Irda chief sees shortage of actuaries receding in 3-4 yrs

Amid acute shortage of actuaries, Irda Chairman T S Vijayan has expressed the hope that the country will produce enough number of such professionals in the next 3-4 years, which will be enable it to fill up the large gap in the insurance industry for such professionals.

"It takes long time to be an actuary. However, you look at the number of students. Now around 8,000 students are there. So, even if 50% come up in three-four years time, we will have enough numbers," Vijayan has said on the sidelines on a global conference on actuaries here.

Currently, while there are demands for around 1,000 actuaries in the domestic industry, only 280 fully-trained professionals are available. It takes around 8-10 years training to become an actuary.

An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty, which is critical for designing any insurance product. An actuary can also contribute in the fields of risk management and investment related sectors.

Interestingly, actuary profession is voted as one of the best professions in the world in various job ratings.

Senior adviser at Towers Watson, Dilip C Chakraborty said the main reasons for this shortage is historical when insurance sector was nationalised with less opportunity for these professionals.

"There is a real shortage of actuary professionals in the country. Main reasons are historical as due to nationalisation of the insurance industry, the demand for these professionals were not there," Chakraborty said.