I have been invited for an interview at an insurance company in Kuala Lumpur for their actuarial executive position. I was told to fill out an employment application form and one of the question on the form was my Expected Salary.

I am starting this topic to find out more on the starting salary for entry level actuarial executive/ actuarial associate positions. I know that the salary depends on the number of professional papers pass and there is a standardized rate on how much to increase after every exams.

I currently have 3 SOA papers passed, how much should I be expecting? Thanks!



Update:
Went for 4 interviews. Received 2 offers both from insurance companies, both offered actuarial department. Salary offered -- RM 2.8K and RM 3K.

This post has been edited by Anderson/Darling: Oct 20 2016, 07:06 PM

let me advise from a different perspective

maybe u can put it as TBD (To be discussed)...and during the interview, can tell them frankly you are not sure what amount to put.

sometimes it is ok to be "human", that you are not perfect to know how much the company will pay you for that position

sometimes it is ok to ask them the range of salaries the company will pay for that position

have a little confidence of yourself and think that they are the one who will benefit if you join them rather than vice versa, because u know u r good.

if the "seniors" (those who interviewed u) thinks that they have done a good job squeezing the amount to pay you because you are not sure, then I think they are wrong...and also they should be able to identify real talent rather than trying to pay lesser for "good" people

just my 2.5 sen

RM1500
now a day actuarial profession is over flooded in malaysia.3
3 to 5 papers also a lot jobless in the market.

insurance company don't really need that much actuarial staff,
because their work is just redundant & any admin staff can do it with 2 weeks training.
the work is also boring type, most of the staffs are just come to office to chill and relax, not much career improvement.
that's why a lot staff until age 30+ still work at executive level.

since you have completed the degree, there is no U turn already,
take up some sales job can earn even / far far better income.

Hi crewmy,

Thanks for your advice! That sounds like a smart answer to that question, and I shall just be honest with them saying that I do not know what's the market rate and how much should I expect.

Well I am just a newbie coming into the real world and there's still so much to learn haha.

i think 3-4k shud be standard gua, maybe more.

i have a fren working in williams interactive in usa 45k/year as quantitative analyst. fresh also.

If you are good then be confident. Not many has what it takes for this job

This post has been edited by godhand: Oct 10 2016, 04:24 PM

Hi o0o0,

Hmm RM1500 is a little low compare to what I am guessing. I did heard about people saying that there's surge of fresh actuarial graduates in the market, but I highly doubt that actuarial staffs just come to the office and chill since I also heard about people saying how those junior actuaries used to OT till 9pm almost everyday. Well my source might not be reliable, but I don't see myself going into sales force at this point of time though. Thanks for your advise!

Hi godhand,

I am guessing around these numbers too but I would just settle for 3k if being offered looking at how competitive the market is right now.

Meanwhile, your friend is getting really good pay haha! is it in USD? But I dont think salaries earned overseas can be a good indicator of how much I should be making in Malaysia, their job scope might be much more complicated then those in Malaysia, thanks for sharing though!

Nah, he told me its okayish. actuarial profession salaries in the us is above average. So im guessing it should be high, unless its non-actuarial science related.

regardless, 3k is okayish for a starter, but really be more confident dont lowball yourself. I would put 3.5k at least.

This post has been edited by godhand: Oct 10 2016, 04:36 PM

very obviously you are the fresh graduate.
now a day although working hour is until 5.30pm, but in fact no staff dare to leave office at 5.30pm.
because doing so will make your bosses think that you are very free.
there is no such thing as "work efficiently" / "result oriented" in this world or at least in malaysia.
people will still measure you by working hour.

so to show they are performing staff, they tend to procrastinating their task,
or do their work less efficiently / slower in order to show they OT until very late.
in fact all their daily tasks can be completed with in 2 or 3 hours.

if you are not starting your sales career earlier,
you will be left behind by your friends that joined earlier,
by the time you want to join, your friends already progressed to Manager level
and earned big amount of money already, build a comfortable family, hold a grand wedding dinner.
that is quite late already.

please take note that is US, here is malaysia,
malaysia situation has changed a lot in recent year.

3k.. unless you are female with good looking face and presentable,
and the guy manager favorite on you,
else your chance is extremely slim.
putting too high expectation will make employer turn you down.

