An Actuary, is a business professional that uses the knowledge of statistics, mathematics and finance to predict the likelihood of future events and in doing so, enables its stakeholders to identify and quantify risks and exploit the opportunities in these risks.
Therefore, actuaries evaluate the financial consequence of risk in business and advise accordingly.
They are very critical to life and general insurance products pricing, even as their services are also required investments of pension assets, enterprise risk management and Health Insurance.
Actuarial skills are also being used in the new and developing field of data analytics which can be applied to both financial (including banks) and non-financial sectors.
Typically, employers of actuarial resource in Nigeria include; insurance companies, Actuarial consulting firms, Commercial banks! Audit firms; Health Management organisations; government; pension fund administrators(PFAs), among others.
Benefits Of Being An Actuary
Actuaries are constantly rated as number one best job in the US and in Nigeria, there is dearth of actuaries in Nigeria and particularly in insurance and pension sectors, hence, insurers and PFAs are willing to pay through their nose to secure the services of actuaries.
As insurance companies in Nigeria expand and increase capital, they will require more actuaries to help manage the safety of the shareholder’s investments. There are also advancing areas of practice like health and risk management, where more actuaries will be needed in the future.
The introduction of accounting regulation will also require actuarial skills in commercial banks while government will also have increased role for actuaries, as it aims for stronger regulation of the relevant private companies and in analysing the burden of pension on its budgets.
Requirements
The Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS) is the professional organization for actuaries in Nigeria. It was established in1986for the advancement of the actuarial knowledge and standards in Nigeria. NAS became a full member organization of the International Actuarial Association in 2018.
NAS focus at the moment is to bring together actuarial professionals practicing in Nigeria within a professional umbrella, regulate the code of conduct, liaise with relevant regulators and other stakeholders, be a voice for the profession in Nigeria, improve the local image of the profession and provide relevant assistance to its members, including trainings.
The Society of Actuaries, USA (SOA) and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK (IFoA) which offer professional certificates, have exam centres in Lagos.
Income Prospects
The chairman, TAF Consulting Group, Debo Ajayi, who spoke on how actuarial development can improve insurance business and reduce unemployment in the country, noted that, for young people, becoming an actuary is a fantastic proposition “and this is part of what we are trying to sell to young people. Not only that, it is a global credential, which means when you pass few exams, you can start applying for job overseas.
“Being an actuary is a number one job in the United States and yet, we have huge graduate unemployment in Nigeria. There are situations where Mathematics graduate teaches in primary schools. If he subscribes to the training we have here, within 12 to 16 months, he can begin to apply for jobs within New York but he is completely unaware.”
“If the insurance association makes a little stipend available for this, a lot of youths’ lives can be transformed with this profession.
We have industries that need them. Actuarial profession will solve youth unemployment, address issue of insurance industry with low penetration, and issues of pension industry.”
Recall that, last year, the commissioner for Insurance/chief executive, National Insurance Commission(NAICOM), Mr. Sunday Thomas, has inaugurated the Nigerian Actuarial Society Discount Rate Committee (NAS-DRC) to establish a standardised basis for determining discount rate factors for use by the insurance industry and other stakeholders in the financial services sector.
He said the proposed template will be particularly helpful in the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standard 17 (IFRS 17), and insurance contracts.
This shows the values and respect an actuary currently commands in insurance and pension industries.
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