About Nanyang Business School

The Actuarial Science curriculum is designed for students who wish to pursue a career in various insurance, financial, and risk management areas as an actuarial professional. This three-year honours degree programme provides a solid and thorough grounding in modern actuarial skills. Students will receive an all-rounded training, ranging from traditional actuarial mathematics, statistics, to financial economics. Through the University’s exemption agreement with the Institute of Actuaries (UK), students also have the opportunity to obtain exemptions for Core Technical Subjects, which form an important and foundational part of the requirements to qualify as an actuary. The uniqueness of both the curriculum design and exemption opportunity has attracted numerous bright and intelligent students, both local and overseas, to undertake this major over the past fifteen years.

The work of an actuary requires strong analytical skills and is based on a multi-disciplinary background of mathematics, statistics, demographics, finance, and economics. It involves the identification, assessment, and management of various risks faced by financial institutions such as market risk, credit risk, pricing risk, reserving risk, operational risk, and catastrophic risk.  Equipped with such strong and diverse set of skills, together with effective communication skills, actuaries are highly capable to serve as financial advisors to a wide variety of organisations such as life, general, and health insurers, pension schemes, banks, consulting firms, and government departments. The types of work include risk analysis and management, design and pricing of insurance and financial products, investment and financial management, and capital adequacy and solvency assessment.

Actuaries are a highly regarded profession worldwide. The actuarial profession has been ranked within the best three jobs by Jobs Rated Almanac in the US for almost every year since 1988, based on such criteria as income, prospects, security, stress, and work environment. In the US, UK, Australia, and Asia-Pacific, a recently qualified actuary with a few years of post qualification experience would earn approximately $120,000+ per annum, while more senior and experienced actuaries would earn $250,000+ per annum (see The Actuary, Jan/Feb 2005 and The Actuarial Review, May 2008). With the continual growth of life and general insurance business, recent international regulatory changes in general insurance, increasing awareness of appropriate risk management, expansion of actuarial skills into finance and investment areas, and rapidly developing markets in Asia (e.g. according to broad Chinese media reporting, it is forecasted that China needs around 5,000 more actuaries in the next ten years to sustain its growth in insurance and finance sectors), global demand for actuarial talents remains substantial. An actuarial career would undeniably be a flourishing and fruitful one.

• Curriculum
  Admission Requirements for Major in Actuarial Science
  Exemption Process
  Employers
  Areas of Practice
  Recent Actuarial Science Graduates
  Further Information

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In the first year of study, both accounting and business students take the same course modules. Students will use their first year’s results to compete for a placement in the Actuarial Science discipline which starts in the second year. The following are the actuarial courses in the second and third years.

Actuarial Science majors who would like to obtain full professional exemptions from the Institute of Actuaries (UK) will have to take all the courses of compulsory core and prescribed electives above (except BA212).

As part their training, students are also required to do a final year project and to undertake a period of professional attachment with a company in insurance or financial business.

Compulsory Core Courses

BA211 Models
This course introduces statistical models that are applied to actuarial, insurance, and finance data. Fundamental principles and techniques of modelling stochastic and life processes are discussed. The topics covered include introduction to stochastic process, Markov chains and its applications, multiple state models, Markov jump process, survival models, life tables, Kaplan-Meier and Nelson Aalen estimators, Cox model, binomial and Poisson models, and graduation and statistical tests. The aim of the course is to provide students with a set of usual actuarial tools and techniques that can be adopted in a more general setting in life, health, general insurance, and financial applications. Coverage will focus primarily (though not exclusively) on materials relevant to actuarial and financial applications.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: AB103

BA215 Statistical Modelling
This course provides the basic background in statistics and probability, and in particular statistical modelling that are important in the study of Actuarial Science. The necessary concepts and techniques in statistics and probability as well as the development underlying theory will be presented. In addition to theory and methods, students are expected to master the problem solving skills. Students are also encouraged to use a statistical package such as SAS, SPSS, or MINITAB. The topics include descriptive statistics, probability, distribution theory, random samples and sampling distributions, point estimation, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression and correlation.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: AB103

BA218 Mathematics of Finance
The aim of this course is to equip students with the knowledge of the theory and practical applications of the mathematics of finance in various areas of actuarial work. The topics include contingent cash flows, simple and compound interest, effective and nominal interest rates, force of interest, basic compound interest functions, valuation of annuities, discounted cash flow, discounted payback period, measures of investment performance, valuation of securities, effects of taxation, arbitrage and forward contracts, term structure of interest rates, and stochastic interest rate models.

