Heriot-Watt has a proud heritage as a centre of academic excellence, and its actuarial students continue to benefit from a culture of progress and innovation today
31 MAY 2011 | ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
For almost 200 years, Heriot-Watt University has been at the forefront of leading-edge, practical research and teaching. Named after George Heriot, a banker, and James Watt, an innovator, it is unsurprising that the university was the first UK institution to offer degrees, undergraduate and post-graduate, in both Actuarial Science and Financial Mathematics.
In 2011 The Sunday Times named the University 'Scottish University of the Year' and ranked the two mathematical sciences departments 13th in the UK. Almost all its graduates find employment, with the majority of the actuarial students entering the profession part-qualified with a full set of CT exemptions.
In 2011 The Sunday Times named the University 'Scottish University of the Year' and ranked the two mathematical sciences departments 13th in the UK. Almost all its graduates find employment, with the majority of the actuarial students entering the profession part-qualified with a full set of CT exemptions.
The Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics is internationally renowned in actuarial and financial mathematics, and covers actuarial and financial mathematics as well as the disciplines of applied probability and statistics.
The Department's links to employers in the public and private sectors are strong and interaction is promoted and encouraged. Heriot-Watt actuaries, financial mathematicians and statisticians are well prepared to take advantage of the ever-increasing demand for their skills and expertise.
New degreee courses
The Department's long-running Actuarial Science and Financial Mathematics MScs have been supplemented recently by postgraduate degrees in Quantitative Financial Risk Management (QFRM) and Actuarial Management. Before the credit crisis, the university recognised the importance of not just capturing financial opportunities but managing the associated risks, and the QFRM degree is designed to train the next generation of risk managers, whether they work in insurance, investment, banking or treasury operations. The Actuarial Management degree leads to exemptions from the CA and ST professional subjects.
The financial crisis of 2007-08 served to illustrate the vulnerability of the global financial services sector to financial risk. The increasing sophistication and complexity of financial instruments and the importance of regulation mean that the current and future competitive advantage of the sector is dependent on having access to a highly technically-skilled and knowledgeable labour force, and the involvement of the academic sector is crucial to guaranteeing this.
Responding to these needs, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, through their joint research institute, The Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, led the establishment of the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA) in 2010, the first academic-industry partnership in the UK to focus on knowledge exchange in financial risk management.
The Academy is directed by Professor Alexander McNeil, Maxwell Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics at Heriot-Watt. The SFRA has an active membership, including key players in the banking, insurance and asset management sectors, departments of several universities, and a number of professional organisations including the Actuarial Profession.
The Academy's knowledge exchange agenda is fulfilled through three activity streams - a vibrant events and training programme including bi-annual Risk Colloquia, postgraduate student placements on industry projects, and short courses on MSc programmes led by industry practitioners.
The Actuarial Research Centre
The Actuarial Research Centre (ARC)is a new initiative created by the Actuarial Profession in partnership with the SFRA and Heriot-Watt University. Professor Andrew Cairns of Heriot-Watt is the first director of the ARC, and will help to develop its reputation as an international centre of excellence in actuarial research.
The ARC has been set up to enable a body of purposeful, industry-focused research to be undertaken which will create lasting benefits for the actuarial profession. Its aim is to train a number of PhD students, each of whom will be capable of furthering the development of actuarial science and of providing the technical foundations to inform future best practice in the profession.
There will be a particular focus on risk management and the issues of the global pensions and insurance sectors.
The ARC will also become a platform for knowledge exchange and disseminating the best of actuarial research. PhDs will be co-funded by industry partners and jointly supervised by industry experts and academics based at Heriot-Watt or other universities, depending on the focus of the research. In 2012/13, two PhDs will be funded, opening up exciting new opportunities in research to graduates from quantitative disciplines.
'Mathematics in Finance' conference
The Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the professional body for applied mathematicians, asked Dr Timothy Johnson of Heriot-Watt to organise a conference in 'Mathematics in Finance'. The conference will be held at Heriot-Watt in April 2013 and is being arranged in collaboration with the Bank of England and the SFRA. It will focus on risk management and algorithmic trading as well as more conventional topics in financial mathematics.
