Course description
Introduction to Actuarial Science
You may have heard of actuarial science, or you might even know an actuary, but do you know what an actuary does? During the course you’ll hear from a wide variety of actuaries about their careers.
And don’t be scared that the course will be “just a whole lot of mathematics”. Together, we will go beyond the math to learn how actuaries approach problems relating to risk, using examples from:
- Finance
- Investments
- Banking
- Insurance
You will learn how actuarial science applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in these industries and other professions.
You’ll experience “hands-on” learning using Excel (or an equivalent spreadsheet tool) to project and investigate the financial condition of a company choosing appropriate strategies for the company through the use of simulations.
The course has been carefully designed for students from a wide variety of backgrounds, with secondary/high school level being the only assumption of mathematical background. Even if you don’t have any background in, for example, calculus, the course has been designed so you can skip over these sections without affecting your understanding of the rest of the course. You also do not need to have any Excel or other spreadsheet background to take the course.
For those with stronger mathematical backgrounds, extension questions are provided to test you further. You’ll learn a huge amount about actuarial science no matter what your background is!
Upcoming start dates
Who should attend?
Prerequisites
Secondary school (high school) algebra, calculus and probability among other basic mathematical concepts.
Training content
- Valuing Cash Flows
- Applications of Valuing Cash Flows
- Analysis of State Transitions
- The Life Table
- Valuing Uncertain Cash Flows
- Modelling a Life Insurance Company 1
- Modelling a Life Insurance Company 2
Course delivery details
This course is offered through Australian National University, a partner institute of EdX.
2-4 hours per week
Costs
- Verified Track -$49
- Audit Track - Free
Certification / Credits
What you'll learn
- The basics of actuarial science
- Valuing series of cash flows
- Incorporating uncertainty into cash flows due to investment and mortality
- Monte-Carlo simulation of uncertain cash flows in Excel (or an equivalent spreadsheet tool)
- Applying actuarial techniques to life insurance and predicting human life expectancy
- How actuarial science is used in finance, investments, banking and insurance
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edX
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