Where Do Actuaries Work?

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many options available to actuaries. Now the opportunities are practically endless!

Actuaries are needed anywhere there is risk and problems to be solved through data analytics – which is EVERYWHERE! Given this and the increased flexibility that remote work has provided, you can find actuaries in nearly every industry across the world. 

While it might sound great to have all of these options, it can also be a little overwhelming, especially if you are just starting out your career.

• What are the pros and cons of working for an insurance company vs. a consulting firm?
• Do I want work in the United States or move abroad?
• What types of problems will I enjoy solving?
• What is the culture like at a large corporation vs. a small one?

These are just a few of the questions I get from aspiring actuaries. Without on-the-job experience, it’s tough to know where you will enjoy working and which environment is best for your lifestyle and priorities.

Whether you are just starting out or you’re considering a change, this blog is for you! I’ve spoken with actuaries all over the world in a variety of industries to provide a glimpse into what it’s like to work in each of these different places.

I’ll start off by sharing where actuaries work today and then dive into the trends I’ve observed through talking with each of these individuals with respect to culture, travel, flexibility, benefits and more!

Then, I will release the detailed responses for each person and company so you can gain even more insight into what it is like to work in a particular industry or country. So let’s jump in!

Types of Employers

Today the majority of actuaries work in insurance, either directly through working at an insurance company or indirectly through consulting or other supporting organizations. However, as the world changes and society becomes more aware of the value actuaries bring, the options are increasing!

A few additional places that actuaries work include:

• Financial Services – Banks, investment firms, public accounting firms, etc.
• Transportation – Shipping and air travel
• Technology – InsurTech or FinTech, such as Google, Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Amazon, etc.
• Energy – Utilities, oil and gas
• Environment – Climate change and weather risk management
• Government – Regulatory Oversight, Department of Labor, Social Programs such as Medicare and Social Security
• Academia – Colleges and universities, actuarial exam prep such as The Infinite Actuary, Rising Fellow and many more!
• Entrepreneurs – Many actuaries have started their own businesses and work for themselves!

To get a sense for where the actuaries currently work and the top employers (by number of actuaries), check out this resource from BeAnActuary.com.

Locations

Within the US, the majority of actuarial jobs tend to be located near where large insurance companies are headquartered. Additionally, most consulting offices are set-up near current and potential clients. Because of this, most actuaries work on the East Coast, in the Midwest or in Texas or California.

However, as companies continue to shift to more flexible work arrangements, it’s likely that actuaries will branch out into new geographic locations over time. For more details on where actuaries work today plus the highest paying states, check out this resource from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What’s it like?

Alright now for the juicy details. What is it really like to work for a start-up in the tech industry? Is it really possible to have amazing work/life balance in any actuarial role? How does the work and collaboration differ between types of companies?

Based on insights shared from actuaries around the world at a variety of companies, here are some common themes I’ve observed.

Culture

Prior to the pandemic, the majority of individuals I spoke with worked in an office with limited opportunities for remote work. Now most have transitioned to a hybrid approach. Fully remote opportunities were most common among consulting, reinsurance and tech roles.

In general, consulting and tech roles offer the most flexibility in terms of how work is done and ability to transition into new roles. Several individuals mentioned career autonomy as a major perk of working in a consulting or start-up environment.

Few respondents hung out with coworkers outside of work hours. Traditional insurance companies were the most likely to host sponsored events to celebrate holidays or accomplishments where colleagues could gather together in person.

Work/Life Balance

In general, those working in consulting roles or at start-up companies tend to work longer hours than those in more traditional insurance environments. Consulting actuaries explained that since their work is very project driven, there tend to be hard deadlines and workload often varies throughout the year, with some busier seasons than others.

Tech roles tend to be very fast paced with rapidly changing priorities. Some actuaries cited a high-performance environment as one driver of their need to clock more hours on the job. Several mentioned working more than a 40-hour week simply due to the fact that they enjoyed their work and didn’t mind putting in extra time to get the job done. Since transitioning to work from home, some actuaries expressed that they work more than they did pre-pandemic.

Benefits

Traditional insurance companies tend to have very structured vacation policies and benefits. Respondents shared that they were provided with a specific number of vacation and sick days, with the number increasing based on tenure with the company and/or the position. For example, those with a company longer and in higher levels of leadership receive the highest number of days off.

A common benefit for InsurTech companies is unlimited PTO. Rather than tracking time off, there is more of a focus on completing the work required for the job during whatever time works best for the individual. However, there still tends to be pretty regular “business hours” cited across the board, with most actuaries mentioning that they generally need to be available between 10am-3pm for meetings.

Benefits and time off for consulting and reinsurance roles were of a mixed bag. Some had structured PTO plans, some had unlimited, some had both.

Style of work

Most actuaries expressed that their roles are fairly collaborative. In general, you tend to see work shift from more independent to more interactive as you shift into higher levels of leadership. Reinsurance and consulting roles tend to be very relationship oriented. Because of this, it is common for actuaries in these spaces to travel a lot for work. All respondents from traditional insurance companies and most of the tech roles did not travel at all for work, except for industry conferences or the occasional company-sponsored event.

Individual Responses

• Alex King – Founder and CEO at Actuaries OnTap (Singapore)
• Christopher Moore – Asst. Professor of Actuarial Science (Indiana)
• Greg Solomon – Managing Director at Eigengrey Consulting (Hong Kong)
• Henry Liu – Pricing Actuary at Amazon (Ohio)
• Isaac Espinoza – VP of Reinsurance at Root Inc. (Cayman Islands)
• Jacopo Marchesan – Senior Pricing Actuary at Allianz SE (Germany)
• Josh Taub – Instructor for The Infinite Actuary (Remote)
• Keiana Byfield – Model Development & Analytics Intern at Canada Life (Canada)
• Kritibha Rai – IFRS 17 Actuarial Analyst at Allianz Global Life (Ireland)
• Reese Mularz – Associate Actuary at Milliman (Wisconsin)
• Vy Le – Risk Actuary and Director at a life insurance company (Canada)
• InsurTech Actuary in the San Francisco Bay area*

*This individual has requested to remain anonymous due to the highly confidential nature of the companies for which he/she has worked for.

Coming Soon

Stay tuned! I’ll be sharing detailed responses from the following actuaries. Follow @inspiring_actuaries on Instagram to be notified when new responses are released!

• Dustin Loeffler – Structured Reinsurance Broker & Actuary at Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions (Chicago, IL)
• Kartik Patel – Head of Insurance Analytics & Products at TransUnion CIBIL Limited (India)
• Paballo Makupu – Manager at EY (South Africa)
• Ranveer Kaur – Senior Actuarial Consultant at EY (London)

I want to hear from you!

If you’re an actuary working in an industry, country or company I haven’t touched on and you’d like to share your perspective, please let me know. I’d love to feature you here on the blog so we can all continue learning together. Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to contribute!

Also, if you’ve got specific questions about the actuarial profession that you’d like me to cover, please share them in the comment box below. Thanks for reading!