Just open a topic about Engineering vs Actuarial Science & Actuarial Science vs Finance,Econ.

It maybe lame to certain person but I'm really struggling between these choices.

If I'm a math and physics lover, so which course should I choose? and of course my math is better than physics and my general paper is the best. Frankly speaking, I don't like Chemistry.

I'm struggle between Actuarial science or Engineering.
If I choose AS, would it be better to choose Finance or Econ if I want to work in investment bank or finance field?

There are many fields of expertise in banking and finance, and actuarial science is only 1 part of of the many. Take AS if that is what you like to do. There is definitely a shortage of people with qualifications to AS in Malaysia, so you might thrive well. Econ or finance degree, I think there plenty of them already.

You can try by using the search engine first. Acturial science is not just all about maths. http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1039295

You can study Act Sci and learn (depending on your electives) almost as much Finance as or even more Finance than most actual Finance students. But not everyone knows what Act Sci is and you may have to explain that sometimes (yes, this level of ignorance still persists even in big banks).

So you can cover the Finance knowledge side of things... it's only about whether or not you can demonstrate it. Whatever job someone with a BEcon or BFin can get, unless it is serious Economics research related (as in you must have sufficient knowledge and expect to pursue a graduate degree in Econ), any BAct graduate can also get, based on qualifications alone.

Not all BFin students actually study Banking... it's more about securities, pricing, markets, strategies, theories, because Finance is not all about Banking. Banks just operate within Finance. Unless BEcon students learn Financial Economics they don't really touch Finance... but that's not to say their knowledge of market structures, Econometrics, behaviour, and Management is not useful, even if it can be theoretical.

There is an ample supply of BAct graduates... to consider that there could be a shortage of Fellows is probably more rational.

There are things common to Actuarial Science and Engineering. Both Actuaries (or professionals with Actuarial knowledge/training) and Engineers may be hired to build financial or mathematical or statistical models for whatever purposes.

But someone with a BAct can't do what someone with a BEng/MEng can, although for the reverse, the BEng/MEng would just need to learn basic Economics, Finance, and Accounting, and Insurance Maths.

I get that you're struggling to pick a subject. If you take Engineering and want to work in a bank if you do not become an Engineer, that probably isn't a problem. But it's better if you have a real interest in the subject you do. That helps even if you don't end up as an Engineer.

Many universities are old. They follow the old ways. They teach boring stuff. In boring ways. Using PowerPoint doesn't change a thing. Having online portals doesn't make it any more tolerable. Whether it's Statistics, Finance, Economics, or Accounting. You'll have to go with your gut on this one. Do you prefer to work out in the field, or in design? Because working in Actuarial isn't too different from a non-Sales banking job (not trading, but Investment Banking), or as an Engineer with a computer. The differences in studying are only in the details.

Unless money is of the greatest concern to you in life, pursue your dream in the sciences. Actuarial Science and finance
are just everything about money, insurance, financial risk and other hot stuff.
Having lots of friends doing pure science degrees, I understand how that can be a "pain" or burden to study something you
dont really like. similar analogy outline the "fails" of education guidance, when not all people that love biology tend to like medicine, yet society puts pressure on that regard.

if you like mechanical sort of stuff, stick to engineering. Want to think big, and clear of what you want to achieve, go for pure science degrees.
but of course, unless you really have a strong desire to do business, or craving to work for some "multinational big buck companies", then finance related degrees might serve to meet ur self criteria.

My lecturer actually joked about it, in a rather sarcastic way:
there's 3 type of student in this programme:
One thats just concerned about money, one thats pre-programmed to accomplish all the exams but have no clue in life,
the others are just seemingly smart people that dont know where to go.

So, always be clear of what you want to achieve.

There are less than 10 qualified actuaries in Malaysia, and many AS students I know are considering an alternative career. Many of them actually question why the government would send so many scholars to study an AS degree when they know there wouldn't be many such jobs available when the students graduate.

The fact is, the financial market in Malaysia is not that sophisticated yet and there are not many relevant opportunities for an actuarial science student.

That being said, like what LightningFist pointed out, an AS degree is a versatile one and would open doors to a wide range of careers because of its versatility.

Versatility. Yes. That's what would attract many students even though traditionally or conventionally Actuarial students aren't exactly seen as being very versatile. Many Actuarial students also go on to consulting or Accounting/Auditing roles (like Econ or regular Business/Commerce graduates). They aren't limited to banks and the realm of finance and insurance. Statistical work is also applicable to many other fields. Risk is also applicable across many facets of industry and life. Most of these jobs can be performed by some BEcon grads, just that Econ has a different focus and maybe only a little Statistics, while Actuarial has an insurance focus and doesn't pay attention to Economics except for indicators and models/assumptions of behaviour/choice and the economy/markets (like Finance).

I don't know how accurate this information from the ASM is but according to them, at the beginning of last year, there were 86 Fellows and 41 Associates. So unless 76 Fellows have fled since then (because in industry "qualified" refers to Fellows, although Associates are also actuaries by qualification), we have much more than 10 qualified actuaries, and (it is likely the number has grown), over 127 actuaries.

this is like the Statistics for 8 years ago.
Nowadays, you can easily find 300 qualified actuaries back in Malaysia.
not to forget, alot of actuaries that work for multinational firms dont register with ASM, as
these people are always flying around.

Actuarial students have hard time finding job, is because of the naivety of the job industry,
to always recruit based on degree relevance (unlike overseas, firms do recruit art students to do science related jobs).
That's when actuarial students get hanged up halfway through the process.
Tell me bout how JPA utilize actuarial scholars well, when some of em are working under customer relation in Bank Negara.
but then the irony strikes back, if I would want someone to analyse demographics, I will still employ statisticians ahead of actuaries, sadly.
so for now (atleast the time being), pension funds, life/health insurance, and general insurance is still their home. To do the boring math, so the marketing department can carry out their work.

Fields for stat, economics and actuarial wont be widen much, as long as the public education lack exposure bout these fields.

The central bank couldn't even find a decent position for an Actuarial graduate... ??!! I guess that is the setback of a bond. I mean, there are any number of things an Actuarial graduate could do at the central bank... customer relations or any customer facing support role just sounds ridiculous.

Agree, statisticians will probably be more suitable. Actuaries don't really care for demographics, that is for the students haha.

frankly speaking, its not the central bank, but JPA themselves cant decide how to put em well, so
they usually tell the scholars to seek out opportunity in SOCSO and Bank negara,
then again the HR part of these departments are quite useless in assigning you to the right place. so, there you go.

Thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

Off topic but I haven't heard of any business/arts students venturing into science at all? The opposite happens very frequently though. Where I am right now, anyone with any degree can go into actuarial science, as long as they did A level maths. Which is why I am led to believe that an engineering degree opens pretty much every doors for you.

If you're up for the challenge, computer science and math are the most marketable and versatile degrees. arguably better than a finance degree for breaking into high finance.

This post has been edited by iceypain: Apr 5 2012, 10:00 AM

Possibly. If you can sell your skills. People from Business/IT, Management/Comp Sci etc have been able to go into trading (I assume that's what you're referring to in general), so even if certain degrees are ideal or better (Mathematics, Finance/Quantitative Finance, Statistics, maybe Engineering/Physics or Economics/Econometrics), they certainly are not required.