Master of Actuarial and Financial Engineering (Leuven)

The programme title and the English equivalent have been approved by the Commission Higher Education in Flanders on 19 January 2018. We expect the final approval of the programme by the Flemish government by the beginning of March 2018.

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:

1. basic training in actuarial engineering, insurance, financial products, financial mathematics and engineering, data analytics for finance and insurance, risk management for financial institutions;
2. advanced courses showing the latest developments in the field;
3. a blend of theoretical coursework and computational training;
4. an introduction to practical aspects, through the straight-from-the-frontline experience of our staff, guest lecturers, and an internship (6 ECTS);
5. a multidisciplinary approach, where technical, quantitative courses come along with coursework in (financial and insurance) regulation, prudential regimes, economics and reporting.

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 centre of Leuven.

• Education Level: Academic Master's programme
• Language of Instruction: English
• Degree: Master of Science (MSc) in Actuarial and Financial Engineering
• Duration: 2 years (full time), 120 ECTS
• Type: Daytime education
• Location: Leuven
• Start of the programme:
  • 1st semester: 3rd week of September - end of January and the beginning of February (exams in January and the beginning of February)
  • 2nd semester: 2nd week of February – June and the beginning of July (exams in June and the beginning of July)

• 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.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. Basic admission requirement

• Specific Flemish Bachelor degrees or degree deemed equivalent to the required Flemish degrees

Assessment of a foreign degree

• Equivalence with required Flemish degree(s) will be based on the assessment of the foreign degree, primarily with respect to the following; students are expected to have good analytical skills (i.e. solid mathematical background) and this offers a reasonable foundation for the coursework. For more information regarding the Prerequisites see here.

2. Proficiency in English

Required proof of English language proficiency (certificate)

• TOEFL: iBT 94 / PBT 575 / CBT 233 (min. subscores 20)
• IELTS: 7.0 (min. subscores 6.0)

• Applicants who obtained an IELTS of 6.5 (minimal sub-scores 6.0) or a TOEFL of 90 (minimal sub-scores 20 out of 30) could also be considered for admission if they have consequently completed at least 1 year of full-time study in higher education in the English language.

• No other tests than TOEFL/IELTS accepted

Exemption from certificate English language proficiency

• Applicants with Flemish diploma
• Students who obtained their degree in one of the following countries: Australia, English speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America

3. Additional requirements

• GMAT- or GRE-result above the 75th percentile on the quantitative part

Exemptions from additional requirements

• Students with a degree from one of FEB’s exchange partners.
• Students with a degree from a university which is ranked in the global top 200 in the most recent edition of the THE or QS World Ranking.
• Applicants with Flemish degree

4. Core documents to be submitted

• Copy of high school diploma, higher education degrees and transcripts of academic records
• Translation of diploma and official transcripts
• Proof of English proficiency
• Proof of payment of the application fee
• A photocopy of the identity page of your passport
• A scanned picture
• Letter of motivation
• CV

Extra document for mainland Chinese citizens

• APS certificate

5. Programme specific documents

• Two recommendation forms
• Course description of all relevant courses
• GMAT- or GRE- result above the 75th percentile on the quantitative part

Please note that detailed programme information will not be available until three months prior to the start of your programme. The programme guides published before that date relates to the current academic year.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Fundamental coursework (64 ECTS) organized along 5 topics

• actuarial engineering: life, health and pensions (18 ECTS)
• actuarial engineering: property and casualty (12 ECTS)
• risk engineering (18 ECTS)
• financial engineering (12 ECTS)
• regulation (4 ECTS)

Elective coursework (32 ECTS), including

• business oriented courses organized along the same 5 topics
• research-oriented courses organized along the same 5 topics
• an internship (6 ECTS), a summer school or project in collaboration with our research centre LRisk

Master paper (24 ECTS)

Students have the possibility to spend one semester abroad with one of the partner universities in our international network. Electives from the actuarial science programmes at ULB or UCLouvain may also be included in your study programme. As such, you have the possibility to organize an exchange within Belgium while studying at KU Leuven.

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 2/4 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.

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 to a career as actuary or risk manager!

Please note that detailed programme information will not be available until three months prior to the start of your programme. The programme guides published before that date relates to the current academic year.

TUITION FEES

For more information about our tuition fees, please visit www.kuleuven.be/tuitionfees

CAREER PERSPECTIVES

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 about data science and analytics and how these tools are used in insurance and finance, we have some relevant coursework 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.

More Information at: Master of Actuarial and Financial Engineering - KU Leuven