Actuarial Studies - 8411
Program Summary
Faculty: UNSW Business School
Contact: UNSW Business School Student Centre
Campus: Sydney
Career: Postgraduate
Typical Duration: 1.5 Years 
Typical UOC Per Semester: 24
Min UOC Per Semester: 6
Max UOC Per Semester: 24
Min UOC For Award: 72
Award(s):
Master of Actuarial Studies (Specialisation)
View program information for previous years
Program Description
If you are a prospective student researching your study options, please visit UNSW Business School website for more information.
The Master of Actuarial Studies is suitable if you have a strong background in actuarial studies, economics, mathematics or statistics. The program will prepare you for an actuarial career.
If you have completed an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Studies, the Master of Actuarial studies will allow you to complete courses equivalent to the Part I professional courses that you have yet to complete. You can also complete the Part II courses of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia and includes optional courses to assist with later professional Fellowship examinations. You can also broaden your actuarial training by including relevant courses in the Business School at postgraduate level in other disciplines through a selection of elective courses.
The Master of Actuarial Studies allows you to obtain and develop the required competencies to enter an actuarial career and provides quantitative risk management training for entry into the financial services industry. The program covers the professional actuarial subjects and includes options in actuarial studies, quantitative risk management, and other related disciplines.
Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes
Learning goals and associated learning outcomes for the Master of Actuarial Studies:
- Knowledge: Our graduates will have current Actuarial knowledge applicable in local and global contexts.
- Critical thinking and problem solving: Our graduates will have critical thinking and problem solving skills applicable to business and/or management practice or issues.
- Communication: Our graduates will be effective communicators in professional contexts.
- Teamwork: Our graduates will be effective team participants.
- Ethical, social and environmental responsibility: Our graduates will be aware of ethical, social, cultural and environmental implications of business issues and practice.
Program Structure
The Master of Actuarial Studies is a 1.5 year (full-time) or 3 year (part-time) degree program consisting of 12 courses (72 UOC): 4 core courses, plus 8 elective courses.
Core courses
- ACTL5101 Prob.& Statis. for Actuaries (6 UOC)
- ACTL5102 Financial Mathematics (6 UOC)
- ACTL5108 Finance for Actuaries (6 UOC)
- ECON5103 Business Economics (6 UOC)
Elective courses
Choose 8 elective actuarial courses from the following list:
- ACTL5002 Super & Retire Benefits (6 UOC)
- ACTL5004 Project Report - Act. Stud. (12 UOC)
- ACTL5100 Actuarial Theory & Pract. A (6 UOC)
- ACTL5103 Stochastic Model. for Act. (6 UOC)
- ACTL5104 Actuarial Statistics (6 UOC)
- ACTL5105 Life Insurance & Super. (6 UOC)
- ACTL5106 Insurance Risk Models (6 UOC)
- ACTL5109 Financial Economics (6 UOC)
- ACTL5110 Actuarial Data and Analysis (6 UOC)
- ACTL5200 Actuarial Theory & Practice B (6 UOC)
- ACTL5301 Models for Risk Management (6 UOC)
- ACTL5302 Risk and Capital Management (6 UOC)
- ACTL5303 Asset-Liability Management (6 UOC)
- ACTL5306 Retirement Saving and Spending (6 UOC)
- ACTL5401 Retirement Planning (6 UOC)
- RISK5001 Fundamentals Risk & Risk Mgmt (6 UOC)
- RISK5002 Risk Tools (6 UOC)
- RISK5003 Risk Decisions (6 UOC)
- RISK5009 Risk Management Strategies (6 UOC)
Note: You have the ability to choose a maximum of 4 non actuarial courses to complete the program. Enrolment into the courses, are subject to approval from the School of Risk & Actuarial and the disciplinary school offering the course.
A list of approved courses (approved by the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies) is listed below.
A list of approved courses (approved by the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies) is listed below.
- ECON5106 Economics of Finance (6 UOC)
- ECON5206 Financial Econometrics (6 UOC)
- ECON5248 Business Forecasting (6 UOC)
- ECON6003 Econometric Analysis (6 UOC)
- FINS5513 Investments & Portfolio Sel. (6 UOC)
- FINS5514 Capital Budgeting&Fin Decision (6 UOC)
- FINS5517 Applied Portfolio Mgt. & Model (6 UOC)
- FINS5530 Financial Institution Mgmt (6 UOC)
- FINS5535 Derivatives & Risk Mgt. Techs. (6 UOC)
- FINS5536 Fixed Income Sec. & Int. Rate (6 UOC)
- MATH5335 Comput'l Methods for Finance (6 UOC)
- MATH5806 Applied Regression Analysis (6 UOC)
- MATH5816 Continuous Time Fin'l Model'g (6 UOC)
- MATH5836 Data Mining (6 UOC)
- MATH5845 Time Series (6 UOC)
- MATH5905 Statistical Inference (6 UOC)
- MATH5916 Survival Analysis (6 UOC)
- MATH5965 Discrete Time Fin'l Modelling (6 UOC)
- MATH5975 Intro to Stochastic Analysis (6 UOC)
- MATH5985 Term Structure Modelling (6 UOC)
- RISK5007 Ope Risk Analysis and Mgmt (6 UOC)
Recommended Study Plan
These are provided to illustrate the Master of Actuarial Studies program structure for sample candidates. It is important to realize that every student entering the Master of Actuarial Studies usually has a different background, has completed varying courses and usually will often require an individually recommended study programs. They should contact the Student Centre or the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies for advice if needed.
8411 - Full time student - Semester 1 entry with no exemptions or advanced standing wishing to complete Part I of The Institute of Actuaries Professional Syllabus.
