Hey, to those actuarial science students that had graduated or otw, how is your experience in your campus?

May I know actuarial science course isnt a good course in UTAR?
How is this course in UTAR Sg Long campus?
Actuarial science isnt have a good future in Malaysia?

I need advice from you guys as soon as possible.
Hope any senior will give some guidance. Thanks.

This post has been edited by adrian2014: Jan 19 2016, 11:13 PM

Tumpang parking for future reference

hmm, would like to know too.

Actuarial career is highly dependent on your papers taken. Why you want to study actuarial science?

Overall, my experience with UTAR actuarial science is quite good (course-wise only, not environment, facilities etc).
The course structure is relevant to your SOA preliminary papers as well as work.
However, some of the lecturer have already changed since I graduated..
So, I can only comment on the course structure.

An off-topic question. What reference books (e.g Actex) do UTAR Act. Sc. student usually use for preliminary papers?

Are you an actuarial science student as well?
For preliminary papers, we generally use ASM manual. I find that ASM manual is the best for preliminary.
I think that should still be unchanged (but I can't be entirely sure as it's been awhile since I graduated...)

Yep, I agree that ASM is very informative material for preliminary exams. Thanks for your info.

Thanks for your info.
Have you be an actuary after graduate?

Yup, I'm fortunate enough to enter the actuarial department.
Though, if you are really interested, you have a lot to work on. Generally, UTAR itself has about 150-200 graduates per year (2 semester). Considering all other university (UCSI, UM, UKM, overseas university), I'm guessing the number could be as high as 500 or more.
On the other hand, I'm guessing Malaysia would only require at most 20-30 fresh grads a year (could be less, unlikely to be more unless I've severely underestimated the insurance industry turn-over).
So, in terms of simple maths, you are competing 20-30 jobs with 500+ ppl.
Nevertheless, out of the 500+, I'm guessing only about 10-20% would actually be actively looking for actuarial job (after paper progress, interest etc.).
IF you really aspire to be an actuary, you'll have to ensure you fall within the 10-20%, persist and never give up.
And, external papers (SOA/IFoA/IOAA) are very important for you to have a chance to get an interview in this competitive market.

Disclaimer: all the info above are just my guess and may not be accurate at the end of the day. So, don't sue me if my info is wrong!

This post has been edited by Searingmage: Feb 10 2016, 09:27 PM

I know a few people uses the online tutorial and exam (I can't remember the name) and find them very useful. But I think it's quite costly (about USD200++ maybe?).
Though, many others just need to depend on the ASM manual to complete their preliminary exams. If you have the spare money and interested to know, let me know, I'll try check for you. But generally, I think ASM is sufficient.

is actuarial science a good course to take for those wishing to venture into investment banking?

Have been using ASM, Actex and some other material and they are very useful. I think these material should be suffice for preliminary exams. Thanks for your reply.

IMO, actuarial science program generally prepare its students for preliminary exams which are Exam P,FM,C,MFE and MLC (for SOA) or CT1-8 ( for IFoA) which isn't really relevant to knowledge crucial in investment banking such as portfolio management, equity investment etc. The preliminary exams of SOA emphasize on pricing financial derivative, insurance products, statistical methods for actuarial model (Survival, severity, frequency, aggregate model etc) and so on. However, upon fulfilling the ASA criteria, you can choose to proceed with Quantitative Finance and Investment (QFI) Track to obtain the FSA title.

Based on my observation on my course mate, many mistaken actuarial science as quantitative finance or investment banking. At the end, most of them end up with disappointment as the material in the preliminary exams aren't really what they expect. I think taking CFA exams, or taking and finance and investment degree might be more relevant if you were to venture into investment banking. However, I do have friend studying actuarial science but take CFA instead of SOA exams.

Taking SOA exams is a very tedious process which require a lot of time and hardwork. Think wisely before you choose. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

This post has been edited by Michael_Light: Feb 11 2016, 10:10 PM

thanks for the insight.
i did see some positions for middle office in investment banking firms looking for people with acturial background.
especially the risk mgmt dept.

Can I know where can I get these materials in kl?

You are damn right on this point. One of my friend graduated from actuarial science UTAR in satisfactory results. Of course, can't get into the top insurance industry. So, started working in small insurance firm and took SOA exams while working.

Guess what, failed the SOA papers 2-3 times already. In the end, he switch to take Financial Risk Manager (FRM) exams.

* FRM does not have any relation to actuarial science, right?

This post has been edited by activexxx: Oct 23 2016, 10:45 PM

Consider yourself lucky if you able to squeeze into the actuarial industry. Its not easy to enter actuarial field without connection.

Anyone know where I can get used ASM and ACTEX manuals for C, MLC and MFE?

Hi, did you order ACTEX directly from their website and shipped it over from the US or did you buy it locally?