How to Hire an Actuary?: The Only Guide You’ll Need! 

Actuaries are professionals specifically trained in mathematics, statistics, and economics to predict how likely future events are to happen. With this knowledge, they help businesses in risk management and aversion by figuring out the potential financial costs. Think of them as financial detectives who solve complex problems to protect companies from unexpected events. In today’s ever-changing world, businesses need actuaries more than ever. In this blog, we will learn how to hire an actuary for your business.

Types of Actuaries

An organization may need to hire actuaries based on different levels of requirements. Here are some key actuary roles to consider, depending on your needs:

1. Life Insurance Actuary: These actuaries utilize advanced mathematics to determine life insurance premiums, considering factors like age and mortality rates.
2. Health Insurance Actuary: They focus on health insurance pricing, analyzing healthcare costs and illness frequency to ensure fair premiums.
3. General Actuary: General actuaries manage a broader range of risks, working in areas like insurance and financial planning. They do not possess any specific specialization. 
4. Pension Actuary: They ensure that companies have sufficient funds reserved to cover employee retirements.
5. Finance Actuary: Like financial detectives, they leverage their mathematical expertise to identify investment risks, aiding companies in making sound financial decisions.
6. Bank Actuary: Banks often face the risk of loan defaults. To help combat this problem, bank actuaries assess loan risk and guide lending decisions.
7. Enterprise Risk Management Actuary: These actuaries assess all types of risks a company might face, not just in one specific area. They provide a broad view of potential threats to help the company manage its overall risk.
8. Corporate Actuary: A corporate actuary analyzes financial risks and designs insurance and pension plans to ensure financial stability for the company.

In-House vs. Freelance Actuaries: Which One Should You Hire?

As a business, you can either hire an in-house actuary or a freelance actuary depending on your various requirements. Here’s a basic overview of both these kinds of actuaries to help you pick the right fit. 

	In-House Actuary	Freelance Actuary
Advantages	– Bring consistency and focus to your company’s goals and culture. – Foster collaboration, innovation, and a strong company spirit. – Fixed salary and benefit costs allow for easier budgeting.	– Can be hired for specific projects as and when needed. – Provide access to a broader range of specialized skills compared to an in-house team. – Can be more cost-effective for specialized tasks or short-term projects.
Disadvantages	– They may require additional training for specialized tasks. – Salary and benefits add to initial hiring expenses. – Retention efforts are needed to avoid losing valuable employees.	– Offer less control over work quality and integration with the existing team. – Limited knowledge transfer after project completion. – They may require additional onboarding and integration efforts.

How to Hire an Actuary?

Here are the 6 key steps that you can follow to hire an actuary for your business.

Step 1: Understand Your Hiring Needs

Before beginning the hiring process, primarily reflect upon your purpose of hiring an actuary. You can consider asking yourself the following questions to understand your actuarial requirements:

• For what specific area of expertise do you need an actuary (life, health, pensions)?
• Does the role of an actuary require expertise in specific regulations or compliance areas?
• How strong should an actuary’s data analysis and reporting skills be?
• What problem-solving approach is preferred for actuaries: analytical, creative, or a combination?
• How important are written and verbal communication skills for the actuary in explaining complex information?
• Are any professional certifications (such as FSA or CFA) required or preferred for the actuary?
• Are there specific actuarial software or modeling tools the actuary should be familiar with?

Step 2: Look for Certain Skills in the Actuary

This step involves evaluating both the technical skills as well as soft skills of an actuary. Here are some of the key skills you should look for: 

Technical Skills

• Comfortable with mathematics and statistics, especially probability, and understanding how things change over time.
• Possesses knowledge of data analysis software and keeps abreast of the latest updates in data analysis tools.
• Has a strong grasp of financial terminology and can apply finance formulas to solve complex problems.
• Understand the regulations relevant to their area (e.g., insurance) to ensure compliance.
• Capable of interpreting raw data through mathematical analysis and creating visually appealing dashboards.

Soft Skills 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including crafting professional emails, presentations, and proposals.
• Active listening skills to understand client needs and build trust.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills to offer innovative solutions to clients. 
• Ability to nurture and maintain positive relationships with clients and internal teams.
• Strong leadership skills for inspiring and guiding teams.
• Strong time management and organizational skills to handle multiple client accounts effectively.

How to Assess the Skills of an Actuary?

To ensure you hire the ideal actuary for your organization, thoroughly assess all applicants to determine if they possess the requisite skills and experience. Here are some key skills you can look while screening applicants for this role:

• Present real-world scenarios (e.g., analyzing a life insurance portfolio) to test risk analysis, data modeling, and financial evaluation skills.
• Use practical tests in industry-standard software like MoSes or Prophet to assess software fluency.
• Evaluate their understanding of relevant regulations and ethical considerations.
• Ask questions about past experiences to gauge communication, teamwork, and leadership abilities.
• Pose interview questions for cultural fit.
• Simulate a client meeting and assess their ability to explain complex concepts clearly and propose risk-management strategies based on client needs.

