Bachelor of Actuarial Science - 2019

Actuarial science will prepare you for a career as an actuary. To provide professional actuarial advice in Australia, and in most other developed countries, you must become a fellow of the local actuarial profession. This involves developing basic technical skills, learning how to apply these skills in a general setting, developing deep specialist knowledge and completing a professional course following two years' relevant work experience. Students will have the opportunity to gain industry-based experience as part of this specialisation. Graduates will be able to seek employment in international finance and business fields dealing with life, general or health insurance, superannuation, risk management and financial consulting. Many actuaries and actuarial graduates work on investment operations for asset managers, brokers and banks. There are a range of government-related jobs in regulatory control, workers' compensation, education and others. Some actuaries work with large companies on long-term strategic planning.

Double degrees

The Bachelor of Actuarial Science can be taken in combination with the following course:

• Bachelor of Commerce

Completing a double degree course will allow you to graduate with two degrees, Bachelor of Actuarial Science and the degree awarded by the partner faculty. The requirements for the award of the each of the degrees is the same whether the award is earned through a single or double degree course. You should refer to the relevant double degree handbook entry for the specific requirements.

These course outcomes are aligned with the Australian Qualifications Framework level 7 and Monash Graduate AttributesAustralian Qualifications Framework level 7 and Monash Graduate Attributes (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/alignmentofoutcomes.html).

Upon successful completion of this course it is expected that you will be able to:

1. be critical and creative scholars who produce:
   • innovative solutions to problems
   • apply research skills to business challenges
   • communicate effectively and perceptively
2. be responsible and effective global citizens who:
   • engage in an internationalised world
   • exhibit cross cultural competence
   • demonstrate ethical values
3. demonstrate broad knowledge and technical skills in actuarial studies and be able to provide discipline based solutions relevant to the business, professional and public policy communities that we serve
4. be able to identify, analyse and quantify risk and opportunity using mathematical, econometric and financial analyses in a wide range of business settings
5. construct conceptual frameworks and use these to analyse complex issues in the corporate sector, government and the professions.

Some specific or additional units may be required for professional recognition. Refer to the Monash Business School professional recognition pageMonash Business School professional recognition page (https://business.monash.edu/the-school/partnerships-and-advisory-boards/professional-recognition) for more information regarding accreditation.

The course develops through the four themes of foundation commerce knowledge, specialist discipline knowledge, capstone experience, and elective study.

Part A. Foundation commerce knowledge

These units will provide you with a comprehensive study of economics and econometrics disciplines and the impact they have on multi-discipline decision-making in organisations. The units consider the impact on the business, professional and public policy communities.

Part B. Specialist discipline knowledge

These units will develop your capacity as a critical and creative professional who is able to apply your knowledge of actuarial science to provide discipline based solutions to commerce. Units contained within the discipline may meet the requirements for professional accreditation bodies.

Part C. Capstone experience

The capstone unit is designed to consolidate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the study of your specialisation.

Part D. Elective study

This will enable you to further develop your knowledge of actuarial science, or commerce more broadly, or to select any units from across the University in which you are eligible to enrol including to complete a major or minor from another course.

If you are in a double degree course, some units required for the other degree can also be credited as electives towards the actuarial science degree.

The course comprises 144 points, of which 96 points must be focused on actuarial science and 48 points are used to provide additional depth or breadth.

The course develops through three themes: Part A. Foundation commerce knowledge (24 points), B. Specialist discipline knowledge and Part C. Capstone experience (72 points), and Part D. Elective study (48 points).

Elective study may be at any level. In choosing your units you must ensure that you complete no more than 10 level 1 units (60 points) and at least 4 units (24 points) at level 3 or higher. Units must be from those offered by the Faculty of Business and Economics at the Clayton campus.

The course progression mapcourse progression map (http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/2019handbooks/maps/map-b2033.pdf) provides guidance on unit enrolment for each semester of study.

Units are 6 points unless otherwise specified.

Part A. Foundation commerce knowledge (24 points)

You must complete:

• ECC1000 Principles of microeconomics
• ECC1100 Principles of macroeconomics
• ETC1000 Business and economic statistics
• ETC2410 Introductory econometrics

Part B. Specialist discipline knowledge and Part C. Capstone experience (72 points)

You must complete:

a. The following eight units (48 points):

• ACC1100 Introduction to financial accounting
• BFC2140 Corporate finance 1
• BFC2340 Debt markets and fixed income securities
• ETC2420 Statistical methods in insurance
• ETC2430 Actuarial statistics
• ETC2440 Mathematics for economics and business
• ETC2520 Probability and statistical inference for economics and business
• ETC3530 Contingencies in insurance and pensions*

* Capstone unit.

b. Four units (24 points) from the following:

• ETC3250 Business analytics
• ETC3400 Principles of econometrics**
• ETC3410 Applied econometrics**
• ETC3420 Insurance mathematics
• ETC3430 Financial mathematics under uncertainty
• ETC3460 Financial econometrics
• ETC3510 Modelling in finance and insurance
• ETC3520 Foundations of quantitative finance

** One of ETC3400 or ETC3410 is required to progress into honours in econometrics and business statistics.

Part D. Elective study (48 points)

These are free elective units and may be used to develop further depth and breadth in actuarial science or could be units chosen from other business areas of study or from across the University (including to complete a major or minor from another course), as long as you have the prerequisites and there are no restrictions on admission to the units. The units may be at any level, however, no more than 10 units (60 points) are to be completed at level 1 in the course.

Enrolment in Faculty of Business and Economics units at campuses other than the campus of enrolment is subject to there being spare capacity after students from that campus have enrolled. You should also be aware of travel and timetabling limitations.

Free electives can be identified using the browse units tool and indexes of units in the current edition of the Handbook. Majors and minors can also be identified using the Handbook indexes. The level of the unit is indicated by the first number in the unit code; undergraduate units are those that commence with the numbers 1-3. You may need permission from the owning faculty to enrol in some units taught by other faculties.

If you are in a double degree course, some units required for the other degree can also be credited as electives towards the actuarial science degree.

Successful completion of this course may provide a pathway to the one year honours program leading to B3701 Bachelor of Commerce (Honours). To be eligible to apply for entry into the Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), you must have achieved a distinction grade average (70 percent) or above in 24 points at level 3. In addition, some particular units may need to be completed for admission to honours.