Well you're obviously a sales person then, you sounds very convincing!

But I am still very skeptical on how you describe the office culture is, though I am a fresh graduate, I have done an internship with a bank in Malaysia and this is not what I have observed in my department, people were working really hard, and no one procrastinate till the last minute and choose to OT for 2-3 hours, rather they OT because their are having a huge workload and they are trying their best to meet the deadlines.

Meanwhile I think you misunderstood but I will not be joining the sales force, and also I am not comparing myself with my friends, I mean who doesn't wanna be successful but having your friend as your benchmark? Just not my thing haha.

Well everyone is entitled to their personal opinions and I respect your ideas. Could you share with me your career and perhaps your salary too? I would like to see how is it like being a salesperson, or maybe you've progressed into managerial level. Thanks!

Put 2.5 k as it was market price...fyi, there are reli a lot actuarial fresh grad outside there and hence don't put yourself into disadvantage while competing with others just because of salary ......when they asked you why you set the salary as 2.5 k just reply that it was a market price for fresh grad and to sustain high living cost......the interviewer confirm will remunerate you according if you were selected....for example, I was just grad and found a job with a salary of 2.8k but I set my expected salary as 2.5k ...nowadays. economic is so bad, the biggest problem is whether you can enter into actuarial field instead of low pay...if you can perform well of coz your employer hike later...
.

This post has been edited by nooby999: Oct 10 2016, 05:38 PM

no, i'm not working in sales.
i'm just telling the real experience of my friends,
they are with 5 to 7 SOA passed papers.

internship is different story because that is your first time step into real working world,
during the 3 months period my interns join my team, they feel that what we doing is rocket science, because the things are so new to them..
but in fact to the eye of the actual staff, we are just slacking around only, nothing rocket science.
believe or not up to you.

by the way, honestly if you have a negative perception to sales,
even u joined the actuarial team, u will not be happy too..
because in a business, everything is related & work closely with sales & always need to think from the sales perspective.
don't ever think that you are actuarial mean u are higher on top of all the other department people.
actuarial department is just work as a support role for agency,
agency head is the top tier management in all malaysia insurance company that u can named it,
agency people will stress actuarial staff to come out some attractive product with low premium, high coverage amount.
on the other hand actuarial need to protect company profit, revenue & risk,
but actuarial department always turned out to be losing party due company value more toward agency department as they are the people bring in business not actuarial department.
when a product selling good, no one will praise actuarial,
when a product selling bad, actuarial getting all the blame for releasing a so high premium product & not competitive.

if dont believe, u can ask during interview,
how the organization chart, actuarial on top or agency on top,
how the work relation between actuarial & agency,
if u have negative perception to sales, it gonna bring u a lot trouble no matter which industry u go,

Let me guess...AXA

If is ur first job, RM2200-RM2500....good enuff for you? I dont think number of paper is important...

To add on , please don't discouraging others as they have their own goal and objective to achieve...
Listen to me bro, just set your salary to 2.5k and stay humble while interview...if you have the chance to enter that company, experience come first after that talk bout salary....if the company increment slow then jump ship with your few years of exp....the problem is whether you can put your 1st step in actuarial field...add oil bro

Nono please don't get me wrong I have never had any negative perception towards sales, and how am I putting myself higher than people in the sales force, I am just a humble human wanting advise from other people, and all I am saying is joining the sales force is just not my life goal despite it makes tons of money, just look back to post #1, all I am asking is whats the market price for entry level actuarial, and you are assuming that if I join and get paid peanuts I am going to be so far behind my friends and now I am the egoistic guy who think I am better than everyone. Oh well

i see a lot people after step into actuarial field, then after 2 years die half way,
because they can't make any career progress..
just hope we dont see TS 2 years later come back open topic asking which industry should transfer to...

u asking here, so i give advice..
just hope 1 year later u dont come back open topic asking which industry should transfer to in order to earn more to cover living cost.

that is the problematic of fresh grad that all people harping now a day,
they just want to listen favorable advice, positive advice..
they tend to filter out negative advice or bias toward it..
hopeless... no wonder people always said "u need to learn it through the hard way"..
ok, go ahead...

