When we look back, the history of actuarial science was born in ancient Rome with ACTUARIES, who were the secretaries of the senate, who took notes on the course of the sessions (ACTAS) and divulged them to the people. Subsequently, the term is extended to public clerks who dealt with birth and death records and in the 17th century the term ACTUARY was used to identify the researchers who organized the mortality tables, using statistical and mathematical resources.
the Brazilian Institute of Actuaries (IBA) defines the professional actuary as being: “… the prepared to measure and manage risks, since the profession requires knowledge in theories and mathematical applications, statistics, economics, probability and finance, transforming you into a true financial architect and social mathematician capable of simultaneously analyzing the financial and social changes in the world. ”
Today there is already a lot of actuary working with Business Intelligence because, given the knowledge of the database, this interaction with the tools is greatly facilitated. But what about Big Data? Have you ever stopped to think about it?
In this context, I would like to address two aspects: a) with the arrival of robots that will make several procedures previously manual for the automated form, be it in structured and unstructured data, I see that we will need to dive more than ever in the analysis of results , greatly increasing the responses; and b) we will also have to invest more in the methodology for the predictive models that will be part of the estimates also reported in Big Data.
The truth is that we are still known, most of the time, as TECHNICIANS who have good analytical perception, knowledgeable of spreadsheets and databases, exclusively responsible for calculating premiums, technical provisions, mathematical reserves, among others.
The most important thing is that the profession follows the steps for a broader view of risk, making it possible to combine good technique with a more strategic perception. With the need to: a) have a systemic view of the business / company; b) integration with professionals from other areas of knowledge; and c) be a multidisciplinary professional.
Another fundamental point is that the actuary, in addition to using calculations, whether deterministic or stochastic, can also use, depending on the case and with the necessary prudence and common sense, the feeling (intuition), thus exploring his subjectivity and experience in the area in which it is acting interacting the internal and market aspects. In this way it expands the performance horizons and is not “stuck” to a methodology, sometimes even non-existent for application.