Step 3: Create an Actuary Job Description

Create a clear and detailed job description to hire an actuary, stating the key responsibilities, required skills, and qualifications. It is a crucial tool that impacts the candidate’s decision of whether to apply for the job or not. Here’s what you should include in a job description:

• Company Overview: Include essential details about your company, such as its core values, line of products, and business objectives. 
• Job Title: Mention the exact designation for the role you are hiring for.
• Job Overview: It is an overview of the actuary role, making the candidate familiar with the core responsibilities.
• Key Responsibilities: In this section, list down all the key responsibilities the actuary will undertake once they are hired.
• Job Requirements: In this section, include a list of required skills (both soft skills and technical skills) and minimum qualifications needed to carry out the role’s duties. 
• Compensation: State the annual salary package offered to set clear salary expectations.
• Perks and Benefits: Mention the benefits, such as flexible working hours, work-from-home, health insurance, or any other employment benefits offered by your company.
• Work Schedule: Include details about the work timings and working days. 
• Call-to-Action (CTA): In this section, provide a platform such as a link to a job portal or email ID where the candidate can apply by sharing their resume, portfolio, or cover letter.

Step 4: Post the Job Description on Relevant Platforms

Once you have prepared a detailed job description, the next step is to post it on relevant platforms to gain maximum reach and applications. In order to do this, you can check out free job posting sites like Internshala and learn how to post a job on Internshala. Remember to choose a platform well-suited for the offered job role as this can maximize the number of job applications.

Step 5: Shortlist and Interview Candidates

Upon receiving the applications, start with preliminary screening by assessing the candidate’s minimum qualifications. Given below is a list of the minimum requirements for an actuary: 

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, statistics, actuarial science, or economics is essential.
• Professional Credentials: The completion of actuarial exams (CAS or SOA) signifies a high level of expertise.
• Experience: 3 – 5 years (or more) of relevant actuarial work experience is ideal.
• Software Proficiency: Familiarity with actuarial modeling software (MoSes, Prophet) is a plus.

After reviewing resumes, select candidates who match the required skill set for interviews. Personal interviews are crucial for assessing candidates’ technical expertise and soft skills, both essential for effective performance and continual improvement in the role of an actuary.

Actuary Interview Questions to Test Soft Skills

Here is a list of interview questions you can ask the candidates to test their soft skills: 

• How will you briefly explain a complex actuarial concept to someone with no financial background?
• You disagree with a colleague’s approach to a project. How do you ensure a productive discussion?
• Describe a time you faced a data analysis hurdle. How did you overcome it?
• You have multiple deadlines approaching. How do you prioritize your workload?
• How do you adjust your work style in case the regulations in your field change unexpectedly?

Actuary Interview Questions to Test Technical Skills

Here is a list of interview questions you can ask applicants to test their technical skills: 

• A company is experiencing a higher-than-expected number of claims in a specific region. Describe your approach to analyzing this data and identifying potential causes.
• Explain the concept of loss ratios and their significance in evaluating the profitability of an insurance product.
• Describe the process for calculating risk capital for an insurance company, considering different risk factors and solvency requirements.
• We’re considering offering a new health insurance plan with deductibles. Explain how deductibles affect both the insurer and the insured.
• Walk us through the steps involved in conducting a stress test to assess the financial stability of an insurance company under various economic scenarios.
• You’re presented with a dataset on customer demographics and claim history. Describe how you would use this data to develop a risk segmentation model for pricing insurance premiums.

Step 6:  Make the Final Decision: Hire and Onboard

A good onboarding process is crucial to make employees feel comfortable at the workplace and allow them to boost their productivity. Therefore, develop a thorough onboarding plan to ensure the new hire can integrate seamlessly into your team. To get started, you can consider scheduling an orientation session with the new hire’s team members, outlining their job responsibilities, and setting clear goals and expectations. 

What is the Cost of Hiring an Actuary in India?

According to the Institute of Actuaries of India, actuaries are in high demand globally and can earn substantial salaries and benefits.

• Entry-level actuarial students can expect starting salaries between ₹4 LPA and ₹5 LPA annually.
• Upon qualification, newly certified actuaries typically earn from ₹15 LPA to ₹20 LPA.
• Experienced actuaries can earn even more, with salaries ranging from ₹8 LPA for beginners to around ₹40 LPA for senior positions.

Conclusion

Business operations involve high financial risks; therefore, you need to hire an actuary. They use data science and analytics techniques to create financial models. These models help predict future risks and uncertainties by analyzing past trends and making assumptions about what might happen in the future. Remember to post your job vacancy on leading hiring portals such as Internshala to hire talent. Also, check out how to improve the recruitment process to ensure you hire the right talent for your organization. 

FAQs