Certificate in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics

(approved by the Faculty of Science)

 

OBJECTIVES. This program addresses many of the learning objectives and fundamental mathematical and statistical skills required for successful completion of several requirements of the Society of Actuaries accreditation program. For a more detailed description see:

http://www.soa.org/education/exam-req/ and http://www.beanactuary.org/

This program also prepares students for employment in general financial institutions where modeling, quantitative risk analysis, management of investment instruments, asset and liability management, life contingencies and insurance assessment, and other complex financial calculations are required.

REQUIREMENTS. A Faculty of Science Certificate in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics will be awarded to a student who meets the following requirements:

1.Completion of the 20 credit Major or Honours programme in Mathematics and/or Statistics.

2.Completion of the following nine mathematics classes

MATH 1000, MATH 1010

MATH 2001, MATH 2002, MATH 2030, MATH 2600, MATH 2120

MATH 3300, MATH 3900

3.Completion of the following four statistics classes

STAT 2060, STAT 2080

STAT 3340, STAT 3360

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED (BUT NOT REQUIRED) COURSES:

MATH 3310, MATH 3800/ECON 3800

STAT 3460, STAT 4390, STAT4701, STAT4703

NOTE 1. The Certificate in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics (CAFM) is only available to those who are currently registered at Dalhousie University.

NOTE 2. The Society of Actuaries, Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and Casualty Actuary Society have implemented Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) requirements for Applied Statistical Methods, Economics and Corporate Finance. These are requirements which must be fulfilled prior to professional designation as an Associate or Fellow of one of the Societies.

The following Dalhousie classes have been certified for Validation by Educational Experience: for VEE in Applied Statistical Science, either (STAT3340 and STAT4390) OR (ECON3338 AND ECON3339); for VEE in Economics, ECON 1101 and ECON1102; for VEE in Corporate Finance, COMM 2202 and COMM 2203. Students wishing to pursue Actuarial Science as a career are encouraged to include as many of these courses as possible in their program. Students are also advised to attempt one or more of the Society of Actuaries accreditation examinations prior to graduation.

The following courses contain substantial overlap with the syllabi for Society of Actuaries examinations:

MATH2600 (Theory of Interest) - the content of this class is similar to that of Society of Actuaries Examination FM (Financial Mathematics) - OPTION A.

STAT3360 (Probability) - the content of this class is similar to that of the Society of Actuaries Examination P (Probability).

STAT4701 (Actuarial Models I) - the content of this class is similar to that of the Society of Actuaries Examination M (Actuarial Models).

STAT4703 (Actuarial Models II) - the content of this class is similar to that of the Society of Actuaries Examination C (Construction and Evaluation of Actuarial Models).

¨ To register your intent to complete the requirements for the Certificate in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics, please contact Professor Bruce Smith (bruce.smith@dal.ca) two to three months prior completion of your degree requirements.

____________________________