ASRM 390. Introduction to Actuarial Research

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will gain exposure to basic actuarial research techniques including, but not limited to, reading and analyzing actuarial white papers and interviewing experts.
2. Students will understand the key elements, format and writing style of an actuarial research paper.
3. Students will be able to present the results of actuarial research in a clear and concise manner.

Course Description

In this course, students will explore an assigned actuarial topic in small groups.  Under the guidance of the instructor, they will research their topic.  They will read papers and understand their content.  Students will write their own paper explaining what they learned.  Students will present their topic, demonstrating what they have learned, to a small audience at the end of the course.

Meeting with Instructor

Students will arrange weekly meetings with their project instructor.  The timing and length of the meetings will vary depending on the content of the project.  The meetings may also vary throughout the semester.  For example, meetings may be more frequent early in the semester as the topic is introduced.  Meetings may be more frequent during key review periods.  Meetings may be less frequent while the group makes independent progress on their project.  Meetings will average approximately 50 minutes per week per credit hour.

Sample topics: 

• IFRS 17
• Risk Based Capital (RBC) for an Illinois based insurance company
• Solvency II for an insurance company in Europe
• Practical Implementation of Optimal Reinsurance under distortion risk measures
• Pricing Insurance product via principle of equivalent utility

Students are expected to work 10 hours per week on their Research Project.

Assessment

Assessment will be based on the following criteria:

• Research Results
• Presentation of Results
• Attitude and Motivation

Evaluation

100% Group Project

Attendance Policy

Weekly meetings with the research advisor are required.  In the event a student needs to miss a meeting, the student must contact their advisor prior to make other arrangements.

Academic integrity

• Violations of academic integrity (for example, cheating on exams) will be taken extremely seriously, and will be handled under the procedures of Article I, Part 4 of the student code.
• Please note that some of the penalties outlined in the Student Code are quite unpleasant. A standard penalty for cheating on an exam is a score of zero on the exam and a permanent letter in the student's college file.

Students with disabilities

To obtain disability-related academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the course instructor and the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) as soon as possible. To contact DRES, you may visit 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, call 333-4603, e-mail disability@illinois.edu or go to the DRES website.