Does todays COMPETITIVE BUSINESS MARKET REQUIRE ACTUARIES to have more than an actuarial degree?
The authors of this article think the answer is yes. Actuaries are a talented group of professionals but individual actuaries may not be properly positioning themselves for the future. The purposes of this article are to increase the awareness of actuaries about their career options, and propose new educational initiatives that may be of help to the membership. The article also covers the personal experiences of the authors from having obtained an MBA degree. The basic question that each practicing actuary needs to consider is whether having the FSA designation is all that is needed during a long and, hopefully, successful career. While the FSA is a respected credential in some areas of the financial services business, it is not as broadly recognized as initials such as MBA, Ph.D., LLB, CPA, etc. Moreover, the SOA has received clear feeback from users of actuaries that actuaries lack many of the skills currently being sought by businesses.1 This report specifically mentioned that “…
