like a really really hard take home exam that you submit online Modules - half a year Final Assessment - an even harder take home exam. I believe you get to work on it for a month, and submit online. Also there are VEE requirements (evidence of having been educated in various financial topics: economics, time series, something else) All that is for your ASA!!
Being that my bf is a FSA healthcare actuary, I will share the following original hahas… If you tend to do the following you may be a good candidate for the field. You know you are dating an actuary if -countdown: 15. He communicates love using charts, parameters and significance levels 14. People start looking at you funny 13. Your handwriting starts to get smaller 12. You start trying to forecast his survival rate 11. Your doctor starts prescribing you anti-stress meds 10. You have Pi for desert on a square plate 9. Your boyfriend uses less than 50 words to communicate with you 8. He can only say “I love you” in one tone but you are happy you got at least that much 7. You are surrounded by framed certifications and old exam materials from 10 years ago 6. You include football office pool winnings in his total income 5. You found a monthly spreadsheet of expenses listing you under “extraordinary items” 4. A pair of new shocks is classified as one having less than 3 holes in it 3. He gets out of the car twice to readjust his distance from the garage walls before parking 2. Your maintenance inventory of toothpaste is over 14 tubes 1. You know he is really smart but you have not been able to prove it I keep telling him he could pass the CFA L1 in less than 6 weeks…but he is sick of studying. Also he was my quant professor during this and have said to me “why don’t you understand bootstrapping…it’s easy” same thing with spots rates and forward rates… And yes he was the one walking around during the calculus class helping the teacher explain the math to the normal people.
Nep-hi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Being that my bf is a FSA healthcare actuary, I > will share the following original hahas… > If you tend to do the following you may be a good > candidate for the field. > > You know you are dating an actuary if > -countdown: > > 15. He communicates love using charts, parameters > and significance levels > 14. People start looking at you funny > 13. Your handwriting starts to get smaller > 12. You start trying to forecast his survival > rate > 11. Your doctor starts prescribing you > anti-stress meds > 10. You have Pi for desert on a square plate > 9. Your boyfriend uses less than 50 words to > communicate with you > 8. He can only say “I love you” in one tone but > you are happy you got at least that much > 7. You are surrounded by framed certifications > and old exam materials from 10 years ago > 6. You include football office pool winnings in > his total income > 5. You found a monthly spreadsheet of expenses > listing you under “extraordinary items” > 4. A pair of new shocks is classified as one > having less than 3 holes in it > 3. He gets out of the car twice to readjust his > distance from the garage walls before parking > 2. Your maintenance inventory of toothpaste is > over 14 tubes > 1. You know he is really smart but you have not > been able to prove it > > I keep telling him he could pass the CFA L1 in > less than 6 weeks…but he is sick of studying. > Also he was my quant professor during this and > have said to me “why don’t you understand > bootstrapping…it’s easy” same thing with spots > rates and forward rates… And yes he was the one > walking around during the calculus class helping > the teacher explain the math to the normal people. Great explanation. Since he is an Actuary, he must be definately sick of studying. You should be happy to know that Actuary is one of the top 3 stable and high paying professions in the world. so bottom line, never dump him!
LOL…I’ll have to tell him you said he is in the 3rd most stable and high paying jobs…he would say “good” to the stable part b/c change would throw off his game and as for the high paying part, he would say “if I spent all the last ten years concentrating as hard doing something else, I would have made a whole lot more that this…I had no life for 10 years you know…” This is why I call him Chief Nerd. I love big brains;P