Actuarial and Financial Mathematics Minor

Actuarial and Financial Mathematics Overview

Careers in the actuarial and financial sectors have been in high demand, and are among the most lucrative. The set of skills required for such careers - namely, the analytical, statistical, and computational ability to determine and quantify risk - are easily transferrable to any number of professions within and beyond finance. They also provide a solid foundation for graduate studies in related fields.

Traditionally, those careers have been popular among mathematics majors. Indeed, many of our mathematics majors have found internships and employment in insurance and financial companies. Some pursued graduate degrees in Actuarial Science, or Finance, including Clark’s MSF.

Although careers in the actuarial and financial sectors require analytical and computational ability, they do not, however, require a full mathematics major. The Actuarial and Financial Mathematics (AFM) minor provides a clearly marked pathway to those careers for Clark students who may choose to major in fields other than Mathematics.

Because of the AFM minor, Clark has been recognized by the Society of Actuaries (SoA) as a University with an Actuarial Program with an Introductory Curriculum (IC). For more information about the Actuarial career please visit

https://www.soa.org/Education/Resources/Actuarial-Colleges/actuarial-college-listings-details.aspx

Insurance companies expect their actuaries to pass several exams to become first associates and then fellows of one of the two national societies for actuarial science. Indeed, these credentials are required to perform important actuarial functions such as signing legal documents, and therefore companies are heavily invested in hiring new actuaries who can pass these exams in a timely fashion. The first two exams are in Mathematics - the first in Probability and the second in Financial Mathematics - and these topics are directly covered in the AFM minor. To find actuarial employment at any insurance company, students generally need to pass at least the first exam and preferably the second exam as well. While already employed, actuaries pass the remaining exams.

Students who earn the AFM minor cannot also earn a Mathematics minor, but Mathematics majors can earn the AFM provided that Math 210 and Math 217 are not counted as electives for the major.

If a student is interested in earning both the Data Science (DS) minor and the Actuarial and Financial Mathematics minor, each minor must contain at least 3 unique courses. This requirement may cause some AFM minor students to have to take an additional computer science or data science course in order to also complete the data science minor. The Data Science program will approve relevant extra courses on an as-needed basis.

Minor Requirements

Three specific units of introductory calculus and computer science
MATH 120 - Calculus I   or  MATH 124 - Honors Calculus I  
MATH 121 - Calculus II  or  MATH 125 - Honors Calculus II  
CSCI 120 - Introduction to Computing  or CSCI 124 - Accelerated Introduction to Computing  

Four specific units of intermediate / upper level math
MATH 130 - Linear Algebra 
MATH 131 - Multivariate Calculus  
MATH 210 - Introduction to Quantitative Finance  
MATH 217 - Probability and Statistics  

One elective course about relevant economics concepts
ECON 011 - Principles of Economics  
ECON 265 - Econometrics  
FIN 240 - Corporate Finance  

Actuarial and Financial Mathematics Faculty

Amir Babak Aazami
Li Han
Jacqueline Geoghegan
Gideon Maschler
Michael Satz, Director
Natalia Sternberg
Zhenyang Tang

Actuarial and Financial Mathematics Courses

• CSCI 120 - Introduction to Computing
• CSCI 124 - Accelerated Introduction to Computing
• ECON 011 - Principles of Economics
• ECON 265 - Econometrics
• FIN 240 - Corporate Finance
• MATH 120 - Calculus I
• MATH 121 - Calculus II
• MATH 124 - Honors Calculus I
• MATH 125 - Honors Calculus II
• MATH 130 - Linear Algebra
• MATH 131 - Multivariate Calculus
• MATH 210 - Introduction to Quantitative Finance
• MATH 217 - Probability and Statistics