Acad Unit: 2
Pre-requisite: AB106

BA220 Actuarial Economics
The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the business environment they will be working in and how to tackle business related problems. The course will also cover the roles and responsibilities of actuaries, and how actuaries manage and mitigate various risks associated with the business, and safeguard the financial health of the company.

Acad Unit: 2
Pre-requisite: AB106

BA309 Life Contingencies and Demography
This course builds on the knowledge of BA211 Models and deals with life insurance and pension mathematics. The topics include assurances and annuities, prospective and retrospective provisions, mortality profit, joint life status, last survivor status, contingent assurances, reversionary annuities, multiple decrement models, pension funds, discounted emerging cost techniques, and demography.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: BA211

Prescribed Elective Courses

BA212 Actuarial Computing
This course provides an introduction of practical use of computing skills in actuarial work. The contents include general programming concepts, common programming languages in actuarial applications, database concepts, spreadsheets modelling, and specific actuarial software.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: AB102 and AB103

BA322 Actuarial Statistics
This course covers the application of probability theory and statistical methods to some insurance problems. The topics covered include decision theory, Bayesian methods, loss distributions, risk theory, ruin theory, reinsurance, generalised linear models, time series models, simulation methods, experience rating, and run-off triangles.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: AB103 and BA215

BA323 Actuarial Aspects of Asset Valuation
The aim of this course is to develop the necessary skills to construct and apply asset liability models and to value financial derivatives. These skills are necessary to communicate with other financial professionals and to critically evaluate modern financial theories. The topics include utility theory, asset pricing theory, risk measures, portfolio theory, models for asset returns, asset liability modelling, stochastic asset models, term structure models, options pricing theory, and numerical methods for options pricing.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: BA211

Other Elective Courses

BA219 Principles of Risk and Insurance
This course sets out a general introduction to risk management and insurance (RMI). Risk or uncertainty creates both dangers and opportunities for businesses and individuals in all walks of life. Due to globalization and sophistication of markets, risk are much more complicated and integrated than in the past. Consequently there is a high demand for skilled expertise and proper means to manage different risks. In this regard, RMI provides a flexible mechanism to address and tackle the problem of risks, and continues to evolve as an important area within the context of finance. The aim of this course is to provide students the principles and working knowledge of RMI. The topics include risk identification and evaluation, property and liability loss exposures, life, health, and loss of income exposures, non-insurance risk management techniques, principles and policy provisions of insurance, selection and implementation of these techniques, real life practical applications, and general risk management environment.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: Nil

BA324 Insurer Operations and Financial Analysis
The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the operations of insurance companies and the financial analyses of their performance. Students will learn how insurance companies price and market their products, what underwriting and claims control are in place, how reinsurance programmes are arranged, how insurance companies serve their customers, and other operational issues. Students will also study the accounting items and cash flows of insurance companies and accordingly learn how to evaluate the financial soundness of these companies.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: Nil

BA326 Analysis of General Insurance
The aim of this course is to enable students to understand the nature and types of general insurance policies that are available in the market, the range of coverage in each type of policy, the clauses stated, the underwriting and claims management procedures, the distribution channels, and how the rates and premiums are determined. In particular, various insurance classes such as fire and ISR, homeowners, auto owners, marine and cargo, public liability, product liability, professional indemnity, workers’ compensation, compulsory third party, accident and health, extended warranty, mortgage, consumer credit, trade credit, and fidelity are introduced. It provides working knowledge of property and casualty insurance.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: Nil

BA334 Actuarial Management
The aim of this course is to expose students to the practical aspects of the actuarial management of insurance companies. Through this course students will acquire fundamental knowledge and skills for the management and mitigation of risks associated with the business and for safeguarding the financial health of the company. The course helps students build up basic business sense and puts much emphasis on applying judgment and materiality. The topics include actuarial control cycle, general business environment, risk of financial products and contracts, risk assessment framework, product design, client problems, capital assessment, liability valuation, pricing, investment, performance monitoring, reporting, and experience monitoring.

Acad Unit: 4
Pre-requisite: AB103 and BA211

Graduate Studies in Actuarial Science
On completion of the three-year Actuarial Science programme, students may choose to further their actuarial studies by taking a relevant master programme. The Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF) has been set up to facilitate the development and enhancement of talent and other infrastructure for Singapore’s financial centre. The Finance Scholarship Programme (FSP) is one of its initiatives and provides scholarships on tuition fees and living allowances for undertaking certain overseas actuarial master programmes including City University, Georgia State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Temple University, University of New South Wales, Australian National University, and University of Waterloo. For more information please refer to Financial Centre Development Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Students can pursue actuarial training in Nanyang Business School by enrolling in the Bachelor of Business – Actuarial Science degree programme. In order to be admitted into the Actuarial Science programme, the first year students will have to perform well in the following courses: AA101 Financial Accounting, AB102 Financial Management, AB103 Statistical and Quantitative Methods, and AB106 Principles of Economics.

