This is an English-taught programme of 120 ECTS which prepares students for careers in actuarial science, financial engineering or quantitative risk management within financial institutions.

This master's programme brings:

• basic training in actuarial engineering, insurance, financial products, financial mathematics and engineering, data analytics for finance and insurance, risk management for financial institutions;

• advanced courses showing the latest developments in the field;

• a blend of theoretical course work and computational training;

• an introduction to practical aspects, through the straight-from-the-frontline experience of our staff, guest lecturers, and an internship (6 ECTS);

• a multidisciplinary approach, where technical, quantitative courses come along with course work in (financial and insurance) regulation, prudential regimes, economics and reporting.

Forms of instruction:

• Lectures (including web lectures), guest lectures by professionals working in practice, computer labs in R, Python and Matlab, and paper based exercises, classroom and home assignments.

• The master's programme is jointly organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) and the Faculty of Sciences (department of Mathematics). The majority of classes is organized at FEB in the historical center of Leuven.

• Duration: 2 years (full time), 120 ECTS

EEA nationals and Non-EEA nationals who reside in Belgium under a valid residence permit can follow less than 60 ECTS per academic year and accordingly spread their studies in several years. This possibility needs to be discussed with a study career consultant. Note that there are no part-time, evening or weekend courses organized for this category of students.

The basic courses in actuarial science in the master's programme (e.g. Life Insurance Mathematics and Loss Models) use the textbooks suggested by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) for the Long-Term and Short-Term Actuarial Master in Actuarial and Financial Engineering, KU Leuven Mathematics exams. The textbooks suggested by the SOA for the Statistics for Risk Modeling exam are used in our courses ‘Data science for non-life insurance’ and ‘Statistical Tools for Quantitative Risk Management’. The topics covered in the SOA’s exams on Financial Mathematics and Investment and Financial Markets are covered in our courses in the Financial Engineering block. As such, the courses in the master’s programme prepare for the exams to become Associate of the Society of Actuaries. For more information, please contact the programme director.

More about the programme:

Our courses are also available as electives in other KU Leuven programmes (MSc in mathematics, statistics, mathematical engineering, business engineering, physics). If you are currently in any of those programmes, choosing these courses as electives in your current study program enables a smooth transition to the Master in Actuarial and Financial Engineering. Your gateway for a career as actuary or risk manager!

If your mind is on applying tools and models from mathematics and statistics to real-world economic and financial problems, then this programme may be the right one for you. If you want to learn more on data science and analytics and how these tools are used in insurance and finance, we have some relevant course work and expertise to share with you. The programme prepares students for careers in financial institutions which involve analytics and quantitative risk measurement. Graduates from the programme are employed with insurance companies, banks, pension funds, consultants or governmental institutions where they are involved in a variety of analytic tasks, including (but not limited to) product development and pricing, solvency calculations, risk management, employee benefit calculations, asset and liability management,… Moreover, the degree of MSc in Actuarial and Financial Engineering gives access to the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium, the professional association of actuaries in Belgium.

Careers:

Students and young graduates can consult relevant job vacancies and internships with the help of our online career platform Career Corner. You will also have the opportunity to meet potential employers at job and internship fairs organised throughout the year and during campus recruitment activities.