Actuarial Techniques

In this section, you will find the reading materials (also slides) for the blue contents.

The idea is simple: the origins of actuarial work were in life insurance, which included two major aspects:

• long durations: hence the time value of money;
• uncertainty: we did not know when people would die.

Some of the earliest actuarial work was pioneering on those two dimensions.

We will learn about both, then combine them into the valuation of contingent payments, that is, payments that happen in the future if something happens (with a probability we assume we can describe). Finally, we will use this to discuss how simple life insurance products are priced and managed.

Other areas of practice are discussed under “Actuarial Practice”.

Notes:

• At the top of each page, there is a link to download the (unannotated slides).
• A full set of materials will be uploaded as soon as available, but materials will probably be updated and won’t be finalised until those weeks when they are taught.