msc_actuarial_brochure.pdf imperial college of london

8/6/2019 Msc_actuarial_brochure.pdf Imperial College of London

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www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school

MScActuarialFinance


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Undertake your MSc at Imperial CollegeBusiness School and you become a graduateof one of the worlds leading universities.

Imperial College Business School has aglobal reputation for excellence inentrepreneurship, innovation, quantitativefinance and health management. Our facultyare experts in their fields. As an MScstudent, you will therefore learn from theircutting-edge research and graduate with acommand of the latest thinking. You will alsograduate with a qualification that isrecognised and respected everywhere for itsacademic excellence.

The focus of the programme is highlypractical. You apply what you learn to groupdiscussion and project work, building yourtechnical skills and your confidence. Thiscombination of academic rigour and practicalapplication is why our MSc graduates are sohighly valued by employers.

Studying with others encouragescollaboration and helps create contacts thatwill enrich your professional and personal

networks. We understand the value andpower of these networks. That is why we arededicated to providing a friendly andsupportive environment, where you feelconfident to share insights with otherhigh-calibre students.

Our vibrant South Kensington location bringsyou to the cultural heart of London, withmany of the worlds most famous museums,art galleries, parks and restaurants on yourdoorstep. You are also close to the City,

Londons financial and business centre,where you will find the headquarters ofmany global organisations.

THIS PROGRAMME GIVES ME A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS BEHINDTHE METHODS. I DEFINITELY FEEL THAT I UNDERSTAND MY WORK MORE. IM ABLE TO

GIVE MORE INPUT WHEN SPEAKING TO SENIOR COLLEAGUES AND I FEEL THAT IMBETTER AT THINKING BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL ACTUARIAL BOX.JULIA SUN, MSC ACTUARIAL FINANCE 2007 AND WATSON WYATT EMPLOYEE (ABOVE)

Gain areputation

for excellence


FRONT COVER:

MARK COOPER, MSC

ACTUARIAL FINANCE 2007

AND WATSON WYATT

EMPLOYEE


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MY COMPANY FIRST BROUGHT THE PROGRAMMETO MY ATTENTION IT WAS SOMETHINGDIFFERENT TO THE EXAM ROUTE. ONE OF THE BESTTHINGS IS THE ACTUARIAL PRACTICE ELEMENTWHERE INDUSTRY SPEAKERS GIVE YOU AN INSIGHTINTO WHAT THEY DO. IT MAKES YOU REALISE HOWDIVERSE OUR INDUSTRY IS AND HOW YOU CANACTUALLY APPLY FUNDAMENTAL ACTUARIALKNOWLEDGE TO THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY.CYPRIAN NJAMMA, MSC ACTUARIAL FINANCE 2007 AND MERCER EMPLOYEE (ABOVE)

This innovative and pioneering part-timeprogramme is offered only at ImperialCollege Business School. Working closely

with the The Actuarial Profession in the UKand an advisory board of large actuarialemployers in pensions and insurance, wehave developed a distinctive programme thatmeets market needs by offering analternative approach to your professionalactuarial qualification.

Todays complex financial world requires newactuarial skills. It is now crucial for actuariesto understand the language of modernfinance, whether they work in insurance,

pensions or investments. Our programmeenables you to master these skills in asupportive environment with the potential togain a double qualification.*

Your fellow students will also be pursuingactuarial careers in a diverse range offinancial organisations. This makes fordynamic, stimulating classroom discussions,enriching the learning experience.

Imperial College Business School isrecognised as a centre of excellence forquantitative finance. Not only are our facultyworld-leading academics in their fields, theyalso have strong industry links, oftenconsulting for major financial organisations.This brings invaluable understanding ofcurrent market practice into the classroom.

Advantages for sponsoring employersThe MSc Actuarial Finance strengthensstudents expertise with a highly innovative

programme, the first to combine extensivecoverage of modern finance with actuarialtraining. Based on performance, studentsgraduate with a double qualification -exemption from most UK professionalactuarial examinations (some of the CT level,all the CA level except CA2 and all the ST-level subjects), and a Masters degree fromImperial College. As a result, the MSc has thepotential to speed up qualification times. Bysponsoring your employees, you will gain asignificant recruiting advantage in the market

for aspiring actuaries.


Advanceyour actuarial

career

* On successful completion of the programme, and if you do sufficiently well in the programme as determined by the independent examiners appointed by

the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the MSc gives you exemption from the following UK professional actuarial examinations: CT2, CT7, CT8, and all CA and

ST subjects except CA2.


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Our part-time programme combines lectures

with quantitative case studies. Students attend

a full day of classes every week of term, over

two years. In year one, you take compulsorycore courses and in year two, you select two

main electives and two further electives, in

addition to completing a project.

