Handbook

Overview

The Master of Actuarial Studies is suitable for students with a strong background in a quantitative discipline such as Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Econometrics, Physics, Engineering, or Actuarial Studies. The program is professionally accredited, and will provide you with a solid training in actuarial studies, business and analytics, and prepare … For more content click the Read More button below. If you have already completed an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Studies, the Master of Actuarial studies will allow you to complete courses equivalent to the Foundation Program of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia that you have yet to complete. You can also complete the "Actuarial Control Cycle" and "Data Analytics Principles" courses of the Actuary Program. This program will enable you to broaden your actuarial training by including relevant advanced postgraduate electives in complementary areas in the Business School and UNSW, including in areas such as statistics, finance, and economics, and data analytics.

If you have already completed an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Studies, the Master of Actuarial studies will allow you to complete courses equivalent to the Foundation Program of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia that you have yet to complete. You can also complete the "Actuarial Control Cycle" and "Data Analytics Principles" courses of the Actuary Program. This program will enable you to broaden your actuarial training by including relevant advanced postgraduate electives in complementary areas in the Business School and UNSW, including in areas such as statistics, finance, and economics, and data analytics.

Program Structure

Students must complete 72 UOC when taken as a standalone program.

Core Courses36 Units of Credit:

Students must take 36 UOC of the following courses.

ACTL5101

6 UOC

Probability and Statistics for Actuaries

ACTL5102

6 UOC

Financial Mathematics

ACTL5108

6 UOC

Finance and Financial Reporting for Actuaries

ACTL5110

6 UOC

Statistical Machine Learning for Risk and Actuarial Applications

COMM5501

6 UOC

Data Visualisation and Communication

ECON5103

6 UOC

Business Economics

Capstone Course

Prescribed Electives (Professional Accreditation)

Students must take at least 12 UOC of the following courses

ACTL5103

6 UOC

Stochastic Modelling for Actuaries

ACTL5104

6 UOC

Survival Analysis and Prediction of Life and Health Related Risks

ACTL5105

6 UOC

Life Insurance and Superannuation

ACTL5106

6 UOC

Insurance Risk Models

ACTL5109

6 UOC

Financial Economics for Insurance and Superannuation

ACTL5200

6 UOC

Actuarial Theory and Practice B

ACTL5301

6 UOC

Quantitative Risk Management Techniques

Electives

Students may take up to 18 UOC of the following courses. The exact number taken will depend on the number of capstone courses and Professional Accreditation electives taken. Postgraduate courses offered by the UNSW Business School, or by other Faculties within the University may be substituted for up to 18 UOC of Risk and Actuarial Studies electives in order for students to broaden their actuarial training in other disciplines such as data analytics, economics or finance. Alternatively, an interdisciplinary Work Integrated Learning (WIL) course can be selected.

Risk and Actuarial Studies Electives

ACTL5004

12 UOC

Project Report - Actuarial Studies

ACTL5111

6 UOC

Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning Models for Risk and Insurance

ACTL5302

6 UOC

Risk and Capital Management

RISK5001

6 UOC

Fundamentals of Risk and Risk Management

Risk Decision Analytics

RISK5009

6 UOC

Risk Management Strategies

Work Integrated Learning Elective

Broadening Electives

Principles of Programming

COMP9024

6 UOC

Data Structures and Algorithms

COMP9414

6 UOC

Artificial Intelligence

COMP9444

6 UOC

Neural Networks and Deep Learning

Financial Econometrics

Investments and Portfolio Selection

FINS5517

6 UOC

Applied Portfolio Management and Modelling

FINS5530

6 UOC

Financial Institution Management

INFS5700

6 UOC

Introduction to Business Analytics

INFS5710

6 UOC

Information Technology Infrastructure for Business Analytics

INFS5720

6 UOC

Business Analytics Methods

INFS5730

6 UOC

Social Media Analytics in Practice

MARK5822

6 UOC

Marketing Analytics Tools

Advertising Analytics

MATH5335

6 UOC

Computational Mathematics for Finance

MATH5816

6 UOC

Continuous Time Financial Modelling

MATH5836

6 UOC

Data and Machine Learning

Introduction to Stochastic Analysis

MATH5985

6 UOC

Term Structure Modelling

Recognition of Prior Learning - Core courses

Business School Course Substitution - Core courses

Postgraduate courses offered by UNSW Business School, or by other Faculties within the University may be substituted for up to 2 courses (of a core course only) based on your prior studies. This will be assessed upon application and you will be notified (in the offer letter) of any core courses you may substitute. Enrolment into the substituted courses, are subject to approval from the School of Risk & Actuarial and the disciplinary school offering the course.

