Banking

Banking provides actuaries with opportunities to apply their highly developed skills and knowledge to an extensive and diverse variety of roles

There are many interesting opportunities for actuaries to solve problems and manage risks in banking. Many roles in banking are similar to roles in insurance, albeit with different products, language and regulation. For example, banking provisions for expected credit losses are broadly equivalent to insurance reserves for expected claims, while there are parallels between model validation, stress testing and asset-liability management in banking and in insurance.

Webinars to view:

You can find past webinar recordings on the Virtual Learning Environment

Past webinars include: 

Inside the Banking Boardroom - Opportunities for Actuaries - In this webinar Louise Pryor, Past President of the IFoA and herself a bank NED discussed and compared notes on “Inside the Banking Boardroom – Opportunities for Actuaries” with three fellow actuaries.

Data Science and Banking – Opportunities and Risks - Retail banking is going through a period of substantial change as it moves into the digital age.  Data science is also adding value in risk areas such as fraud detection and cyber security.  At the same time, the move to online banking is making it easier for firms including fintechs to enter banking without having to establish branch networks. However, there are risks, such as possible mis-use of customer data and possible bias in machine learning algorithms.

Banking Reading List

The Banking Reading List contains links to a number of papers that may be of interest to actuaries who work for banks and/or are interested in banking.

The papers focus on risk management, but also cover topical issues such as Covid-19 related regulations, climate change, expected credit losses and price discrimination.

At present, most of the papers are from the UK: if you have any suggestions about papers from other countries that could be included in the Reading List, please send them to banking@actuaries.org.uk.

Banking reading list

Download the reading list report

SP and SA Banking  

The IFoA are working with the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) to develop Banking specialisms. Co-operation continues at pace, supported by the IFoA Banking Community. Both the IFoA and ASSA have now reached agreement with our respective Boards and Committees on the syllabus for the equivalent of an SP and an SA Banking specialism, delivered by ASSA. Members are able to book a place on these examinations from February 2022. 

Read our banking case studies

Read our case studies from actuaries either in banking or thinking or a career in banking, answering questions about their move into banking and their experience in banking. These case studies have come from actuaries at different stages in their careers who have moved into different areas in banking

Banking Lifelong Learning case studies

Banking Lifelong Learning case studies

Read the case studies

Courses and Resources to get started

There are a wealth of resources and courses available, some of which that can be accessed for free.  Here are some suggestions:

  • Economics of Money and Banking, Columbia University (a two part course): Covers basic concepts of economics, monetary policy and banking, and provides an international perspective
  • Financial Markets, Yale University: Introduction to risk management, behavioural finance, securities, insurance and banking.
  • Financial Markets (2011), Yale University via Yale Courses 
  • Financial Engineering and Risk Management, Columbia University (a two part course): Part 1 considers the use of stochastic models to price derivative securities in various asset classes. Part 2 considers fixed income securities, including arbitrage pricing, and the mechanics and pricing of forwards, futures, swaps and options. 
  • Money & Banking by Prof. Surajit Sinha, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur