NTU actuarial science programme first in Singapore to receive accreditation by UK’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

23 April 2012 Nanyang Technological University

Endorsement by the chartered professional body, a first for a Singapore university, will grant Nanyang Business School students more comprehensive exemption from its internationally recognised professional exams

Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU’s) actuarial science programme has become the first in Singapore to be accredited by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the world’s oldest actuarial professional body.

The UK organisation signed last Friday an agreement that will make it simpler for NTU actuarial science graduates to gain exemptions from the first eight of 15 professional examinations that the institute requires for qualification as a professional actuary.

Accreditation by the institute is a major endorsement of NTU’s actuarial science programme as it recognises that knowledge and skills taught at the university’s courses match the needs and standards of this highly regarded and technical profession.

The institute currently grants exemptions, to varying degrees, to 40 universities around the world – with just 15, including NTU, enjoying full accreditation. Within Asia, NTU is only the second university to be accredited, after Hong Kong University last October.

“We are most pleased to accredit the actuarial science programme at Nanyang Technological University. We are very satisfied with the rigour of the programme’s courses and assessments, and look forward to welcoming its graduates as student members of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries,” said Institute and Faculty of Actuaries president Jane Curtis.

About 50 students join NTU’s actuarial science programme, conducted at the university’s Nanyang Business School, each year. Those who graduate from 2015 onwards can gain exemption from the Core Technical portion of the institute’s professional exams, if their overall results for specified exams taken at the university meet a minimum grade. Exemptions granted by the UK institute are recognised by its counterparts in the US, the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society, and Australia, the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

NTU’s actuarial science programme is the most established in Singapore. Since it was first conducted in 1991, the programme has produced over 40 professional actuaries who have carved out highly successful careers in insurance companies, and other financial institutions around the world. Beyond education, the university is also fast becoming a regional leader in research on the subject. Together with global reinsurer SCOR, it established the Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre last year to direct and promote primary research on insurance and insurance-related risk in the Asia-Pacific.

Professor Jun-koo Kang, who heads Nanyang Business School’s banking and finance division, said, “We are very proud of this prestigious and independent endorsement by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. It testifies of the rigour and relevance of our actuarial science programme, and gives our students a further head start into the challenging but rewarding career as an actuary.”

The accreditation by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries comes soon after NTU's accounting research was ranked first in Asia and top 10 in the world. In Brigham Young University’s 2011 Accounting Research Rankings, released last month, NTU was ranked seventh internationally, based on the productivity of its accounting researchers across 11 top accounting journals in the most recent six years. Professor Tan Hun Tong retained his standing as the world’s top accounting researcher, followed closely by Professor Clive Lennox, making them Asia’s top two accounting researchers – both based at Nanyang Business School.

Earlier in January this year, Nanyang Business School’s MBA programme was ranked by the Financial Times as one of the world’s Top 35 and Asia’s Top 10 MBA programmes for the fourth consecutive year. The school’ MBA graduates charted the highest salary level compared to other Singapore MBA graduates, with an average pay of US$102,350 a year, three years after graduation. The programme also ranked first in Singapore for career progression opportunities and successful job placements offered to its graduates.

http://news.ntu.edu.sg/pages/newsdetail.aspx?URL=http://news.ntu.edu.sg/news/Pages/NR2012_Apr23.aspx&Guid=93f94a4a-ae3c-43ed-a8a9-f20b7126de33&Category=News+Releases