What does an Actuary do?

The future is always uncertain. That’s why actuaries have such an important role to play. Our mastery of data, ability to harvest its insights, and our commercial mindset, means we can help organisations, government, and communities with advice that drives change and solutions that work. 

How do we do that? Actuaries evaluate risk and opportunity – we apply mathematical, statistical, economic and financial analyses to a wide range of business problems.

We work in new, high-growth fields, such as data science, energy resources, and climate risk in addition to more readily recognised fields like insurance, superannuation, wealth management, investments, health financing, and banking. Many actuaries also hold executive positions in the operational management of financial institutions.  

Whichever actuarial career you choose, skills in data analysis and management, risk management, and data-based decision making are vital in many industries. 

Actuaries Institute - Education shape (2)


The image below represents the breadth of practice areas* our 5,500+ members were working across in 2022:
Actuaries Institute - Member practice areas chart
To find out more about the career opportunities available, visit our career information page.

* Statistics from 2022 membership data, indicating their primary and secondary practice areas.