An actuary’s primary responsibility is to calculate expected insurance losses and risks. Seem boring? Too Vanilla? Not true! While the existing stereotype about a career in insurance is that it will be boring, the reality is actually quite different. Insurance is on track to become one of the most diverse and exciting industries for two reasons: the data phenomenon of the last decade and the impact to the industry of the retiring baby boomer generation.
Claims adjusters, underwriters, data scientists and product managers are a few of the growing career prospects within the insurance industry. Perhaps most interesting though is the actuarial role. Today actuaries are doing so much more than just assessing and managing risk. In order to fulfill their primary role actuaries must interact on a daily basis with adjusters, underwriters, data scientists, and modelers in order to find, aggregate and analyze the most insightful data. They are problem solvers with an impressive knowledge of business, statistics, probability, economics and more. They have specialized training and a unique perspective that employers find to be indispensable.
Certified Specialist in Predictive Analytics
The massive amount of data being generated by the internet in the last five years alone is staggering, and it has revolutionized the way companies work, and the way the insurance industry functions. Today, over 60% of P&C insurance companies consider themselves data driven, however, lack of staff availability with the right skills is hindering their success. Luckily, new designations are beginning to be offered by the CAS institute or iCAS. This subsidiary of the Casualty Actuarial Society began offering new credentials and specialized professional education for quantitative professionals in the latter part of 2016. Credentials that are currently being developed and offered focus on predictive analytics and data science. This designation is being referred to as a “CSPA” or a certified specialist in predictive analytics. This designation will allow employers to quickly identify those professionals that have the data driven skills they are looking for.
New Risks
As professional problem solvers, the challenges faced by actuaries today are quite different than they were five years ago and will be considerably different five years from now. Consider the fact that insurance companies are now looking into the risk of products and events like driverless cars, drones, global catastrophes and more. With a booming tech market the need to continuously assess and manage new risks will be crucial. New products and new technology cements a need for sophisticated actuarial talent and increased opportunities for the insurance industry to thrive.
The Millennials are Coming!
Due to the ongoing retirement of the baby boomer generation, it is estimated the insurance industry will need to fill 400,000 positions in the next 5 years. The current strong job market will only get better for actuaries and more difficult for companies. As the baby boomers begin to exit the work place, the millennial generation, the largest generational group in America, will begin to dominate the workforce. Being an actuary, a risk assessor and a professional problem solver, can in many cases entail communicating and collaborating with people from all different backgrounds. Beyond just the numbers, the ability to work in such a diversifying landscape will prove to be indispensable.