The relatively stringent requirements are meant to ensure that only well-qualified students are admitted into the Actuarial Science programme. Interested students are encouraged to make a balanced assessment of their interests and abilities before committing themselves to a decision to enrol in the programme. Foremost amongst the qualities one needs to have in order to succeed in the programme is strong mathematical and analytical ability.

The Actuarial Science programme in Nanyang Business School is recognised by the Institute of Actuaries (UK). This recognition provides a certain benefit to students enrolled in the programme. Subject to approval, students can obtain exemptions for Core Technical Subjects, which belong to the first part of the Institute examinations.  

The following table shows the correspondence between the Core Technical Subjects of the Institute examinations and the courses students take in Nanyang Business School’s Actuarial Science programme.

Whether a student qualifies for exemptions of the Core Technical Subjects of the Institute examinations depends on:

The final examination grade mentioned above refers to the grade obtained for the final examination only. It does not refer to the overall grade obtained for the course. (The overall grade for a course is calculated by taking a weighted combination of the final examination and continuous assessment marks.) The process of assessing students’ grades for exemptions will be carried out once a year and after graduation.

To enhance the career as an actuary, it is recommended that students work towards becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (UK) or of an equivalent body (e.g. Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society, Institute of Actuaries of Australia). This requires you to pass a series of professional examinations administered by the Institute. As mentioned above, students may be able to obtain exemptions for some of these examinations upon satisfactory performance in the equivalent courses offered in Nanyang Business School’s Actuarial Science programme.

The following are some of the insurance and financial institutions that have recently recruited Nanyang Business School’s actuarial students:

Fresh graduates are often employed as trainees by insurance and financial companies and consulting firms. Further actuarial examinations can be taken for career advancement. With experience, fully qualified actuaries can expect continual growth and promotion within their organisations and may be given broader managerial responsibility.

There is also a Global Internship Program which is open to all second year students and takes place during the semester break from May to July. During the 12 weeks of the program, interns will be attached to one or more business units from various participating general insurance industry leaders such as Lloyds Asia, QBE, Royal SunAlliance, AIG, Allianz, and the Benfield Group. Overseas attachment opportunities include Dubai, London, Munich, New York, Sydney, Tokyo, and Zurich. Please refer to General Insurance Association of Singapore for more information.

Across Americas, Europe, Australasia, and Asia, actuaries work in a variety of practice areas. Some of the major areas of demand are listed below.

Life Insurance
Actuaries have traditionally worked in life insurance. They are involved in assessing the financial stability of the company, evaluating reserves, determining premium scales, designing new products, assessing and monitoring risks, testing profitability, allocating surplus, and general management.

General Insurance
In recent years there has been significant growth in the number of actuaries working in general insurance. This trend has been inspired by international regulatory changes and an increasing awareness of proper assessment of general insurance liabilities. The opportunities in this area are tremendous and the types of work are challenging. Actuaries apply sophisticated statistical models to evaluate the risks in different lines of business such as motor, marine, fire, accident, travel, public liability, product liability, and workers’ compensation.

Health Insurance
Many countries are restructuring their welfare systems and health insurance is now under significant public interest. Actuaries apply their modelling and analytical skills to different health insurance problems, such as modelling multiple states of sickness, pricing insurance products, calculating sufficient reserves, and providing professional advices to health insurers and governments.  

Pensions
For some welfare countries and large financial institutions, pension schemes play a key role in retirement savings and pension funds form a significant source of investment funds. Actuaries use advanced mathematical models to project the cash flows of the pension schemes and make sure that the funds are properly invested in order to support the schemes. They have to consider various financial factors as well as complex legal and tax environment.

Finance and Investment
Actuaries have been moving into the broad finance and investment areas over recent years. Actuaries are well known for their critical thinking, analytical ability, risk expertise, and long-term strategic perspective. These attributes are increasingly appreciated by banks and financial institutions, where actuarial advices are sought for risk management in different technical and managerial areas.

Consultancies
A significant portion of actuaries work in consulting firms. They provide specialised actuarial services to insurers, furnish high level advices on purchase and sale of insurance companies, and fulfill statutory roles for those insurers which do not employ in-house actuaries. These firms often act on the forefront of the profession in dealing with newer kinds of work in various financial and non-traditional areas. 

