Combine your analytical and communication skills by joining one of the UK's leading AIMS practices - and deal with both everyday issues and those of greater consequence, that impact on our clients' capacity to manage and minimise risk.
What we do
The PwC Actuarial AIMS practice advises a host of institutions and insurers on key topics like solvency, economic capital, underwriting, new legislation, the viability of new products and the efficiency of their claims processes. We comprise around 200 specialists providing life and non-life advisory services - making us the largest non-life actuarial consultancy in the UK. In total, we have around 900 retirement, benefits and actuarial services experts in 63 countries worldwide.
Globally, we've developed strategic and operational solutions to emerging issues, such as new solvency and regulatory regimes, the non-life insurance cycle downturn and improved claims function performance within insurers. We advise clients in traditional actuarial work such as reserving, M&A and capital modelling. In addition we are the leading provider of support to companies implementing reporting mechanisms such as International Financial Reporting Standards and US GAAP.
What you'll do
During your first few years, you'll split your time between office, clients and college, where you'll be studying for Institute of Actuaries (or Faculty of Actuaries) exams. You could find yourself involved in insolvency cases where we've been appointed as liquidators; or revising business projections to make sure our clients have adequate reserves. Whatever the project, you'll capitalise on your analytical skills to deliver real commercial insights. Insights that will enable our clients to prepare for events you might see regularly on the news.
Should you choose to start in life insurance, your work will revolve around using mathematical models to identify trends within large data pools. A typical issue AIMS might have to face is the fact that improvements in medical science mean we're living longer - directly impacting on clients who supply financial products. If you opt for non-life, you might work on business such as car and home insurance, or events of the magnitude of global warming and natural disasters -weighing up the odds of what might happen to help clients plan strategically.
Working within AIMS will mean spending time out of the office. Clients could be a few streets away or in another city, which means travel will play a part in your working life. Projects typically last three to four weeks - so you'll enjoy plenty of variety.
Our culture
Actuarial work is demanding. Your first few years will be intense, especially as you begin work towards your qualification. But the more committed you are, and the harder you work, the faster you will see the rewards.
You won't find yourself tied to a desk. There will always be team and client meetings to prepare for and attend; client interaction is high. The atmosphere is supportive, essential given that you'll be juggling your job with demanding studies. But there's no pressure as to when you must take your study leave - provided you complete your work, we're fine for you to decide that for yourself.
Training & development
Under PwC Experience (Specialist Route), your training will involve on-the-job coaching and formal studies - actuarial work is a highly technical field, involving many complex issues - as well as your professional studies.
Your training starts the day you join us. A structured induction programme will help you pick up basic but vital technical and soft skills and give you the chance to settle in and meet your new colleagues. From then on, you'll benefit from a challenging blend of learning on the job, formal courses and studying for professional qualifications.
During your first few years, you'll divide your time between working in the office, visiting clients and studying to qualify as an Actuary with the Institute of Actuaries (or the Faculty of Actuaries). You'll start working towards this as part of your induction training - and it's a hefty commitment, calling for a great deal of self-discipline and motivation.
We provide a competitive study package, including both financial support and a mentor on hand to guide you through the exams. We also run internal tutorials, often led by former examiners from the Actuarial Profession. These help to reinforce certain aspects of the study material and give you the extra edge needed to perform well in your exams. While on average it takes five years to become a fully qualified actuary, we aim for our graduates to qualify in less than four. What's more as a further incentive and the reward all your hard work, on passing each exam you'll receive a pay rise.
Your development won't be confined to tutorials and formal courses though. Just as important is the practical experience you gain by working with multi-disciplinary PwC practices such as tax, business recovery or deal experts on a wide range of client projects. You'll develop analytical, technical, communication, project management and networking skills, as well as building your business awareness and industry knowledge.
Ultimately, however, your development is your responsibility. While we'll give you all the support and guidance you need, it's essential that you're committed to building your own future. At every stage of your career, including as you approach qualification, we'll encourage you to identify your own development needs and choose the appropriate training solutions to meet them. This will include secondment opportunities.
About you
Actuarial work is highly analytical and technical - and as many of our clients are in HR, finance or sitting on the board, the terminology we use isn't something they'll generally be used to hearing on a daily basis. So we need people who can convey their ideas and solutions to non-actuaries in plain English - making communication skills and good all-round commercial awareness high priorities.
Most importantly, you'll need to demonstrate high standards of numeracy, as you'll be involved in complex financial calculations and modelling work.
You'll need a 2.1 degree (in any discipline) and 320 UCAS points (or equivalent), including Mathematics at grade A.
If you enjoy the prospect of challenging yourself academically at new heights, and want to use your mathematical prowess in a business and commercial context, AIMS could be for you. Apply now to find out more.
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