Actuarial Science
ACTS 4301 Long Term Actuarial Mathematics I (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this class is to develop the student's knowledge of the theoretical basis of life contingent actuarial models and the application of those models to insurance and other financial risks. Life contingencies, survival models, life insurances, annuities, and premiums will be studied. This class covers parts of SOA Exams FAM and ALTAM. Prerequisites: STAT 4351 with a grade C- or higher and ACTS 4308 with a grade C- or higher. (3-0) T
ACTS 4302 Investment and Financial Markets (3 semester credit hours) This 3 semester credit hour course develops the student's knowledge of the theoretical basis of certain actuarial models and the application of those models to insurance and other financial risks. The topics discussed include mean-variance portfolio theory, asset pricing models, market efficiency and behavioral finance, investment risk and project analysis, capital structure, main methods of capital budgeting, equity and debt, forwards and futures, and introduction to options. This class covers parts of CAS exam 3F and serves as a Finance Component of the SOA VEE requirement in Accounting and Finance. Prerequisites: STAT 4351 with a grade C- or higher and ACTS 4308 with a grade C- or higher. (3-0) T
ACTS 4303 Long Term Actuarial Mathematics II (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this class is to further develop the students' knowledge of the theoretical basis of life contingent actuarial models and the application of those models to insurance and other financial risks. Reserves for insurances and annuities, multi-state models, long-term insurance coverages, pension plans and retirement benefits will be studied. This class covers parts of SOA Exams FAM and ALTAM. Prerequisite: ACTS 4301 with a grade C- or higher. (3-0) Y
ACTS 4304 Short Term Actuarial Mathematics I (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this class is to develop the student's knowledge of the severity, frequency and aggregate risk models and the application of those models to insurance and other financial risks. Property and casualty insurance coverages, health insurance, loss reserving, ratemaking, coverage modifications and risk measures will be discussed. This class covers parts of SOA Exams FAM and ASTAM; CAS Exams MAS I, MAS II, and 5. Prerequisite: STAT 4352 with the grade C- or higher. (3-0) T
ACTS 4305 Short Term Actuarial Mathematics II (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this class is to develop the students' knowledge of the construction and selection of parametric frequency and aggregate models. The students will understand and be able to construct and estimate parameters for parametric models using Maximum Likelihood estimation techniques and perform model selection using graphical procedures, hypothesis tests, including Chi-square goodness-of-fit, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Likelihood ratio (LRT) tests. This class covers parts of SOA Exams FAM and ASTAM; CAS Exams MAS I, MAS II and 5. Prerequisite: ACTS 4304 with a grade C-. (3-0) Y
ACTS 4306 Actuarial Probability as Problem Solving (3 semester credit hours) Topics in actuarial probability via solving problems. This class covers topics of Exam 1/P. Prerequisite: STAT 4351 or instructor consent required. (3-0) R
ACTS 4307 Statistics for Risk Modeling (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this class is to provide an understanding of the basics of several important analytic methods such as linear models, time series models, principal components and cluster analysis, and decision trees. This class covers parts of the SOA Exam SRM and leads the student to the deeper preparation for the SOA Exam PA - Predictive Analytics. May be repeated for credit (6 semester credit hours maximum). Prerequisites: STAT 3355 and STAT 4352. (3-0) Y
ACTS 4308 Actuarial Financial Mathematics (3 semester credit hours) The purpose of this 3 semester credit hour course is to provide an understanding of the fundamental concepts of financial mathematics, and how those concepts are applied in calculating present and accumulated values for various streams of cash flows as a basis for future use in: reserving, valuation, pricing, asset liability management, investment income, capital budgeting, and valuing contingent cash flows. The topics discussed include loans, bonds, and annuities. This class covers parts of the CAS Exam 2 and the SOA Exam FM. Prerequisite: MATH 3351 with a grade of C- or higher. (3-0) R
ACTS 4309 Theory of Options (3 semester credit hours) This 3 semester course develops the student's knowledge of the theory of options. The topics discussed include general properties of options, binomial pricing models, Black-Scholes option pricing model, option Greeks, exotic options and risk management. This class covers parts of CAS exam 3F, topics on the SOA FAP capstones and exam ALTAM. Prerequisite: ACTS 4302 with grade C- or higher. (3-0) Y
ACTS 4310 Predictive Analytics (3 semester credit hours) This 3 semester credit hour course provides a solid introduction to the implementation of various predictive analytic methods in two major statistical /machine learning software R and Python. Each student will complete a final project using insurance data. This class covers parts of the SOA Predictive Analytics (PA) exam. Prerequisites: (STAT 3355 and ACTS 4307 with grade C- or higher) or instructor consent required. (3-0) Y
ACTS 4311 Theory of Credibility (3 semester credit hours) This 3 semester credit hour course provides a solid introduction to credibility theory as a set of quantitative tools that allows an insurer to perform prospective experience ratings (adjust future premiums based on past experience) on a risk or group of risks. Students will learn how to resolve the problem of combining information from two samples, one of which is small but very relevant, the other is large but less relevant. Different approaches such as limited fluctuation or classical credibility, Bayesian, Bhlmann, and Bhlmann-Straub credibility will be studied and applied in practical settings. This class covers parts of the SOA exams FAM-S (Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics - Statistics), ASTAM (Advanced Short Term Actuarial Mathematics), as well as CAS exam MAS II (Modern Actuarial Statistics II). Prerequisite: ACTS 4304 with a grade C- or higher. (3-0) Y