Induction coursesBefore starting the programme, we ask all

students to study our introductory e-learning

review classes, covering Mathematics, Statistics,

Introduction to Finance and Business Computing

with VBA.

First YearActuarial PracticeThis course provides an overview of qualitative

issues which arise when techniques taught inother courses throughout the programme are

applied by practising actuaries. To emphasise

linkages with other material throughout the

year, the course is taught for one hour each

week over three terms.

Applied Econometrics for ActuariesAn introduction to econometrics applicable to

actuarial problems. Course material is presented

through detailed examples with associated dataand programs.

EconomicsThis course equips you with the basic tools of

micro and macro economics, with particular

emphasis on applications for actuaries. The first

half of the course looks at the behaviour of

individual agents (firms or households) and

single markets, whilst the second part deals with

the economy as a whole.

FinanceAn introduction to financial markets and

principles of financial modelling, including

approaches to describing preferences underuncertainty and mean-variance analysis; capital

asset and arbitrage pricing models; important

features of default-free fixed income markets,

and principles of portfolio management.

Corporate FinanceGives you an understanding of firms financial

decisions, including the determinants of capital

structure, dividends, mergers and acquisitionsand real investments. Examples are employed

to illustrate how the general principles of

corporate finance may be applied to insurance

companies and pension funds.

Valuation

Covers equilibrium and actuarial approaches to

valuing risky payoffs, developing pricing results

for financial options and a range of term structure

derivatives. Discusses the pricing of non-traded

exposures in insurance and pensions markets.

Risk ManagementThe first part of the course covers types of risk

and methods for measurement and management.The second part looks at how insurance

companies and pension funds implement risk

mitigation techniques such as reinsurance,

securitisation, or hedging.

Programmeoverview


Pre-studycourses

Online induction courses

Mathematics

Statistics

Introduction to Finance

Advanced Excel and VBA

Year one Autumn term Spring term Summer term Summer

Applied Econometrics for

Actuaries

Economics

Actuarial Practice

Finance

Corporate Finance

Actuarial Practice

Valuation

Risk Management

Actuarial Practice

Accounting (e-based course)

Business Communications

Year two Autumn term Spring term Summer term Summer

Complete two of four electives:

Pensions

Advanced Finance

Life Insurance General Insurance

Complete two of five electives:

Personnel Economics

Healthcare

Reinsurance and Securitisation Credit Risk Modelling

Enterprise Risk Management

Individual Project

8,000-word report on a topic

related to material covered

in the programme

Electives run subject to student interest and availability. Imperial College Business School reserves the right to withdraw or replace an elective.


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Accounting (e-learning)This e-learning course is completed by working

independently but with assistance and guidance

from an online tutor. It covers general principlesof accounting relevant for actuaries and looks in

greater detail at the specifics of accounting for

life and general insurance companies and

pensions funds.

Business Communications

Teaches you how to communicate technical ideas

effectively to business colleagues and the wider

public.

Second Year - Autumn and Spring termsPensionsPensions EconomicsAnalyses the need for pensions and the role

played by state and occupational pensions. Youexamine the interaction between state and

private pension provision in the UK and overseas,

study how pensions influence individual

behaviour and how pension design can take

account of this.

Pensions FinanceTeaches you the financial aspects of pension

funding for defined benefit and defined

contribution funds, examining detailed real-world

examples. You will learn to apply risk

management, financial and investment

techniques to pension fund issues.

Advanced FinanceAdvanced Investments

Covers factor models for pricing investments and

calculating risk-adjustments for trading strategies;

the prediction of returns on investments and

tactical asset location, and both static and

dynamic versions of strategic asset allocation

using mean-variance or more advanced

techniques.

Advanced Financial Valuation

Covers advanced techniques in contingent claims

analysis. Valuation techniques are derived and

applied for options, term structure derivatives,

credit-sensitive instruments and structured

products.

Life InsuranceLife Insurance Economics

Covers the broad economics of life insurance,

introducing you to the incentives faced by agentsand how these influence the way the market

functions.

Life Insurance FinanceIntroduces you to important financial operations

performed by life companies, including the

measurement and management of risk, pricing

and reserving of life contracts, and their

investment policies and capital management.

General InsuranceGeneral Insurance AnalysisIntroduces you to institutional features of the

general insurance market, with techniques for

analysing general insurance exposures, andimportant aspects of the operation of general

insurance companies.

General Insurance Contract Design and Pricing

This course looks in depth at the design, pricing,

underwriting and reinsurance of general insurance

contracts.

Second Year - Summer termPersonnel EconomicsThis course examines the general principles of

personnel economics relevant for actuaries, and

considers implications of practical policies a firm

may adopt.

