Transcript STAT 416 - Penn State Actuarial Science Club

Actuarial Science
Major Forum
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015
110 BUSINESS
Last edited 8.29.15
Topics
 Introductions
 Career Opportunities
 Penn State Courses
 Actuarial Exams & VEE
 Actuarial Science Club
 Internships
 Questions
Penn State Actuarial Program
# 1 Job in US
(per WSJ )
# 1 School for Recruiters ( per BusinessWeek)
Largest actuarial program in US
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About 150 exam passers per year
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About ½ from Smeal and ½ from Eberly (Math & Stat)
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Center of Actuarial Excellence – only 15 in US
Very Difficult Degree
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Students with A’s in Calculus and Probability: pass exams, get jobs
Some employers (& grad schools) only look at students with GPA > 3.5
Take STAT 414 & SOA Probability Exam in Sophomore year
Eberly students can transfer to UP early to take STAT 414
 We enforce the STAT 414 prerequisite for RM 410
Faculty & Club Officers
4
 Ron Gebhardtsbauer, FSA
 Insurance, Pensions, Head of Retirement Practice-NYC Mercer
 Spokesperson for US profession from 1996 to 2008, Congress
 Teach RM 410 (Financial Math) in Spring
 Teach RM 411/412/415 (Pricing Life Insurance & Derivatives)
 Zhongyi Yuan, PhD in Actuarial Science
 Teaches RM 410 (Financial Math) in Fall
 Teaches RM 420 (C Exam = P&C and Health) in Spring
 Steve Putterman, FSA
 Top Variable Annuity actuary at major insurers; teaching RM 410 in Fall
 Dick London, FSA
 Former Head of UCONN’s actuarial program; founder of ACTEX; Ron’s professor
 Teaching RM 411 in Spring
 Lisa Weaver, LLD
 Retirement Consultant, Teaches RM 401 (Pensions) each Spring
 Lisa Posey and Dave Cather
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Teach Insurance and Risk Management
Club Officers
Officer
Position
Internship
Luke Yang
President
Cigna – Hartford, CT
Matt Mielnik
Vice President
Liberty Mutual – Boston, MA
Robert Hedges
Treasurer
Highmark – Pittsburgh, PA
Joe Hayes
Secretary
AIG – Houston, TX
Luke Peterson
Corporate Liaison
Gen Re – Stamford, CT
Brigh Desjardins
Corporate Outreach Officer
EY – Philadelphia, PA
Joe Palladino
Alumni Liaison
Towers Watson – Philadelphia,
PA
Matt Reilly
Communication Chair
Mercer – Washington, D.C.
Amanda Zigarovich
Student Relations Liaison
Gen Re – Stamford, CT
Peter Zhu
Philanthropy Chair
AIG – New York, NY
Max Guo
Webmaster
Jason Xu
Resume Officer
Where Do Actuaries Work?
Insurance, Consulting, Government, Academia
• Insurance
• 12-18 Month Rotational Programs
• Competitive study programs
• Reasonable hours
• Clear reporting structure – one boss
• Consulting, Investment, and Accounting Firms
• Longer hours – especially during busy season
• Dynamic work environment
Industries
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Life/Annuity
Health
Retirement
Property/Casualty
Reinsurance
Finance/Investment
Get Started
Early!
Success in the Classroom and the Business World
 Students who understand why
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Word problems; essay answers
Not memorization or multiple choice questions
 Preparation before class or meeting with boss
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Read & do synopsis of material before class/meeting
 Work with others
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Homework teams (good friends help after graduate)
 Confidence
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Class Participation; be teaching assistants
Officers organize projects (not just put on resume)
 Good at self-study, internship, pass FSA exams
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Do projects (e.g., selling insurance to parents, retirement projection)
International Students
 International students get jobs in US
 CPT/OPT/H1-B/Green cards/Eb5 really help
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If citizen or permanent resident, put near top of resume
 Communication as important as exams
 Join HW groups with US students
 Talk English all the time!
