Actuarial Science Courses

ACT711 Actuarial Statistics I

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course covers essentially the basics of sampling and experimental design; elementary probability; data analysis; inferential statistics including estimation and hypothesis. Statistical Software will be used throughout the course to demonstrate how to apply the course concepts on real data.

ACT712 Introductory Financial Mathematics

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course covers in-depth the main tools an executive uses to make financial decisions. Topics include time value of money, capital budgeting, the valuation of stocks and bonds, risk and expected return.

ACT721 Risk Management

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course covers the fundamentals of risk, the management of pure risk, insurance mechanisms, insurer operations and the evolution of risk management. Additional focus is on the market trends, regulation, and new trends in risk financing.

ACT722 Group Life and Health Insurance

[3–0, 3 cr.]

The course provides students with an introduction to the principles of Life and Health insurance, the process of becoming insured, and the policy owner’s contractual rights. The course includes information on the operational and actuarial features of group life insurance, health insurance, and annuity products.

ACT723 Individual Life and Annuity Insurance

[2–0, 2 cr.]

The course covers the individual life insurance and annuity product design and development process. The course exposes the student to the relationship between the product design and the selection of appropriate pricing assumptions as well as the profit measures used in pricing.

ACT724 Insurance Ethics

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

The course introduces practitioners to a high level of integrity and ethics in their relationships with insured, insurers, other insurance practitioners and vendors.

ACT725 Takaful Mechanism

[1–0, 1 cr.]

This is an overview of conventional insurance system, sources of Shariah, Norms of Takaful - Riba, Gharar, Qimar, Maisir, Musharkah, Mudarabah, Jahala, Wakala, Waqf and Tabarru. It covers the basic elements of Takaful, its principles and types of Takaful, and the differences between Takaful and insurance.

ACT726 Innovation Discipline in Insurance

[1–0, 1 cr.]

This course builds a foundation in insurance business strategy and frameworks in planning and execution. It emphasizes innovation as a source of sustainable competitive advantage, and equips the graduate student with the theory and application of strategy, insurance industry analysis, and operational maneuvers, to meet strategic objectives.

ACT727 Insurance Laws and Insurance Intermediaries

[2–0, 2 cr.]

The course broadly covers three main categories: Regulation of the business of insurance; regulation of the content of insurance policies, especially with regard to consumer policies; and regulation of claim handling. The course also highlights the role of insurance intermediaries in bringing innovative marketing practices, dissemination of information to the marketplace, spreading insurers’ risks, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

ACT728 Insurance Compliance and Corporate Governance

[1–0, 1 cr.]

This course is for professionals who want to work as risk and compliance officers in insurance and reinsurance companies. They will be provided with the tools and means to meet the fit and proper requirements of the Solvency II Directive and other international laws, regulations and standards.

ACT731 Business Analytics for Executive

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course covers the statistical techniques and concepts that a manager uses in making decisions. Topics include problem formulation, sampling techniques, data collection and analysis; statistical inference, including estimation and sample size determination; and regression and correlation analysis.

Course Equivalence: QBA730 Business Analytics for Executives

ACT732 Executive Operations Management

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course focuses on how the firm efficiently produces and distributes its goods and services. Topics include operations as a managerial integration function which provides frameworks and tools to target and implement improvements in business processes.

Course Equivalence: OPM711 Executive Operations Management

ACT733 Strategic Marketing

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course deals with marketing research when designing marketing strategies and policies. Topics include techniques of data collection, evaluation of alternative sources of information, and methods of evaluating data and presenting the results.

Prerequisite: ACT731 Business Analytics for Executives. Course Equivalence: MKT725 Strategic Marketing Research

ACT734 Executive Leadership and Communication Skills

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course focuses on leader’s skills and the difference between managers and leaders. Topics include communication skills a leader needs to influence others. Topics also include leader styles, traits, power, motivation and credibility.

Course Equivalence: MGT751 Executive Leadership & Communication Skills

ACT735 Accounting for Executives

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course deals with financial statements as aid for decision-making, covers the accounting information the manager needs for planning, evaluation and control to maximize profitability. Topics include interpretation and uses of information contained in financial statements from a user’s perspective, accounting for liabilities and corporations stockholders’ equities, activity-based costing, cost allocation and job and process costing.

Course Equivalence: ACC711 Accounting for Executives

ACT736 Corporate Financial Strategy

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

This course deals with corporate financial decisions. Topics include capital structure, cost of capital, dividend and stock repurchase policy.

Prerequisite: ACT735 Accounting for Executives

Course Equivalence: FIN721 Corporate Financial Strategy

ACT738 Duration and Cashflow Matching for Insurance

[1–0, 1 cr.]

The course introduces the two main techniques for bond immunization: Duration and Cashflow matching with emphasis on the latter as a powerful risk management approach.

ACT741 Pension Funds

[1–0, 1 cr.]

This course covers pension actuarial funding methods and the use of life contingencies. Included are analyses of the funding methods allowable under ERISA, their computation, and uses. We will also review the use of mortality tables, and discuss the various actuarial functions that are used in pension actuarial calculations.

ACT742 Introduction to Life and Non-life Reserving

[2–0, 2 cr.]

The course examines the use of statistical models in general insurance, including those used in time series analysis, generalized linear statistical modeling and runoff triangle models. In addition, the course covers basic principles of statutory life insurance and annuity valuation. It is a treatment of valuation for practicing valuation actuaries and those considering a career change into valuation.

ACT743 Actuarial Mathematics

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This is a brief introduction to annuities certain, survival distributions and life tables, life insurance, life annuities, net premiums, net premium reserves.

ACT744 Actuarial Statistics II

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course is about statistical estimates for frequency- and severity-of-loss random variables and for survival models; it also covers credibility theory, elementary simulation in actuarial and financial modelling, ruin theory, and risk measures.

Prerequisite: ACT 711 Actuarial Statistics I

ACT746 Valuation of Insurance Portfolios

[1–0, 1 cr.]

The course is a review of the accounting practices of insurance companies. It discusses the financial analysis and valuation of insurers, summarizes relevant insights from academic research, and provides related empirical evidence.

ACT754 Property, Liability and Other Lines

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course analyzes basic commercial property and liability insurance contracts, including commercial property, commercial general liability, crime, inland marine, boiler and machinery, commercial auto and farm policies. It focuses on both the terms of the contract as well as their usage.

ACT755 Personal Auto Policy

[2–0, 2 cr.]

This course focuses on the Personal Auto Policy. It discusses the concept of legal liability and types of damages payable under liability policies with an emphasis on the PAP. The course also discusses in detail the PAP policy and endorsements available as well as the operational and actuarial related work.

ACT756 Claims Management / Insurance Fraud

[1–0, 1 cr.]

This course explains how we can improve claim handling by building a strong foundation in effective investigation techniques and help avoid costly lawsuits by learning good-faith claim handling.

ACT798 Topics in Actuarial Science

[1.5–0, 1.5 cr.]

ACT799A Case Studies in Actuarial Mathematics

[3–0, 3 cr.]

In this capstone course, students develop a project where they apply the knowledge and techniques acquired in the program to a specific case in insurance management.

ACT799B Case Studies in Insurance Management

[3–0, 3 cr.]

In this capstone course, students develop a project where they apply the knowledge and techniques acquired in the program to a specific case in insurance management.