Healthcare

This course looks at health insurance, covering

the nature of the UK market, the incentives faced

by agents and the measurement and

management of risk in healthcare.

Reinsurance and SecuritisationProvides advanced material about risk transfer

mechanisms including reinsurance and

securitisation. The subject is treated both from

the point of view of an investor, writing

reinsurance or purchasing a structured product,

and an issuer, buying reinsurance or creating a

securitisation.

Credit Risk ModellingThis course provides you with advanced

knowledge of credit risk models and the

understanding of their implications in an actuarialcontext.

Enterprise Risk ManagementThis course provides an overview of risk

management at the enterprise level. Topics

covered include market risk, credit risk,

operational risk and regulatory risk.

For further details of each course visit

www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/msc-actuarial-finance


Project

An essential part of the programme, this is

an individual report of 8,000 words, based

on your own survey and research plan.

Faculty will assist, facilitate and then

assess your efforts, but you will work

independently and take ultimate

responsibility for your project.

Teaching

Students attend lectures and classes one

full day a week during each 10-week term.

We use lectures, support classes,

quantitative case studies and computer

laboratory lessons to develop practicallearning.

Assessment

Assessment for courses is based on a

combination of examinations (70%) and

coursework (30%).

Exemptions

Upon successful completion of the

programme you will receive a Masters in

Actuarial Finance. If you do sufficiently well

in the programme, as determined by an

the examiners appointed by the Institute

and Faculty of Actuaries, you will also be

exempt from some or all of the followingUK professional actuarial examinations:

CT2, CT7, CT8, and all CA and ST subjects

except CA2.


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Specialists in their field, the Finance and Accounting Group faculty haveinternational research reputations, consult for global corporations andadvise government and international agencies.

Tony Hewitt, Programme DirectorHaving practised as a consulting actuary for over 35 years, Tony is nowpassionate about the education of actuaries. He is making full use ofImperial College's academic excellence ranging from healthcaremanagement and engineering control theory to climate changemodelling and mega-project innovation.

His personal interests include Healthcare Quality Improvement, CollectiveDC Pension Reform, Professionalism and Enterprise Risk Management.He is a strong supporter of the Actuarial Profession, helping to creategreater awareness of professionalism issues.

David McCarthy, Lecturer in Actuarial FinanceDavids specialist research interest is the economics and finance ofpensions. His current research examines the factors affecting workerpension choices and the role of pensions in household portfolios in theUK. David has consulted for a number of pension consultancies, theWorld Bank, and the pension departments of international governments.

Robert Kosowski, Lecturer in FinanceRobert is head of the Risk Management Lab Hedge Fund Centre and is alecturer in Finance. He has previously taught finance at INSEAD and hasalso worked at Goldman Sachs in London, Boston Consulting Group inGermany and Deutsche Bank in New York.

William Perraudin, Professor in FinanceWilliam is head of the Risk Management Laboratory. His researchinterests include risk management, structured products, portfolio creditrisk modelling and financial regulation. He has previously worked asSpecial Advisor to the Bank of England and was heavily involved in thefinancial engineering behind BASEL II for bank capital.

Enrico Biffis, Lecturer in Actuarial FinanceEnricos research has focussed on market-consistent accounting ofinsurance liabilities, valuation of options embedded in insurancecontracts and pricing of mortality-contingent claims. He is now also

working on optimal investment and reserving for both life and non-lifebusiness. Enrico is a qualified actuary in Italy and junior professor atBocconi University.

Be amongst the best

Our reputation attracts high-calibreindividuals, all sharing certain qualities.Alongside an excellent academic trackrecord, you will have the self-motivation andcommitment necessary to succeed in acompetitive environment. We value stronginterpersonal and communications skills, ahunger for knowledge as well as commercialand international awareness.

Nationality by region

200709 cohort

I Africa/Middle East 8%

I Asia/Pacific 6%I Europe 6%

I UK 80%

Degree background

I Computing 5%I Economics 15%I Engineering 10%I Mathematics 54%

I Science 16%

Faculty


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A vibrant social life in the heart of LondonContacts you make through lectures aredeveloped and widened through our social

and networking events. The lastingrelationships you form will enrich you bothprofessionally and personally. You willnetwork not only with your fellow students,but with alumni, Adjunct Professors, studentsfrom other programmes and visitinglecturers.

Students nominate their own social reps,who organise events part-funded by theSchool. We recognise that you will bejuggling work and study, so we make it easy

for you to remain physically as well asintellectually fit through free membership toEthos, Imperials state-of-the-art sportscentre, just a short walk from the BusinessSchool building.