 Having US roommates has worked well
 Important to pass Exam P before Junior
 3 exams to get Full-Time Job
 If can’t get internship or FT job
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Try grad school (need good GPA), and then easier to get job
PSU has Masters in Applied Statistics
Sample Schedule
Yr
Fall
Spring
1st
MATH 140* (Calc I)
ECON 102 (Micro) - VEE
MATH 141* (Calc II)
ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE
2nd
MATH 230* (Calc III) preferred per Eberly
MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC
FIN 301 (Corp Finance) -VEE
STAT 414* (Probability Theory)
Take P Exam in May
STAT 483# (better SAS class)
3rd
R M 410* (Financial Math) Excel
Take FM in December
STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/ST
R M 411* (Life Contingencies) VBA
STAT 416#(Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/ST
Take CAS’s ST Exam in April
4th
R M 412* (Life Contingencies)
Take MLC in late October
RM 420* (P&C/Health) take C in June
orRM401(Pensions) Stat allows 420 as sub
STAT 463# (Applied Time Series) R
STAT 462# (Regression Analysis)
To catch up, take Math 230 in summer at UP or World Campus
* C or better required. If C’s, consider other options or majors
# for STAT minor; 462/463 already needed for VEE
Accelerated Schedule
Yr
Fall
Spring
1st
MATH 141* (Calc II)
ECON 102 (Micro) - VEE
MATH 230* (Calc III)
ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE
2nd
STAT 414* (Probability Theory)
RM 497C (Intro to Act Science)
Take P Exam in Jan for internship
FIN 301 (Corp Finance) –VEE
R M 410* (Financial Math) Excel
Take FM Exam in June
STAT 416#(Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/S
MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC
3rd
R M 415 (Derivatives Markets)
Take MFE in late November, March, or July
STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/S
R M 411* (Life Contingencies) VBA
STAT 483# (better SAS class)
4th
R M 412* (Life Contingencies)
Take MLC Exam in late October
RM 420* (P&C/Health) Stat allows as sub
Take SOA C Exam in June
STAT 463# (Applied Time Series) R
Take CAS S Exam in Oct for P&C job
STAT 462# (Regression Analysis)
See www.math.psu.edu/ug/advising/vs on whether to place out of 140/141
If 5 on AP exam, you should place out. If place out of 141, take 230/414/P sooner
To catch up, take Math 230/1 at World Campus or UP in summer, or as Independent Studies class
To take S Exam sooner, you can take STAT 462/463 sooner
* C or better required. If C’s, consider other options or majors, # for STAT minor; 462/463 needed for VEE & S
Courses in Predictive Analytics
reference
These courses will be helpful, particularly in P&C and Health areas
 Regression: STAT 462 (taken for VEE)
 Time Series with Homework in R: STAT 463 (taken for VEE)
 GLM: STAT 511 and someday in STAT 462 (taken for VEE)
 SAS: STAT 480 or 483 preferred (taken for Stat Minor)
 Monte Carlo: STAT 440 and 416, RM 411/412/415 (taken for MLC/MFE)
 Machine Learning (Decision Trees, Clusters, Neural Networks,
Classification): CMPSC 448 & STAT 557
 Data Mining/Visualization: STAT 380
 Survey sampling: STAT 466
 Bayesian Computational Techniques/MCMC: STAT 440
 Survival Tables/Cox/Proportional Hazards: STAT 525
 Bootstrapping Methods: STAT 440 and/or 464
 Design and Validation of Experiments/Outcomes: STAT 461
Actuarial Exams
 Given in Harrisburg, Philly, Pittsburg by:
 Society
of Actuaries (SOA)
Life/Pension/Health/Enterprise Risk Mgmt
MLC Exam is given here
 Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)
Property/Casualty
 SOA exams mostly satisfy CAS
 But
not vice-versa
Why should I take these exams?
 To get internships
 Internship + 2 or 3 exams for FT job
 Take FM Exam in December after RM 410
Use breaks to pass exams
 Tough passing FM exam when in RM 411
 We cover all 5 exams here
 Some pass all before graduation
 Almost Associates in the SoA
 We pay you $100 if pass
 See Club’s Exam Passer webpage for details
 Request right away. Right before graduation is too late
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reference
SOA/CAS Exams
Exam
Course(s)
Best Manual
Take it when?