This post has been edited by o0o0: Oct 10 2016, 06:00 PM

Hi nooby999,

2.5k is the market price? Thanks for the information! Yes my aim now is to get a job, and the amount of salary should't be my biggest concern. Since the company will remunerate accordingly it shouldn't be my biggest concern, I will do my best for the interview and hope for the best then. Thank you so much!

You may try enter data science if you fails to enter actuarial....data science is a big field and is growing....a lot of automated work will be replaced by tech....great fortune ahead

This post has been edited by nooby999: Oct 10 2016, 06:01 PM

haha I think if you wanna give that kind of advise you should be at the right place at the right time too, at least advise someone who is looking to quit the industry, not someone who has an upcoming interview. Thanks for your advise! Cheers!

Hi taitianhin,

If I could get into the company, 2.2 is also good enough and I will work hard to achieve what I wanted! Good try but not AXA haha!

that is the problematic of fresh grad that all people harping now a day,
they just want to listen favorable advice, positive advice..
they tend to filter out negative advice or bias toward it..
hopeless... no wonder people always said "u need to learn it through the hard way"..
ok, go ahead...

Right now I will still stick with actuarial science first, but TBH if actuarial doesn't work for me, then my plan B will be joining product development or risk/finance related department. But I will look into data science too if I have gotten myself into that position. Thanks!

If you are to be attached to the Actuarial Dept. then between 2.6-2.8k.

If you are to be attached to other Depts. eg Claims or UW then 2.5k-2.6k.

haha that is also the problem with some of the people, before someone even try something, they immediately assume that the guy is gonna fail miserably.
At least let me try what I really wanted to do, and even if thing didn't work out for me, I will not even regret that I've tried.

Meanwhile you mentioned negative advise? Why do you consider your advise negative? BTW the advise that you gave was to join sales immediately and that's not negative at all, it's just not something I see myself doing and it might not be something that I am good at too. Sorry for being problematic!

Hi cheepet,

Nice name you have

It's Actuarial Department. Thanks for the input!

Thanks for all the inputs guys! I roughly know what to expect now. I will keep everyone updated on the hiring process and if I were to receive an offer, I will post the answer to my very own questions over here! Thanks!

It will be great if you willing to share coz it will help a lot fresh grad in actuarial field but not me since I have found my job and all the best....hehe

Go for risk dept in Bank or trading firm la, no need to study so advanced and can get around sgd8k already

I believe you are one of them? How many years experience you have to get that amount?

6 years + experience
Last time Sg dont appreciate risk management work, only care more about front line trading

So risk folks here are getting better compensation now.

hows the working hours and culture in SG? Hectic? Stressful? compared to MY

Received a verbal offer through phone today (from an insurance company that I've interviewed with), they offered a salary of 2.8K. I am still waiting for another company to make an offer, since I was told that they have proceed my application to the management.

Congrats bro

Normal working hours 9am to 6pm

Of course not so good can leave sharp at 6pm, usually work until 7-8pm

Hectic of course, but if you're used to it already then should be quite easy to handle the work.

Can’t believe the actuarial salary is that low in Malaysia. Not sure about the life side, but on the P&C side, three exams with reasonable skill sets and communication skills, I would offer the candidate USD 60-75k. Many years ago, when I started my first job, I was offered USD 60k with four exams.

The problem does not lie on the starting salary. The real concern is the quality and marketability of your actuarial experience. As an actuary, it takes one to know one. If you have the opportunity to work in the corporate actuarial world, you will understand the holistic view of why experience gained in certain countries is weighted more heavily than most other countries. If I did not receive an offer here at that time, I would choose Bermuda/UK/Singapore/HK/Australia, because where you work makes a huge difference in the quality of experience you are getting.

Hi, may i know is it Takaful that offered 2.8k for starting? From what is know, conventional offer slightly higher than that..

I never know actuarial salary is THAT low! All my actuarial info are from Aus, which in uni the failing rate can be more than 70%, and those who able to sustain could hit A$100/pa as fresh grad, and the work is tough and stressful. Why Malaysian Actuarial seems like goyang kaki then?

Yes, I'm very surprise to find out the paid in Malaysia is so low as well. Wondering if the paid is higher in the multinational companies like Allianz?

In Aus, the starting paid is about ~$A70k, but the taxes and living costs are insanely high.