Offered By	ANU College of Business and Economics
Minimum	48 units
Academic Contact	info.cbe@anu.edu.au and info.cbe@anu.edu.au
Academic Plan	7409XMACST
CRICOS Code	050289G
UAC Code	832203(Master of Actuarial Statistics)
Areas of Interest	Actuarial Studies, Actuarial Studies, Statistics, and Statistics

The program is designed as a 'conversion' program for students with a solid background in mathematics or statistics, but limited actuarial knowledge, to develop actuarial and other risk management skills to satisfy the Part I requirements of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

The program also offers graduates from a background of limited risk management and actuarial studies an opportunity to extend their study.

Learning Outcomes

• Possess a working knowledge of S-Plus computing language, particularly graphical capabilities
• Fit simple linear regression models and interpret model parameters
• Summarise and analyse relationships between a response variable and one or several covariates
• Assess and refine simple and multiple linear regression models based on diagnostic measures, identifying outlying and influential data points
• Carry out model selection in a multiple linear regression modeling context
• Understand the actuarial implications of mortality and selection, life assurance contracts, life annuity contracts, evaluation of assurances and annuities, further issues in premium calculations and accumulations, reserves and policy values, mortality profit and extra risk, increasing insurances and with-profit policies, increasing annuities and applications of reserves, multiple life functions, insurances and annuities involving two or more lives, contingent and reversionary benefits
•  Describe simple types of life insurance contracts and the technique of discounted cash flows for use in reserving and pricing simple life insurance contracts, such as whole life, term life, endowment insurances and unit-linked contracts
• Describe and calculate various measures of profitability, including profit vectors, profit signature and the profit margin
• Set up profit tests for simple life insurance contracts and use profit tests to determine life insurance premiums and/or provisions; show how this can be achieved with or without spreadsheets
• Describe and apply method for modeling cash flows contingent on completing risks including multiple state Markov models
• Describe and create multiple decrement tables and derive relationships between dependent and independent probabilities as used in single and multiple decrement tables
• Describe the components of defined benefit superannuation and derive the mathematical formulae required to value the contributions and benefits of a defined benefit superannuation fund
• Show how superannuation benefits and the employer contribution rate for defined benefit superannuation funds can be calculated using spreadsheets or via commutation functions
• Explain the concept of survival models
• Describe the estimation procedures for lifetime distributions
• Describe statistical models of transfer between multiple states including processes with single or multiple decrements and derive relationships between probabilities of transfer and transition intensities
• Derive maximum likelihood estimators for the transition intensities in models of transfers between states with piecewise constant transition intensities
• Describe how to estimate transition intensities depending on age, exactly or using the census approximation
• Describe how to test crude estimates for consistency with a standard table or a set of graduated estimates, and describe the process of graduation

Commonwealth Supported Places

The ANU College of Business and Economics offers a limited number of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) for Australian students in graduate programs. For further information, please read the general information .

Admission Requirements

i. Applicants are required to hold a pass degree in a business, economics, finance, mathematics or statistics discipline from an Australian university or equivalent overseas institution.

ii. Applicants must have a performance average of 65% or better (or equivalent) held in the last two years of the undergraduate degree.

iii. Students who fail to meet the academic entry requirement above may be considered for entry if they are able to demonstrate at least one year of full-time relevant work experience which was undertaken after graduation from the degree.

iv. The suitability of students to enter the program will be at the discretion of the Dean.

v. Students entering the program are required to have an understanding of mathematics equivalent to at least one year of university level mathematics including calculus and matrix algebra, as well as an introductory level understanding of mathematical statistics and financial mathematics. 

The information published on the Study at ANU 2012 website applies to the 2012 academic year only. All information provided on this website replaces the information contained in the Study at ANU 2011 website.