Where Actuaries Work

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A number of our members work as Actuarial Consultants providing advisory and technical support to a range of clients. Such consultants may operate in a single sector (e.g. life or non-life insurance, pensions etc.) or may work across sectors. The work performed by Actuarial Consultants includes the traditional roles fulfilled by actuaries (e.g. reserving, capital management, risk management, modelling, product development etc.)  but also extends to strategic management including mergers & acquisitions, set-up of new companies, recovery and resolution planning etc.

Actuarial Consultancies in Ireland range from small enterprises with 1-2 employees to those employing 40+ actuaries.

Members of the society work as Data Science Actuaries or modellers across several industries not just the typical fields such as insurance, investment and pensions.  Their work covers finding and cleansing appropriate and relevant data, building the data process, building data storage, documenting the data architecture and then analysing, visualising and communicating the results of the data.  Data analytics has always been part of the actuarial skill set and now is an ever-expanding part of actuarial work.

Members of the Society provide the support for non-life insurance companies to protect customers cars, property, pets, travel arrangements and their and their families health from loss, damage, accident or illness helping to provide protection from financial loss. Similarly insurance provides protection to companies through property insurance, employers and public liability, credit risk, business interruption, livestock and crop. Ireland is home to many large and small insurance companies who insure specialised risks for global insurance and reinsurance companies providing global protection and capacity for growth and development. 

Members of the Society who work in Health provide the support for insurance companies to provide access to private healthcare and dental services, coverage of day-to-day medical expenses, online nurse, doctor and mental health supports. Members of the Society help Health insurance companies by analysing the risks faced by the insurers, calculating the future cost of claim and assisting in pricing of plans and services.

Investment Actuaries utilise their expertise in mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to advise financial institutions, pension schemes and ultimately end customers in making investment decisions. They evaluate and manage the financial risks of investment portfolios, developing investment strategies, and analyse investment performance.

The specific work functions might include:

• Create investment strategies: Based on their analysis, investment actuaries develop investment strategies that help their clients achieve their financial goals while managing risk. They may recommend specific asset classes, such as equities, fixed income bonds, or more complex financial instruments such as derivatives, and may also recommend investments within these classes.
• Analyse financial data: Investment actuaries collect and analyse data related to investments, such as stock prices, interest rates, and economic indicators. They use this data to develop models that can help predict investment outcomes.
• Evaluating risk: Investment actuaries use financial models to evaluate the risks associated with investment portfolios. They assess factors such as market volatility, interest rate fluctuations, and currency exchange rates, and develop techniques to mitigate these risks such as hedging or diversification strategies.
• Monitor investments: Investment actuaries routinely monitor investments to ensure that they continue to perform as anticipated. They may modify their investment strategies as required to reflect changes in the market or in their clients' financial goals.

Members of the Society who work in Life insurance provide the support for insurance companies to provide cover if a policyholder were to become seriously ill or die. Life insurance pays a lump sum that can help a policyholder’s family pay bills, loans or mortgage repayments. Members of the Society help Life insurance companies by analysing the risks faced by the insurers, calculating the future cost of claim, assisting in pricing of life insurance policies and monitoring the funds required to provide the benefits promised to policyholders in the event of a claim.

Members of the Society provide expert advice to a range of clients including large and small companies, trustees of pension schemes, government bodies and non-profit organisations on managing their retirement benefits schemes. This can include benefit design, funding strategies, compliance and the increasingly important area of risk management. Actuaries also use their skills in asset-liability modelling to design and advise on investment portfolios suitable to their clients’ needs.  

Members of the Society who work within Risk Management assist companies in risk identification which would include economic, environmental, financial, and political risks that may affect the operation or objectives of companies. They also assist companies to determine how much risk the business is willing to take on, how much the risk will cost to mitigate, develop strategies and contingencies to respond to these risks and monitor the correlations and dependencies of all risks across the entire operation of a company.