Career in Actuaries

We were introduced to actuarial science while attending the IRDA ( Insurance Regulatory Development Authority) training .
We obtained information  for actuarial science from Sunil Sharma who is the Chief  Actuary with Kotak Life Insurance



Sunil Sharma was a final year MStat  student in the Indian Statistical institute (ISI) Kolkata. The insurance sector by year 2001 had opened its doors to private players and was considered to be a potential employer. One of Sharma's professors at ISI pointed this out to him. As Sharma had strong stats/math background  he decided to be an actuary. After completing his studies Sharma joined the Institute of Actuaries of India as a student member and became a fellow in five and a half years .

Actuaries  design insurance and pension plans determines insurance premium rates and assess financial and other risks relating to various events like retirement, investments etc.

He said that actuarial science is a good career to pursue if one has interest in mathematics. But it is useful to only those who have interest in mathematics and not those who only get 90% marks.
In his words one can pursue actuarial science if he you have problem solving skills and the most important is that you should be hardworking.

Students interested in pursuing this as a career must clear the Actuarial Common Entrance Test conducted by Institute of Actuaries of India .ACET is held twice a year -in June and December. After clearing this test one begins by joining  IAI  as  student member and is required to clear 15 subjects in an exam conducted by the institute. To obtain further information one can view it on this website

Website
http://actuariesindia.org


Payoff
At entry level one's income could be Rs 3 lakh To Rs 5 lakh p.a. After gaining experience of five to six years and clearing a good number  of possible 15 papers, an actuary can earn Rs 10 Lakh to 15 Lakh p.a. Immediately after becoming a fellow of IAI one can earn anything from Rs 20 Lakh to Rs 30 Lakh pa. The sky is the limit for an actuary with 15 to 20 years of experience.



Institutes and  urls
1.Birla Institute of Management Technology, New Delhi.  - www.bimtech.ac.in

2.Amity School of Insurance and Actuarial Science ,Noida -www.amity.edu

3.Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai - www.insuranceinstituteofindia.com/
4.RNIS College of Insurance , New Delhi- www.rniscollege.com


According to him some  of the challenges in this profession are
1. To keep oneself upgraded on latest calculating techniques and tools .
2. Intensive market competition , product innovation , aggressive pricing and multiple distribution options.

Some of the potential employers are :

Life Insurance


1. Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance Co Ltd; 2.. Birla Sun Life (Distributor Co Ltd), 4. Aviva Life Insurance Co Ltd, 4. Life Insurance Corporation of India

Non-Life Insurance

1. Bajaj Allianz;  3. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd;   3.National Insurance Co; 4. General Insurance Corporation; 5. New India Assurance Company.