Sabrina He

While studying, Sabrina made the most of opportunities for learning, career support, and internships, which led to an actuarial analyst role with Deloitte.

I was drawn towards studying subjects that involved mathematics and are money-related, plus I learned that actuaries are in demand all over the world. I found Actuarial Science to be a comprehensive major subject that covered statistics, economics, finance, calculus, and insurance. I chose Finance as the second major, as it complements Actuarial Science well.

Because it covers a wide range of disciplines, Actuarial Science is not an easy subject.   It can be challenging to stick with it to the final year. However, our lecturer was a very humorous and patient teacher. He gave me a lot of help and encouraged me to keep going. As a result, I found joy in learning. I also took Statistics courses that were not part of the major requirement, as statistical tools were useful to further support my studies.

During my second and third years at university, I attended career expos and employer presentations, which gave me the opportunity to meet many different professionals. The Wellington Careers and Employment workshops helped me to draft my CV and prepare for interviews. My first role was an internship which was offered by Cigna NZ and Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. During the internship, I met and networked with my current colleagues from Deloitte.

After completing an internship at Cigna, I joined Deloitte’s actuarial and insurance services team in my first permanent role as an analyst. Our team works mainly with insurance companies, but we also do some work across the public sector and with other non-insurance clients. Since joining Deloitte, I have been involved in a variety of projects including the implementation of a new accounting standard for insurance contracts, NZ IFRS 17. The transition to IFRS 17 requires substantial resources to assess and implement the necessary changes needed to systems, processes, and controls. I have been involved in supporting numerous insurance companies to convert their IFRS17 requirements into practical steps. In addition, I am learning about artificial intelligence and climate change, both of which are becoming key focus areas for the actuarial industry.

For students who are preparing for careers, I suggest that you think about your career path carefully when you choose your first job. When you transition from study to work, you may find that work-life balance may be hard to achieve initially. For those who want to become an actuary in the future, I suggest gaining as many actuarial exam exemptions as possible. This will shorten the length of time it takes you to become a qualified actuary and lowers the pressure of study while you are working. The actuarial exam exemptions that I gained during my undergraduate study also enhanced my employability. While you may find that there is still a lot more to learn on the job, the accounting, financial, and actuarial knowledge gained at university will form the basis of your future work.