Comments
1/P - Probability Theory
STAT 414 &
RM 497C
InfiniteActuary
ACTEX or ADAPT
Sophomore year!!
Otherwise, take in
Jan
2/FM - Financial
Mathematics
RM 410
ASM
Study it in summer
December / June
Don’t take when in
RM 411
3F/MFE – Financial
Econ
RM 415
ASM or ADAPT
July
Don’t take when in
RM 415
MLC - Life
Contingencies
RM 411/412
InfiniteActuary or
ADAPT cheap in
last wk
Late October
MLC does not give
you CAS’s LC exam
4/C – P&C and Health
Ins
RM 412/420
STAT 415/416
InfiniteActuary or
ASM
June
Stan says easy after
Zhongyi’s RM
420 class
S Exam (CAS)
STAT
416/462/463 &
RM 411
October 30, 2015
Statistics &
Probabilistic
Models
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Tutorials at http://instruction.bus.wisc.edu/jfrees/UWCAELearn/default.aspx
Validation by Educational Experience: VEE
 Required by SOA, CAS, & Employers
 ECON 102/104 & FIN 301 required to graduate
 Must receive a grade of B- or better
 Or 4 or 5 on AP tests
 Apply for VEE credit after passing P & FM
 Or apply after you get job (& get a raise)
 Other Campuses can use University Park per SOA
 Can also get credit by exam through
 ACTEX for Finance & Applied Stat VEE’s
 CLEP for Econ VEE
VEE: Applied Statistical Methods
 Accepted Courses: take one from each
o Applied Regression
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STAT 462, STAT 501, or ECON 306
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Applied Time Series
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ECON prerequisites can be satisfied by Stat 414
STAT 463 (STAT 510 or ECON 483 if available)
You can mix and match
 Get STAT Minor - if also take:
o STAT 415 (Mathematical Statistics)
o STAT 416 (Stochastic Processes) starting in 2016
o STAT 480 (Intro to SAS - 1 credit) STAT 483 is better
Some get ECON Minor: take ECON 302/304 & 6 credits of 400 level ECON such as 445
(Health Policy), 412 (Labor), 444 (Corp), & 457 (Banking)
Actuarial Science Career Fair
Monday 9/21/15 from 4:30 to 8 PM in Atrium
 Over 30 companies
 Great place to find Internships
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Even if you don’t have exam: practice interviews
1st yr students can get internships without exams if very good in Math
 To Attend:
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Must do Mock Interview with Mentor by 9/14
GPA>3.20, or A’s in Calculus, or Exam Passed
Pay Club Dues
Some firms (like Met Life and AXA) don’t attend Career Fairs, so
apply on their websites
Club Opportunities
 Résumé & Mock Interview
 Wednesday 9/9: 6 – 7:30 PM in 107 Business
 Put resumes on SmealConnect/SciOpps ASAP
 Must use instructions on Club’s Resume webpage
 RM 410 students must do mock interview ASAP
 Meeting for International Students
 Monday 9/7: 6 – 7:30 PM in 102 Business
 Ideas for internships, jobs, grad school (e.g., MAS)
 Mentors for Juniors (& interested Frosh/Soph)
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If interested, email Amanda Zigarovich [email protected]
Actuarial Science Club
 Company Info Sessions (listed on Club’s Home Page)
 Exam Review Sessions (Club’s Review Sessions Page)
 Tutors for help on exams
 Field Trip to Actuarial Employers (Spring)
 Speakers Series
 THON involvement
 Social Events
 Panel Discussion
 International Student Meeting
Actuarial Science Club
 Club website:
http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/actsci/index.html
 List Serve signup at www.clubs.psu.edu/up/actsci
 Facebook group
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Coming soon!
Study Manual exchange
Questions about Actuarial Exams & PSU Classes
 Our Internships
Questions?