Enterprise Risk Management
Due to worldwide regulatory changes, enhancing complexity of markets and risks, and greater emphasis on controlled risk-taking, Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has recently gathered significant attention amongst financial institutions around the world. Actuaries are now actively seeking opportunities in this area. In particular, ERM is mainly about identifying, assessing, and managing all sorts of risks faced by financial institutions. Some examples of these risks are market risk, credit risk, pricing risk, reserving risk, and operational risk. This practice area has huge potential and actuaries’ skill sets and risk expertise are very well placed in this aspect.

New Areas
An increasing number of actuaries are switching into non-traditional areas. Some examples are genetics, climate change, environment, and information technology. New opportunities are never lacking and it is up to an actuary’s desire to take on challenges and his or her ability to apply actuarial techniques and judgment to broader and unexplored areas.

Angelo Wang – 2006 Graduate

Angelo Wang is now an actuarial consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. He has been working in pricing and product development and is currently involved in a number of high profile Merger & Acquisition projects in the UK and Europe. After graduation from NTU, he has spent only two years to finish all the remaining Institute of Actuaries (UK) examinations. He also received a number of top prizes on graduation, including the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Book Prize, Singapore Actuarial Society Gold Medal, Singapore College of Insurance Gold Medal, and Monetary Authority of Singapore Book Prize.

‘Actuarial work is very dynamic and challenging due to it's highly specialised nature. Technically, I need to make sure my core actuarial skills are well horned to meet the expectation of my employer. Apart from having a solid foundation in actuarial basics, I need to constantly equip myself through trainings and readings to keep myself up to date with the market and academic development. The challenge is to develop a well balanced skill set with shrewd business sense. It is going to be a long and challenging journey ahead.’

‘The NBS actuarial science programme offers rigorous training on statistical and actuarial theories as well as practical skills in programming and modeling. The faculties are very experienced in actuarial education. The solid foundation courses put me in good stead to take on a challenging actuarial career. Moreover, it would not be possible for me to complete my IOA exams in two years time after leaving university without the exemptions offered by the NBS actuarial science programme.’

Eric Goh – 2008 Graduate

Eric Goh has started his career as an analyst with Deutsche Bank in the areas of issuing securities and Merger & Acquisition. He is one of the 20 recipients of the University Scholar Awards and receives the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal, Singapore Actuarial Society Gold Medal, and Monetary Authority of Singapore Book Prize.

‘My work involves interpreting financials of a company and current market conditions. To raise money in the capital markets, I first need to have a deep understanding of the operations of the company before carrying out further analysis on its valuation. As for mergers and acquisitions, strategic objectives of the company in the industry need to be evaluated in great detail, on top of the valuation analysis.’

‘NTU has shaped me in many important ways, and I make it a point now to use my time wisely and to give my best in whatever I do.’

‘The NBS actuarial science programme is a very mathematical-based rigorous programme, focused on building analytical thinking and problem solving skills. The programme entails a very specific coursework, but builds on skills that can be applied elsewhere. This fits my job perfectly as my daily task includes number crunching, hence playing on the strengths I have built in school. I also need to be resourceful and innovative to solve problems at work.’

‘The teaching staff in actuarial science not only ensured that we understood business concepts, but also provided insight into our career paths. They want us to succeed not only academically, but also professionally and in life. Despite their busy schedule and heavy research workload, they took time to ensure that I fully understood the choices I was making.’

The Internet is a good source of information on the training of an actuary and the types of work involved. Some relevant links are:

• Actuarial Science from Wikipedia
  Why Study Actuarial Science?
  Be an Actuary
  Actuary.com

The following is a list of actuarial institutes’ websites:

• Actuarial Foundation
  Actuarial Society of Hong Kong
  Actuarial Society of Malaysia
  Actuarial Society of South Africa
  American Academy of Actuaries
  Canadian Institute of Actuaries
  Casualty Actuarial Society
  Institute of Actuaries
  Institute of Actuaries of Australia
  Institute of Actuaries of India
  International Actuarial Association
  New Zealand Society of Actuaries
  Singapore Actuarial Society
  Society of Actuaries
  Society of Actuaries in Ireland

Information about the professional actuarial examinations can be found in some of these websites.

Students who are interested in further information on the Actuarial Science programme in Nanyang Business School may wish to contact:

Assoc. Prof. Uditha Balasooriya
S3-B2B-57, Nanyang Business School
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Avenue
Singapore 639798
Email: auditha@ntu.edu.sg
Phone: (65) 6790 4967