Superhero of the business world: The Actuary Part 4
By Kischel Nair, Actuarial Analyst at FNB South Africa. What differentiates Actuarial Science from other competent professions? I believe it is the practical ability to recognise a problem in any complex system and apply logic to derive a solution to that problem. The cool thing about the actuary is that he/she can do this while acknowledging the effects of time and other variables that may cause the problem to change in the future. It’s sort of like Tom Cruise in minority report. The further ability to effectively communicate all of the relevant aspects of the problem and solution to all [...]
Superhero of the business world: The Actuary Part 3
By Kischel Nair, Actuarial Analyst at FNB South Africa. What are these life skills that are required? I will try and explore the most significant throughout the series of articles because I don’t believe an exhaustive list can be created. But for now, I will start with my opinion. I believe the main qualities of an actuary are resilience and self-belief. The actuary is barraged with a vast amount of difficult challenges in order to qualify. It is natural for almost all who choose the actuarial profession to face a number of hurdles in their journeys. Just as Bruce Wayne [...]
Superhero of the business world: The Actuary Part 2
By Kischel Nair, Actuarial Analyst at FNB South Africa. Before Actuarial Science I wanted to become a neurosurgeon. It was my lifelong dream when I was young ( Eventually I had to give up the idea that Tommy Lee Jones would invite me to join a secret organisation that polices and monitors alien activity on earth i.e. the men in black). This all changed when I began doing some serious and really cool maths in the advanced maths course we had in high school. It was a brilliant maths teacher that awoke a hidden passion for advanced problem solving. The [...]
Superhero of the business world: The Actuary: Part 1
By Kischel Nair, Actuarial Analyst at FNB South Africa. ‘An actuary who is only an actuary is not an actuary’-Frank Reddington I was recently at a student party one evening and I began to chat to a very pretty lady. You know the kind of pretty that inspires beautiful and passionate classical music. Whilst going through the usual chit chat and social banter, I felt my heart beat just that much faster and I began to feel some anxiety. No, I was not getting the usual nerves associated with asking this girl out. I was dreading her asking me the [...]
