With thousands of graduates entering the job market each year, it can be hard to stand out among the crowd.

But if you’re considering a career as a professional actuary, you can be assured that you’re making the right decision. Globally, there is a shortage of actuaries and experts suggest that there will be a 20% increase in demand for actuaries in the coming decade. In fact, actuaries are surpassing other occupations as industries now see a need to develop new insurance products and assess emerging risks.

To secure employment as an actuary with your ideal employer, it is crucial to be equipped with a good actuarial qualificationcoupled with excellent soft skills and technical operational capabilities.

Here’s how you can do that with Asia Pacific University’s BSc (Hons) Actuarial Studies.

Your road to success — qualification matters

Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU) offers a three-year BSc (Hons) Actuarial Studies programme recognised by the world's largest actuarial professional organisations — the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA, UK) and the Society of Actuaries (SOA, US).

Through APU’s actuarial studies programme, you will get the maximum exemptions for your professional papers with IFoA, reducing the time and effort to attain associateship and fellowship.

In addition, APU’s curriculum also covers approved coursework for all 3 of SOA’s Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) topics while also preparing you for all 6 preliminary exams in the SOA curriculum. To date, APU is the only Malaysian university that has all the 6 preliminary exams and 3 VEE topics listed in its SOA Universities and Colleges with Actuarial Programmes (UCAP) profile.

IFoA Foundation scholarship

APU is one of the few IFoA partner universities in Asia to secure major IFoA scholarships for students pursuing actuarial studies. The scholarship is worth £4,490 (RM25,836) and is awarded to the top 5 graduates yearly. Additionally, the best of the bunch will also receive the Sir Edward Johnston Prize worth £250 (RM1,439).

Class of 2020 graduate of the BSc (Hons) Actuarial Studies programme, Wendy Wong Wei Wei, is the first recipient from APU to attain the Sir Edward Johnston Prize. Wong, who is currently an IFRS17 technical consultant at multinational analytics company SAS Institute Inc, expresses her gratitude towards her lecturers.

“Other than providing knowledge and guidance in the coursework, lecturers shared their experience and encouraged us to spend independent learning time to develop skills needed,” she says.

Producing in-demand graduates

Choo Jah Veen, class of 2020 graduate of the BSc (Hons) Actuarial Studies programme, received a full-time offer following her exceptional internship at Sun Life Malaysia Assurance Bhd. She’s currently working on product development and pricing and looks forward to becoming a qualified actuary in the near future.

"Employers are looking for well-rounded actuarial graduates — professional exams, internship experience, and strong analytical skills,” says Choo. She also credited APU for providing the necessary skills demanded by the job market.

Boasting an excellent track record

On top of its recognition by the world’s leading actuarial professional organisations, APU has also bagged the top 3 winning positions at a recent hackathon organised by the Malaysian Actuarial Students Association (MASA).

To boot, the latest Annual Graduate Tracer Study by the Higher Education Ministry indicated that 100% of APU graduates were employed upon graduation. This is a strong testament to the quality of APU programmes as well as the capabilities of APU students to compete with the best actuarial and data science talents in Malaysia.