An actuary uses mathematics and statistics to analyze financial risk, especially for insurers.
Actuaries study uncertainty and estimate the likelihood and cost of future events such as death, illness, accidents, natural disasters, and retirement. Insurers use their work to help set premiums, calculate reserves, design products, and assess whether they can meet future claims.
The profession developed alongside life insurance and mortality analysis. Early actuaries used death records and life tables to estimate how long groups of policyholders might live. Modern actuaries also use computer models, probability theory, economics, finance, and data science.
An actuary is not the same as an underwriter. An actuary develops quantitative assumptions and models, while an underwriter evaluates individual risks against an insurer’s rules. A claims adjuster instead investigates and negotiates particular losses after they occur.