Job security for Actuaries

Every month, Robert Walters puts a much sought-after position in the spotlight.

This month, we focus on the role of an Actuary, a job offering a lot of job security in today’s job market.

Main tasks of an Actuary

An Actuary is an insurance specialist who carries out economic, financial and statistical studies. Based on these studies, he or she calculates the financial risks in order to determine the content of insurance contracts and the amount that the client will have to pay. These risks relate to the insured, the assets, the companies and the financial organisations.

In addition, an Actuary will assess the financial consequences of these risks for the insurance company. Based on these results, the financial needs are determined by the insurance company in case a problem arises.

The Actuary's objective is to minimise financial losses by means of the risk analyses that have been carried out. By doing so, the Actuary optimises the profitability of the organisation where he is employed.

High demand for Actuaries

The demand is fairly stable and hidden, in the sense that Actuaries often find a job themselves through word of mouth. For an Actuary looking for a new challenge, it is important to have a broad network or to call upon a recruitment firm to help them find a new challenge. There will always be a need for Actuaries, particularly within insurance companies. That's why we can say that in the job of an Actuary, the chance of unemployment is rather small, and permanent employment contracts are more common.

Average salary of an Actuary

According to the most recent edition of our Salary Survey, a graduate in an actuary role can count on a gross annual salary of approximately EUR 45,000. An Actuary with 5-9 years of experience can have a gross annual salary between 74,000 and 125,000 EUR. A Senior Actuary with more than 15 years of experience can expect a gross annual salary between EUR 106,000 and EUR 186,000.

Plenty of choice

An Actuary mainly works for insurance companies, banks, financial institutions, consulting firms, accounting firms, public institutions and regulatory authorities. There's plenty of choice for Actuaries on the lookout.

Skills of an Actuary

A successful Actuary is a real number cruncher with an analytical mindset. He or she must be rigorous and accurate in order to perform risk analyses correctly. In addition, strong communication skills are essential. After all, an Actuary must be able to communicate his or her work and key findings to other departments within the organisation.