2023 Australasian Actuarial Education and Research Symposium

Anthony Asher

UNSW

A strategy for Actuarial Research – for the profession and universities

The field of actuarial studies was a late comer to university education, and there is little integration of research between the profession and the universities. While attracting a significant share of academically excellent students, few go on to higher research degrees. The economic sectors in which actuaries work also account for a disproportionately small share of national research expenditure. One question to ask is whether this disproportionality is appropriate and how it might be addressed by the profession and the universities collaboratively. Suggestions include making the following needs more salient among decision makers:
- Increasing the collection of relevant data and making it available for academic research
- Encouraging more local research by developing a high quality local academic journal
- Encouraging more higher degree research students not least by ensuring that the marks allocated to actuarial students give them a fair share of scholarships
- Developing an actuarial Wiki to provide for more knowledge sharing for educational and research purposes
- Encouraging a greater focus on funding for research.