Has anyone moved from an actuarial role to a finance/investment role. I have worked in actuarial consultant role for ten years, I have just passed level 2 and will be doing level 3 next year. I want to go into a more finance/investment type role but I am worried I would have to take a pay cut given that most of my experience is on the liability side and not asset side although I do have some ALM exposure and IPS exposure. Any comments welcome
why did you go 10 years? did you suddenly decide you want a investment job?
First of all I live in a caribbean country and there is not a big job market. Secondly, I guess I enjoy the actuarial work i do but I am getting the feeling I cannot get to the top at my firm(Partner), mainly because I have no inclination to finish the actuarial exams ( this may change but for now I do not have the motivation). It is just the classic case of knowing the work but I do not have the paper, The contra to this is that one of the partners at my firm encouraged me three years ago to pursue the CFA exams as he saw a big oppurtunity for us to grow as an investment consultancy. This arm of the business would have been run by me and this path would take me to partnership This has not taken off as we thought and that partner may be retiring soon and I do not think other ppl here ( the actuaries) would give me the support I need to grow another arm of the business. So, more and more I am thinking I should look for another job, I just need to sell my skills and education correctly I think. So that’s the ten years, its by no means wasted because I have gained expertise in many areas, may be too many. I just want to get into more finance and I am hoping that gaining the CFA desination would take me there. I am just scared that I do not have the experience on the finance/investment side and this could be to my detriment in terms of salary.
Not to be Debbie Downer, but in this economy you’ll be hard pressed to get a job in the finance arena without any relevant experience. If, by chance, you do secure a job you can expect an entry level salary.
^ this is correct. For entry level jobs, firms would generally rather hire bright new graduates out of top schools then someone who’s had a decade of experience in an field not directly related to the job. And if you do land one, you’re probably looking at 60k a year. Probably half what you’re making now after 10 years. It’s the same for a lot of jobs even within finance. The longer you stay at it, the deeper a hole you’re digging, and it gets harder to climb out and start another hole. Few jobs are as versatile
i started as an actuary (gained 2 years of experience) then moved to a role in investment consulting. i’m not an associate [consultant] at my firm. it was a fairly easy transition as i moved from one HR consulting firm to another… you’ll have to probably take a pay cut as I know my firm pays the actuaries a bit better than the investment consultants… the difference isn’t too dramatic though (especially in the entry to mid-level positions)
Good points and I really appreciate them, I would probably have to take the pay cut and it may not be too drastic. I do still have ALM experience. Dropping to a $60k salary is a no no since I earn three times that now, so that makes no since and I have a wife and one kid and a mortgage So after getting your insights here, and some insights from actuarial outpost and my family, friends I will 1. Try to pass Level 3 next June to get the charter. 2. Speak to my current bosses on where they see the firm and how I fit into it. 3. If the direction remains purely actuarial( currently 75% actuarial and 25 % investment consulting, funny enough after I wrote this yesterday, we got a huge project preparing IPS for employees of defuncta irline who would be paid redundancy packages), then 4. I have four of the British actuarial exams to finish, I actually have 5 now but passing L3 would give me an exemption which leaves 4. I will suck it uo and from next year try to finish these actuarial exams. 5. I would then be in a postion to maintain my current lifestyle, be flexible (both CFA and actuary hopefully) Thanks for your thoughts and insights guys, I sure we will be chatting from now on about the topics in the L3 curriculum. Just ordered my notes, Start date Oct 15. Yikes!!!
oh btw, i forgot to mention. our firm has positions that do both actuary and investments (so both liability- and asset-side). you might want to try to nudge your way through your own firm and get more involved with, say, asset/portfolio structuring, manager research, etc.