Alumni Network and servicesYour connection to Imperial College BusinessSchool is a valuable lifelong resource. Like

every other aspect of our MSc programmes,the alumni service offers you practicalbenefits and allows you to take fulladvantage of your Imperial connections ongraduation. You will be invited toDistinguished Speaker events, enjoy freelibrary access for life and receive an annualmagazine. You can join any of the socialclubs around the world. You are also givenaccess to an online directory of ImperialCollege alumni contacts. It is a lifelongcommunity which keeps you in touch

wherever your career takes you.


Makeconnections

I WAS ATTRACTED TO THE PROGRAMME BY THE REPUTATION OF THE TEACHING ANDTHE PART-TIME STUDY ROUTE ALSO FITS INTO MY LIFE AT THE MOMENT. THEPROGRAMME ISNT PURELY ACADEMIC ITS APPLICABLE TO WHAT WE DO AT WORK

AND HOW THE FINANCIAL WORLD IS CHANGING. THE PROGRAMME GIVES YOU ANOPPORTUNITY TO SEE YOURSELF NOT JUST AS AN ACTUARY, BUT AS DOING OTHERTHINGS IN THE BIGGER WORLD OF FINANCE.

ALEKSANDRA KLAIC, MSC ACTUARIAL FINANCE 2007 AND HEWITT ASSOCIATES EMPLOYEE (ABOVE)


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Entry requirements

Who should apply?You will have proven success in a degree with a strongmathematics component. You will be literate in modernfinance and will ideally have one or two years' workexperience as an actuarial trainee. Many students aresponsored by their employers. This offers an immediatereturn as students bring increased expertise to their roles.

Entry requirementsSuccessful candidates are committed to developing thespecific skills to help them progress in their actuarialcareer. You will graduate not just with an actuarialqualification but also with a broad set of skills in modernfinance. This combination will give you the grounding andexpertise to be an effective actuary or to pursue anotherarea, such as banking or the hedge funds industry.

We recruit students with lively, curious minds capable of

creative invention and intellectual application. You mustalso possess a strong academic background in aquantitative discipline, and: A good degree (equivalent of a UK Upper Second Class

Honours Degree or above) ideally in mathematics,statistics, quantitative economics, finance, engineering,or a natural science subject and;

Have successfully completed at least four of the fiveInstitute and Faculty of Actuaries examinations CT1 andCT3-CT6.

All students are required to hold an English languagequalification, the acceptable minimum standard

qualifications include the following:GCSE English grade C or equivalentIELTS (academic)An overall score of 7.0 with a written and spoken scoreof 6.0TOEFL (paper-based)An overall score of 610 with a minimum score of 4.5 inwritten EnglishTOEFL (computer-based)An overall score of 253 with a minimum score of 4.5 inwritten EnglishTOEFL (internet-based)An overall score of 98 with a minimum score of 25 in

writing and 23 in speaking.

Please note that this requirement is equally applicable toHome, EU and Overseas students. It may be possible towaive the Imperial College Business School higherlanguage requirement element under exceptionalcircumstances at the discretion of the School. ALLapplications MUST meet the College minimum requirement.

How to apply

Visit our website www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school formore information and to submit your application online. Ifyou have further questions, please visit our Find ananswer section at www.imperial.ac.uk/askimperialWe run a rolling admissions process and there is nospecific application deadline. However, the earlier youapply, the earlier you receive a decision. The programmecommences in early October each year.

FeesFees for the two-year programme starting in October 2009

are 21,000*.

For companies sponsoring more than five students on theprogramme, a reduction will be offered.* Fees are subject to confirmation

Information sessionsWe run regular, on-campus information sessions for theMSc Actuarial Finance. Each session includes apresentation by a Finance and Accounting Group facultymember, followed by a reception where you have theopportunity to discuss the programme with current

students and Business School staff. Reserve your placeonline at www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/waystomeetus telephone +44 (0)20 7594 5656or email [email protected]

Alternatively, if you would like us to visit your company togive a presentation then please contact us to arrange this.

Contact RecruitmentSteve Togneri, Recruitment and Development ExecutiveT: +44 (0)20 7594 9208F: +44 (0)20 7594 9184E: [email protected]

W: www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/msc-actuarial-finance

Imperial College Business SchoolTanaka BuildingSouth Kensington CampusLondon SW7 2AZUnited Kingdom

T: +44 (0)20 7594 5656

F: +44 (0)20 7594 9184


Disclaimer:Whileallreasonableeffortshavebeenmadetoensurethatthe

informationinthispublicationis

corr

ect,matterscoveredbythispublicationaresubjecttochange.

Imperial

CollegeBusinessSchool

acceptsnoliabilityforanylossordamagecausedbyerrorsoromissions,h

owsoevercaused.

PublishedDecember2008.

msc_actuarial_brochure.pdf imperial college of london

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