Enrolment Disclaimer

Please note that this Handbook is a comprehensive catalogue of our offerings and includes courses that can be taken to satisfy program requirements irrespective as to their availability for a particular year. Availability of courses is best checked using filters on this site or on the class timetable site.

You are responsible for ensuring that you enrol in courses according to your program requirements and by following the advice of your Program Authority. myUNSW enrolment checks that you have met enrolment requirements such as pre-requisites for individual courses but not that you are enrolling in courses that will count towards your program requirements.

Admission Requirements

Entry Requirements

Minimum Entry Requirements

To be eligible for the program, you must have:

A recognised bachelor degree (or equivalent qualification) with a substantial component of mathematics, statistics, econometrics or actuarial studies, with a credit average, as determined by the UNSW Business School. Entries are also opened to students with background in related disciplines including financial engineering, data science, data engineering, physics, engineering, any related quantitative field, with a credit average, as determined by the UNSW Business School. Applicants are expected to have a mathematical background equivalent to a full year of calculus and linear algebra at first-year university undergraduate level.

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.

For more information about admission requirements for various UNSW programs, visit the following website(s):

Domestic Students

International Student

Program Requirements

Progression Requirements

Progression rules are in accordance with university policy.

Pathways to AGSM's MBA programs:

AGSM will provide recognition of prior learning into MBA programs for students who complete the the actuarial courses (ACTL5100, ACTL5200, ACTL5305) corresponding to the professional “Actuary program” from the Actuaries Institute as non-award enrolments. This will include specified credit for the relevant analytics course in each MBA program and unspecified credit for up to two electives.

For more information on university policy on progression requirements please visit Academic Progression

Professional Outcomes

Accreditations

Centres of Actuarial Excellence (CAE)

Institute of Actuaries of Australia

Graduates are eligible to apply for membership of various professional organisations according to the area of specialisation completed. For further information regarding the Institute of Actuaries Australia, please see https://www.actuaries.asn.au/
For information on application for exemption recommendation, please see: https://www.unsw.edu.au/business/our-schools/risk-actuarial/student-life/professional-recognition/application-exemption-recommendation-2020-2021-rules

Professional Recognition

Graduates are eligible to apply for membership of various professional organisations according to the area of specialisation completed. At UNSW School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, our degrees have been accredited by the Actuaries Institute (Australia) and received professional recognition by the Society of Actuaries (US) and Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) for Validation by Educational Experience (VEE). We are recognised as a Centre of Actuarial Excellence (CAE) and have earned University-Earned Credit (UEC) Program status for the FM exam and SRM exam (beginning January 1, 2023) by the Society of Actuaries. In 2021, we received the CAS University Award. Please refer to https://www.unsw.edu.au/business/our-schools/risk-actuarial/student-life/professional-recognition for further details.

Career Opportunities

The Master of Actuarial allows you to obtain and develop the required competencies to enter an actuarial career and provides data analytics and quantitative risk management training for entry into the financial services industry. The program covers the professional actuarial subjects and includes options in actuarial studies, data analytics, quantitative risk management, and other related disciplines.

Recognition of Achievement

Award with Excellence

Current Students Award with Excellence

For more information, please visit the link above.

The Award with Excellence is awarded in coursework masters programs, including Masters (Extension) but with the exception of Masters (Extended) such as JD and MD, when a Weighted Average Mean (WAM) of at least 80% has been achieved and at least 50% of the requirements of the award are completed at UNSW. All eligible programs will award 'with Excellence' except in special circumstances where approval of Academic Board has been given for a program to opt out.

Additional Information

Please note that these requirements may be subject to change. Students should always follow the program requirements according to the year they started their degree. For more information please visit previous UNSW Online Handbooks

Contact The Nucleus: Student Hub for advice.
Tel: + 61 2 9385 8500
Location: The Nucleus: Student Hub, Level 2, in the Main Library (UNSW map location F21)

Program Fees

At UNSW fees are generally charged at course level and therefore dependent upon individual enrolment and other factors such as student's residency status. For generic information on fees and additional expenses of UNSW programs, click on one of the following:

Domestic Students

Commonwealth Supported Students (if applicable)

International Students