Actuarial and Financial Engineering, M.Sc.

About

The Master of Actuarial and Financial Engineering covers the fundamental concepts of insurance, techniques for quantitative risk management and principles of modelling assets and liabilities.

You will learn to construct robust risk models and integrate techniques to report the results of your in-depth analysis, you will study the quantitative instruments necessary to analyze vital contemporary issues.

Programme outline

The Master’s programme consists of two years of 60 ECTS each. The compulsory core consists of about 90 ECTS, 24 of which are accredited to the master’s thesis, the remaining ECTS consist of compulsory courses, organised along five major topics:

• actuarial engineering: life, health and pensions (18 ECTS);
• actuarial engineering: property and casualty (12 ECTS);
• risk engineering (18 ECTS);
• financial engineering (12 ECTS);
• regulation and reporting (4 ECTS).

You supplement the compulsory courses with electives along the same five domains, which consist of both business oriented and research oriented topics to cover your interests. An optional internship, research project in the LRisk research center, or summer school is also included in the possibilities. 

Strengths

• You will acquire advanced training in the modelling and managing of risks in financial institutions and learn to combine this knowledge across the different domains and to transform it into useful solutions to meet the challenges of insurances, pensions and financial risk management.
• The diploma of Master of Actuarial and Financial Engineering allows students to join the professional associations of actuaries: the IA|BE (Institute of Actuaries in Belgium) and (via IA|BE) the IAA (International Actuarial Association).
• International experience: you can spend the first semester of your second Master year abroad with one of the partner universities in our international network, both within and outside Europe. 

Financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds and consultancy agencies are traditionally the most important employment domains. The classical distinction between financial products and insurance products is fading and the programme focuses on general, quantitative skills related to risk management. As a result, students, now technical experts, will have various career opportunities in all-round risk management. The government also offers interesting career opportunities for insurance experts. Furthermore, students are often involved in the general management of the company for which the students’ financial and actuarial skills can contribute to the analytical decision-making.

This degree gives the graduate access to the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium, the professional association of actuaries.

Questions about student life in Belgium, life at KU Leuven or more information about a specific course? Chat with our students: www.kuleuven/be/chatwithourstudents.