Actuary overview in New Zealand: -Occupation outlook -About the job -How to enter the job -Job opportunities -Pay

1. Actuary
Occupation Outlook
Tashan Moodley

2. Actuary
Occupation Outlook in New Zealand: Good
Actuaries predict and assess the financial risks and impacts of future events. They work in areas such as insurance,
superannuation and investment.

3. About the Job
What you will do:
Actuaries may do some or all of the following:
• Collect and analyse statistics about past financial
events
• Forecast the effect of future financial events
• Analyse and solve business problems using
mathematical and statistical modelling techniques
• Advise businesses and government on managing
financial and other business risks
• Prepare reports and advise on insurance,
investment, superannuation and management of
funds
• Calculate the assets and liabilities of insurance
companies, and determine their financial strength
• Help to determine a company's financial results.
Skills and knowledge:
Actuaries need to have:
• Knowledge of maths, statistics, economics, accounting,
finance and investment
• Understanding of the risks involved in running a business
• Knowledge of business management and law, including
economic and social law.
Working conditions:
• Usually work regular business hours, but may sometimes
work weekends or evenings to meet deadlines
• Work in offices, but may travel locally to visit clients.
Source: https://www.careers.govt.nz/

4. How to enter the job
Personal requirements
Actuaries need to be:
• Skilled at analysing and interpreting information
• Good at solving problems and making decisions
• Accurate and methodical
• Able to communicate well
• Able to write reports.
Entry requirements
• It is recommended you have a Bachelor's degree in
mathematics or statistics, or an Honours degree,
which can be in a non-mathematical subject.
• To become a qualified actuary you need to pass a
number of exams set by an overseas actuary
institute.
• You also need to be registered with the New
Zealand Society of Actuaries.
• Actuaries Institute (Australia) website - information
on training as an actuary
• Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (UK) website -
information on how to become an actuary
Useful experience:
Useful experience for actuaries includes:
• Work for an insurance company
• Experience programming computers
• Accounting and computer work
• Experience analysing financial statements
• Any work involving mathematics and statistics.
Source: https://www.careers.govt.nz/

5. Job Opportunities
Your chances of securing a job as an actuary are best if you have excellent mathematical and communication
skills.
Demand for actuaries is strong because:
• The number of jobs available is increasing across a broad range of industries
• The number of qualified actuaries is small and it takes a long time to train
• Global demand for actuaries is high.
• Job advertisements for actuaries, mathematicians and statisticians rose 18% between 2017 and 2018, according to the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment.
Source: https://www.careers.govt.nz/
Most actuaries work in insurance
Most actuaries work for insurance companies or consulting firms based in Auckland or Wellington. However, there are increasing job
opportunities in the education, health and software development sectors.
Actuaries may work for:
• Life and general insurance companies
• Specialist actuary consulting firms
• Crown entities and government departments and institutions such as the Reserve Bank and Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)
• Employee benefit consulting firms
• Larger consulting firms offering a range of specialised services, such as the big accountancy firms.

6. Job Opportunities
Cont.
Progression and specialisations
Actuaries may move into management or chief officer roles.
They may specialise in areas such as:
• Superannuation
• Insurance
• Banking and finance
• Electricity
• Carbon crediting.
Source: https://www.careers.govt.nz/

7. Pay
Pay for actuaries varies depending on experience and
qualifications.
• Trainee actuaries usually earn $45,000 to $100,000 a year.
• Fully qualified actuaries with five to eight years' experience can earn $100,000 to $150,000 a year.
Source: New Zealand Society of Actuaries, 2018.

8. Alternative titles for
Actuary
• Actuarial Consultant
• Actuarial Analyst