Looking further forward, Heriot-Watt will continue to be an international leader in research and teaching relevant to financial innovation. The academics are eager to support businesses and are always open to invitations to collaborate. The university is actively developing new degree courses reflecting developments in financial services and the resulting skills requirements.
To find out more about Heriot-Watt's range of courses and read the latest news on our forthcoming events, visit www.hw.ac.uk
The Department's links to employers in the public and private sectors are strong and interaction is promoted and encouraged. Heriot-Watt actuaries, financial mathematicians and statisticians are well prepared to take advantage of the ever-increasing demand for their skills and expertise.
New degreee courses
The Department's long-running Actuarial Science and Financial Mathematics MScs have been supplemented recently by postgraduate degrees in Quantitative Financial Risk Management (QFRM) and Actuarial Management. Before the credit crisis, the university recognised the importance of not just capturing financial opportunities but managing the associated risks, and the QFRM degree is designed to train the next generation of risk managers, whether they work in insurance, investment, banking or treasury operations. The Actuarial Management degree leads to exemptions from the CA and ST professional subjects.
The financial crisis of 2007-08 served to illustrate the vulnerability of the global financial services sector to financial risk. The increasing sophistication and complexity of financial instruments and the importance of regulation mean that the current and future competitive advantage of the sector is dependent on having access to a highly technically-skilled and knowledgeable labour force, and the involvement of the academic sector is crucial to guaranteeing this.
Responding to these needs, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh, through their joint research institute, The Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, led the establishment of the Scottish Financial Risk Academy (SFRA) in 2010, the first academic-industry partnership in the UK to focus on knowledge exchange in financial risk management.
The Academy is directed by Professor Alexander McNeil, Maxwell Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics at Heriot-Watt. The SFRA has an active membership, including key players in the banking, insurance and asset management sectors, departments of several universities, and a number of professional organisations including the Actuarial Profession.
The Academy's knowledge exchange agenda is fulfilled through three activity streams - a vibrant events and training programme including bi-annual Risk Colloquia, postgraduate student placements on industry projects, and short courses on MSc programmes led by industry practitioners.
The Actuarial Research Centre
The Actuarial Research Centre (ARC)is a new initiative created by the Actuarial Profession in partnership with the SFRA and Heriot-Watt University. Professor Andrew Cairns of Heriot-Watt is the first director of the ARC, and will help to develop its reputation as an international centre of excellence in actuarial research.
The ARC has been set up to enable a body of purposeful, industry-focused research to be undertaken which will create lasting benefits for the actuarial profession. Its aim is to train a number of PhD students, each of whom will be capable of furthering the development of actuarial science and of providing the technical foundations to inform future best practice in the profession.
There will be a particular focus on risk management and the issues of the global pensions and insurance sectors.
The ARC will also become a platform for knowledge exchange and disseminating the best of actuarial research. PhDs will be co-funded by industry partners and jointly supervised by industry experts and academics based at Heriot-Watt or other universities, depending on the focus of the research. In 2012/13, two PhDs will be funded, opening up exciting new opportunities in research to graduates from quantitative disciplines.
'Mathematics in Finance' conference
The Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the professional body for applied mathematicians, asked Dr Timothy Johnson of Heriot-Watt to organise a conference in 'Mathematics in Finance'. The conference will be held at Heriot-Watt in April 2013 and is being arranged in collaboration with the Bank of England and the SFRA. It will focus on risk management and algorithmic trading as well as more conventional topics in financial mathematics.
Looking further forward, Heriot-Watt will continue to be an international leader in research and teaching relevant to financial innovation. The academics are eager to support businesses and are always open to invitations to collaborate. The university is actively developing new degree courses reflecting developments in financial services and the resulting skills requirements.
To find out more about Heriot-Watt's range of courses and read the latest news on our forthcoming events, visit www.hw.ac.uk
