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What does an actuary do?

Navigating Risk to Inform Our Future

Are you talented at math? Hard-wired for numbers and data? Can’t resist a good puzzle? We see a rewarding and fulfilling career in your future.

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It's not fortune telling. It's math!

In an uncertain world, an actuary anticipates future conditions and assesses the risks ahead. This provides businesses and individuals with confidence to make their best possible decisions.

These critical abilities make actuaries highly valued professionals with endless opportunities.

Are you talented at math? Hard-wired for numbers and data? Can’t resist a good puzzle? We see a rewarding and fulfilling career in your future.

How to get started

How an actuary sees things

Managing risk isn’t just about spreadsheets. Actuaries work every day to create optimal outcomes for the real people represented in the data.

Experts at three-dimensional thinking, actuaries use math, analysis, and business acumen to consider situations and their potential results.

An actuary’s skills can be applied to almost any problem—and smart, informed decisions are needed now more than ever. 

Why become an actuary
Megan Chaffey
ASA Actuary
Actuaries also have a high code of ethics so the goal is when you're signing off on something, you're saying, "this is the truth. this is the fact."
Karthik Balaji
FSA Actuary
An actuary is someone who can put a number on something that’s not certain. So usually where there’s uncertainty, there’s usually an open door for an actuary to play a role. We help people and organizations understand the impact of unpredictable events.
Megan Partida
ASA Actuary
As an actuary, I am not just crunching numbers. I get to interpret them and figure out how we can make business decisions.

A particular set of skills

Seeing around corners

Actuaries evaluate the likelihood of future events using math and critical thinking.

Getting creative

They use math in novel ways, designing formulas to reduce risks of undesired results.

Optimizing outcomes

They advise on how to minimize the negative impact of any unfavorable effects.
Where does an actuary work?

Fields for actuaries

With applications for countless industries and organizations, actuarial skills are in high demand—and have a huge impact by improving financial outcomes.

Insurance: Measure risk and prevent loss as you help to secure livelihoods.

Consulting: Advise clients across a range of industries about their financial risks.

Healthcare: Help shape the health insurance marketplace for millions of self-insured Americans.

Education: Train the next generation of actuaries at colleges and universities

Banking and finance: Guide today’s investors toward finding the prosperity of tomorrow.

Public and social service: Give social programs the data needed for optimal impact.

Start your actuarial journey

As a valued strategic thinker, an actuary’s career path often leads to upper management and executive positions. Opportunities for an actuary can be found worldwide in a global marketplace.

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