Actuaries are in demand and well-rewarded for their analytical and problem solving skills in a growing number of industries. No longer restricted to the finance and insurance industries, opportunities for actuaries are opening up in diverse areas such as health, education, energy and environment, public infrastructure and genetics.
Major areas of demand and interest include:
General Insurance
In New Zealand, the General Insurance industry is a big employer of actuaries. Using various numerical techniques and data analysis actuaries provide advice for capital, pricing, reservering, and solvency decisions. These analytical abilities support the stability of the industry to provide provision and confidence to customers and society through changing circumstance. This will involve anlysing motor, fire, earthquake, flood and storm, and liability products among others.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is the original vocation for actuaries, and still the largest employer [citation needed, check]. Actuaries are typical involved in pricing, policy design, capital management, risk assessment, and reserving, but can assist in all aspects of the business.
The Appointed Actuary is a core of any life company, where their role is required by legislation to support and report on the financial stability of the company.
MSD/ACC/EQC
Actuaries are well suited to support the requirements of the New Zealand public sector. Working in these areas allow you to influence Government Policy. There is a reward of knowing that you are making a tangible difference to the life of New Zealanders.
Investment
The economic interdependence of nations today and the need to make sound investment decisions have focused attention on the value of actuarial advice.
By virtue of their experience in analysing financial transactions and assessing risks, actuaries are increasingly sought after for a wide range of technical and management roles in the investment and financial services sectors.
Growth areas
There is growing demand for actuarial services in health insurance, risk management and the financial services industry and an increasing number of banks, insurance brokers, stockbrokers and other financial services companies are employing actuaries.
Challenging careers in university education, computer software and management consultancy have also attracted a number of actuaries and as large corporations adjust to current market conditions, the need for actuaries in the development of long-term strategic plans is growing.
As we move towards an increasingly globalized society, greater numbers of actuaries are working in non-traditional areas, such as:
- the environment;
- genetics;
- information technology;
- e-commerce;
- telecommunications; and
- public infrastructure.
* as at November 2018.