Exhaust Trail of STS-51-L, the Space Shuttle Challenger, destroyed January 28, 1986.
Image 86-HC-220 courtesy of NASA
INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT
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| UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM |
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The Insurance and Risk Management concentration examines the techniques useful to corporations, organizations and individuals in minimizing the potential
financial losses arising from their exposure to risk. these techniques range from traditional insurance products to current advances in corporate and insurer
risk management (e.g., risk financing and retention, non-insurance risk transfer, catastrophe derivatives). The concentration also encompasses such topics as
risk and insurance regulation, global risk management, estate planning, and related public policy initiatives. students graduating with this concentration have
taken positions with investment banks, re-insurers, accounting firms, insurance brokerage firms, consulting firms, insurance companies and corporate risk
management departments.
The Department also offers a concentration in actuarial science. This program provides an intriguing blend of mathematics and business management
for students with a strong mathematics aptitude. Ideally, students graduating from Wharton with an actuarial science concentration will be prepared
to pass or will have passed many of the professional examinations leading to Associateship status given by the
Society of Actuaries or the Casualty Actuarial Society.
Graduates from the University of Pennsylvania with an actuarial science concentration have become a part of one of the most
challenging and highly paid business careers, and job opportunities for Wharton's graduates are consistently superior. The Department will reimburse
students' exam fees.
In addition, the Department has created a University Minor in Actuarial Mathematics, administered jointly by the Undergraduate Chairs of the
Insurance and Risk Management Department and the Mathematics Department.
Graduates from the University of Pennsylvania with an Actuarial Mathematics Minor
are expected to be in great demand by the insurance and banking sector. The demand for qualified actuaries far exceeds the supply, a trend that the U.S.
Department of Labor predicts will continue into the foreseeable future. To enroll in the University Minor in Actuarial Mathematics, Wharton students should
visit the Insurance and Risk Management Department, and College students should visit the Mathematics Department.
Course Requirements - Insurance and Risk Management Concentration
Prerequisite: INSR 205 - Risk Management
Students must select four courses in the following list. At least three of these courses must be INSR courses.
INSR 210 - Financial Strategies and Analysis: Insurance
INSR 221 - Employee Benefit Plan Design and Financing
INSR 222 - Business Insurance and Estate Planning
INSR 232 - Risk Management and Treatment
INSR 251 - Fundamentals of Actuarial Science I
INSR 811/812 - Risk and Crisis Management / Markets for Pure Risks
HCMG 202 - Economics and Financing of Health Care
FNCE 205 - Investment Management
FNCE 206 - Financial Derivatives
FNCE 219 - International Markets
OPIM 220 - Introduction to Operations Management
OPIM 261 - Risk Analysis and Environmental Management
OPIM 290 - Decision Processes
Professional Examinations and Actuarial Courses at Wharton
The Society of Actuaries (SoA) changed its examinations system in 2007. To become an Associate of the SoA, a candidate must
- Satisfy Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements for three subjects: Economics (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics), Corporate Finance, and
Applied Statistics (Regression and Time Series). The easiest way for a Penn student to satisfy the VEE requirements is to pass approved courses with a grade
of at least B-. Approved courses include STAT 102, STAT 431, INSR 260, STAT 112, STAT 434, STAT 711, ESE 302, ECON 001, ECON 002, ECON 101, ECON 102, ECON 220,
ECON 221, FNCE 100, and FNCE 203.
- Complete exams P, FM, MLC, MFE, and C, collectively known as the preliminary education component.
Exam P is a 3-hour exam testing knowledge of the fundamental probability tools for quantitatively assessing risk, with emphasis on application of these tools to problems encountered in actuarial science. STAT 101-102 and STAT 430-431 are excellent course sequences to prepare for this exam.
Exam FM consists of two and a half hours of multiple-choice questions, testing the understanding of the fundamental concepts of financial mathematics,
including half an hour on financial derivatives. The first part of INSR 251 covers the financial mathematics part of the exam. FNCE 206, among others,
provides the required introduction to financial derivatives.
Exam MLC is a three-hour exam testing the knowledge of the theoretical basis of actuarial models and the application of those models to insurance and other financial risks.
The material for this exam is covered in INSR 251 (part 2), INSR 252, and INSR 253 (two sections)
Exam MFE is a two-hour exam on financial derivatives, studied in FNCE 206
Exam C is a four-hour multiple-choice exam testing actuarial modeling and important actuarial methods that are useful in modeling.
INSR 253 (one section) and INSR 260 cover a large part of this material.
- Pass two of the following exams: course 5, course 6, course 7, one of the course 8 examinations, professional development component.
- Complete the Associateship Professionalism Course.
The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) has a different examinations system. Exam 1, 2, 3F, and 4 of the CAS are exams P, FM, MFE, and C of the SoA and are organized
jointly. Exam MLC and CAS exam 3L are different; the CAS accepts SoA exam MLC. The SoA does not accept CAS exam 3L
Course Requirements - Actuarial Science Concentration
The concentration in actuarial science consists of four courses - three required and one elective.
Required Courses (3 cu):
INSR 251 - Fundamentals of Actuarial Science I
INSR 252 - Fundamentals of Actuarial Science II
INSR 260 - Applied Statistical Methods for Actuaries (formerly INSR 250)
Electives: choose one of the following (1 cu):
INSR 210 - Financial Strategies and Analysis: Insurance
INSR 221 - Employee Benefit Plan Design and Financing
INSR 230 - Managing Pure Risks: Operations and Markets
INSR 253 - Actuarial Statistics
Students concentrating in actuarial science should have taken two calculus and two statistics classes before enrolling in their first actuarial class.
Statistics 430-431 is recommended in lieu of Statistics 101-102.
Course Requirements - University Minor in Actuarial Mathematics
Required Courses (7 cu):
MATH 240 - Calculus, Part III
MATH 320 - Computer Methods in Mathematical Science I or MATH 530 - Mathematics of Finance
STAT 430 - Probability
STAT 431 - Mathematical Statistics
INSR 251 - Fundamentals of Actuarial Science I
INSR 252 - Fundamentals of Actuarial Science II
INSR 260 - Applied Statistical Methods for Actuaries (formerly INSR 250)
Additional Course: choose one of the following (1 cu):
INSR 253 - Actuarial Statistics (recommended)
STAT 471 - Intermediate Statistics
INSR 220 - Life and Health Insurance Company Management and Policy
INSR 221 - Employee Benefit Plan Design and Financing
INSR 230 - Managing Pure Risks: Operations and Markets
Deviations from the above requirements must be approved by the Chairperson of the Insurance and Risk Management Department. Changes in the mathematics requirements
of the University Minor in Actuarial Mathematics must be approved by the Undergraduate Chairperson of the Mathematics Department.
