'Actuarial Today 2015'

Actuary Today 2015 is organised by the UTAR Actuarial Science Society and supported by the university's Centre for Mathematical Sciences. This event was well-designed into four categories - Actuarial Exposition, Actuarial Challenge, Actuarial Competition and Actuarial Conference.

The Actuarial Exposition aimed to expose the parents, students and general public to comprehensive information regarding the actuarial profession. It meant to help students to fathom about Actuarial Science, develop and enhance their knowledge in Actuarial Science. Booths that have been set up offered tremendous help to those who are planning to study Actuarial Science. Besides, the undergraduates that attended get to have a better insight in their future job prospects, the uncertainties and challenges they might face in the future.

On the other hand, the Actuarial Challenge was an intervarsity competition that provided an opportunity for actuarial science undergraduates to demonstrate their prowess in actuarial skills. Meanwhile, the Actuarial Competition particularly targeted those secondary schools leavers especially students who are undergoing Pre-U courses such as STPM and UEC to spark their interest in Actuarial Science.

Lastly, the Actuarial Conference was introduced as a new programme in Actuarial Today 2015 whereby professionals were invited to share their knowledge and auspicious experiences from their expertise to the participants through various talks.

Sunway University Actuarial Studies students were proudly invited to take part in this event and below are the comments from the students who participated in Actuarial Challenge.

Harry, Ivan, Chong Yu Yun, Li Chin, Khai Wen and Jia Wen(from right)

“First of all, two most important things that I learned to use in the competition are @Risk (Microsoft Excel’s add-in) and Monte Carlo Simulations (credits to Mr. Seow Fan Cheong and Mr Adrian Nathai). When it comes to analysing historical data, both proves to be very useful items.Secondly, I am aware that we need to be able to foresee the risks within the policy and take it into accounts when we are pricing it. I have also learned how to work in a team. Although each of us have different roles and perspectives, we were still able to meet a deal and present our ideas.” (Harry Lee)

“Even though we only got the 4^th place in the challenge, we get to leave a good impression to the externals as one of the judges actually still remember us and gave us comment after a few weeks. It is very important to give your best for everything you do. The result is not important, but the progress is important for one’s development and learning experience. We learnt to accept failure and strive for better future.” (Ivan Chan)

“I think that teamwork is the most important in the Actuarial Challenge as we have to complete the task within 24 hours, which in real life, the same task may take a few days to complete. So, I totally understand how important teamwork is and this will be very useful in the future, especially in the workplace.” (Tan Khai Wen)

“Unfortunately, what we’ve gained in lectures was not enough because in this challenge, we were asked to do pricing which is in our year 3 syllabus. Due to this reason, Mr. Adrian was willing to conduct an intense training for us in one month prior to this challenge. This training indeed provided essential skills and techniques that we have to master before participating the competition. Other than that, Mr. Seow also shared his knowledge and some recommended books to us. The sharing from both lecturers were indeed useful, I strongly believe that without their help, we would definitely not able to do pricing and write a report.” (Chong Yu Yun)

“It was definitely a very challenging task. In a given timeframe of 24 hours, we had to perform calculations, write report and email before giving a presentation. Since we were inexperienced, there were moments of frustration where things were not working out well and everyone had different opinions on certain issues. We overcame those barriers through teamwork. Throughout the whole process, we learnt to perform Monte Carlo simulations using Microsoft Excel and @Risk, write a pricing report and an email that was clear and free of jargon as the receiver might not have the specific knowledge or expertise. During the presentation, we learnt to convey the messages precisely and confidently.” (Tan Li Chin)

“In this competition, we need to act as an actuarial team to solve a real-world wise problem. Solving a real-world wise problem is different from solving tutorial questions because the winner is not evaluated based on how accurate the final answer is or how fast you can solve the question. I believe every actuarial student is able to perform the calculation. What makes a team stands out are their presentation skill and reporting skills. Nevertheless, this competition has enhanced my communication skills and report writing skills. I think such skills are useful in the future as these are what our future employer are looking for. With the advancement of technology, calculation could easily be done with software. However, it requires an employee with good presentation and reporting skills to analyse the result of the software and present it to his or her client.” (Yap Jia Wen)