Macquarie University

Introduction to Actuarial Studies - ACST152

This unit provides an introduction to the important underlying aspects of actuarial work. It looks at the development of actuarial techniques in the context of life insurance, general insurance, superannuation, and investment. The aim is to develop problem-solving and communication skills and give students some of the basic tools for risk management and financial modelling. The unit shows how studies in related disciplines (such as accounting, demography, economics, statistics, computing and mathematics) are essential to the education of an actuary. The unit works through the control cycle approach to insurance: business objectives, product design, risk assessment, modelling of insurance and financial risks (including claim frequency and claim size of individual claims and on a portfolio basis), pricing, reserving, investment and asset liability matching, claims management, legal requirements, solvency, profitability and responding to experience. This unit is relevant for students who want to become actuaries or risk managers. Students are assumed to have studied mathematics in high school up to at least HSC Extension 1 level or equivalent.