Students with no actuarial background wishing to complete only Part I professional courses should enroll in 8411 Master of Actuarial Studies. If they wish to complete both Part I and Part II and also the Part III ERM courses then they should enroll in 8416 Master of Actuarial Studies (Extension).
Students who have completed the Part I (at least 6 of the 8 CT courses) should enroll in 8411 Master of Actuarial Studies.
8411 - Full time student - Semester 1 entry with no exemptions or advanced standing wishing to complete Part I of The Institute of Actuaries Professional Syllabus.
Students with no actuarial background wishing to complete only Part I professional courses should enroll in 8411 Master of Actuarial Studies. If they wish to complete both Part I and Part II and also the Part III ERM courses then they should enroll in 8416 Master of Actuarial Studies (Extension).
Students who have completed the Part I (at least 6 of the 8 CT courses) should enroll in 8411 Master of Actuarial Studies.
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Semester 1
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Semester 2
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Semester 3
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ACTL5101
ACTL5102
ECON5103*
ACTL5108*
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ACTL5103
ACTL5106
ACTL5109
ACTL5302 (or other elective)
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ACTL5104
ACTL5105
ACTL5301
ACTL5002 (or other elective)
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*Students with exemptions/credits from these core courses need only complete 3 courses in 2 of the semesters. They should include ACTL5002 Superannuation and Retirement Benefits (or other elective) in the first session of the program.
8411 Part-Time student - completed Part I - studying Part II Part III ERM module courses (ACTL5301 and ACTL5302) and aiming to complete the 3 Modules of the Part III Fellowship of the Australian professional actuarial syllabus. Exemptions granted from the Core.
8411 Part-Time student - completed Part I - studying Part II Part III ERM module courses (ACTL5301 and ACTL5302) and aiming to complete the 3 Modules of the Part III Fellowship of the Australian professional actuarial syllabus. Exemptions granted from the Core.
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Semester 1
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Semester 2
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Semester 3
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Semester 4
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ACTL5100
ACTL5301
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ACTL5200
ACTL5302
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ACTL5002
Elective
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ACTL5303
RISK5009
(or other elective)
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Academic Rules
- A Master of Actuarial Studies may be awarded by the Council to a candidate who has satisfactorily completed an approved program of study having completed 12 courses (72 UOC) (includes credits transferred)
- Complete 4 core courses and 8 elective courses
- A candidate for the degree shall be required to undertake such formal courses and pass such
- assessment as is prescribed.
- If you require a progression check for your degree, complete an online request at
- www.unsw.business.unsw.edu.au/onlineforms"
- If you require a progression check for your degree, complete an online request form: www.business.unsw.edu.au/onlineforms
Fees
For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website: UNSW Fee Website.
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for the program, you must have:
A recognised bachelor degree (or equivalent qualification) with a credit average as determined by the UNSW Postgraduate Coursework Entry Calculator; and
A major (at least seven courses) in actuarial studies; or
A major (at least seven courses) in econometrics; or
A major (at least seven courses) in mathematics or statistics
A recognised bachelor degree (or equivalent qualification) with a credit average as determined by the UNSW Postgraduate Coursework Entry Calculator; and
A major (at least seven courses) in actuarial studies; or
A major (at least seven courses) in econometrics; or
A major (at least seven courses) in mathematics or statistics
Recognition of prior learning or professional recognition
Up to 4 courses credits (24 UOC) may be granted (towards the 4 core courses) based on your previous studies in actuarial studies (bachelor or higher). Additional course credits (up to 2 courses) may be awarded based on an incomplete postgraduate degree and/or professional examinations for the Fellowship of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, the Institute of Actuaries (UK) or the Society of Actuaries
Professional Accreditation
The Institute of Actuaries of Australia
The Master of Actuarial Studies is fully accredited by the Institute of Actuaries of Australia for both Part I and Part II subjects and recognised for exemptions by the Institute of Actuaries (London) for the Core Technical subjects. For more details please refer to the Professional Recognition of Programs in the Online Handbook or by contacting The Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
The Master of Actuarial Studies is fully accredited by the Institute of Actuaries of Australia for both Part I and Part II subjects and recognised for exemptions by the Institute of Actuaries (London) for the Core Technical subjects. For more details please refer to the Professional Recognition of Programs in the Online Handbook or by contacting The Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
Further Information
Please note that these requirements may be subject to change.
The rules and program structures relevant to you are directly related to those outlined in the year when you commenced your program. Please refer to the previous handbook editions for these structures and rules.
If you are a current student seeking support from the program coordinator please refer to the Program Coordinators list on the UNSW Business School Website:
Current Students
Contact the UNSW Business School Student Centre for advice.
Tel: + 61 2 9385 3189
Location: Level 1, room 1028, Quadrangle Building
Forms, policies and procedures
Frequently asked questions
Prospective Students
Contact UNSW Business School Student Recruitment Team for program advice:
Tel: +61 2 9385 3507
Email: studybusinessinfo@unsw.edu.au
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The rules and program structures relevant to you are directly related to those outlined in the year when you commenced your program. Please refer to the previous handbook editions for these structures and rules.
If you are a current student seeking support from the program coordinator please refer to the Program Coordinators list on the UNSW Business School Website:
Current Students
Contact the UNSW Business School Student Centre for advice.
Tel: + 61 2 9385 3189
Location: Level 1, room 1028, Quadrangle Building
Forms, policies and procedures
Frequently asked questions
Prospective Students
Contact UNSW Business School Student Recruitment Team for program advice:
Tel: +61 2 9385 3507
Email: studybusinessinfo@unsw.edu.au
