Membership FAQs

The Nigerian Actuarial Society (NAS) is the professional organization for actuaries in Nigeria. It was established in1986for the advancement of the actuarial knowledge and standards in Nigeria. NAS became a full member organization of the International Actuarial Association in 2018.

NAS focus at the moment is to bring together actuarial professionals practicing in Nigeria within a professional umbrella, regulate the code of conduct, liaise with relevant regulators and other stakeholders, be a voice for the profession in Nigeria, improve the local image of the profession and provide relevant assistance to its members, including trainings.

Currently, NAS does not conduct actuarial exams. However, NAS is available to guide you through the process of taking the actuarial exams with other IAA recognized bodies that are offering actuarial examinations. NAS may from time to time organize tutorials to assist members through their qualification journey.

You can become a member of NAS by sending in a formal application and paying the membership subscription applicable to your membership class.

The NAS has 4 membership categories-

1. Fellows: A person shall be admitted as a Fellow member if he/she has been awarded a Fellow status by one of the associations which NAS Council has given Recognition Status to. Fellows are authorized to sign financial statements, give actuarial opinion and certification.Fellows are authorized to append to their name the initials “FNAS”. All fellowship admission have to be approved by Council.
2. Associates: A person shall be admitted as an Associate member if he/she has been awarded an Associate status by one of the associations which NAS Council has given Recognition Status to. Associates are entitled to attend meetings of NAS, join in discussions, vote in meetings and participate on committees. Associates are authorized to append to their name the initials “ANAS”.
3. Analyst: A person shall be admitted as an Analyst member if he/she has passed at least any 4 papers within the professional actuarial course programme of any one of the associations which NAS Council has given Recognition Status to. Analysts shall be entitled to attend meetings of NAS, join in discussions, and vote in meetings. Analysts are not authorized to append any NAS initials to their name and are not authorized to sign statements that involve the making of an actuarial opinion. 
4. Students: A person shall be admitted as a student member if he/she has an interest in pursuing a professional career in actuarial science. Students shall be entitled to attend meetings of the NAS and join in discussions. Students are not authorized to append any NAS initials to their name and are not authorized to sign statements that involve the making of an actuarial opinion or certification.

The following associations have been approved by NAS Council for Recognition Status. 

1. 1. Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK;
   2. The Society of Actuaries, USA;
   3. The Casualty Actuarial Society, USA;
   4. The Canadian Institute of Actuaries; and
   5. The Actuarial Society of South Africa. 

Other institute can be added from time to time following  approval by NAS Council bearing in the mind the cross recognition amongst the associations listed above.

Request a subscription invoice by sending an email to contact@actuaries.org.ng and make payment to the NAS bank account that will be contained in the subscription notice. Please note that some employers would be willing to make this payment on behalf of its employees, within its professionalism development/training budget, so it may be worth asking your employer. Non-payment of subscriptions after they are due could result in being delisted from the NAS membership database.

Membership subscriptions are due on the 1st of January every year and a window of 3 months is allowed for payments. There may be surcharges if payments are not made within the 3 months window.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has legislative right to license all professionals signing the inputs to a financial statement. To sign a financial statement as an actuary, you will need to be a fellow of the NAS. Consequently, the NAS will issue an introductory letter of you to the FRC for issuance of the FRC certificate

The subscriptions for 2019 are shown below: 

Benefits of being a member of the NAS includes exclusive access to most NAS events for free (Non-members will be required to pay a fee);training and continuous professional development opportunities; ethics of the profession requires all practicing members to comply with local regulations relating to the profession; opportunities for  networking, peer reviews and mentorship opportunities, etc

You do not have to have passed any actuarial exam to become a member of NAS. NAS membership is open to all persons who have either commenced taking actuarial exams or an interest in pursuing an actuarial career. Our student members at a minimum will need to have passed their Senior Secondary School exams (or equivalent).

An Actuary is a business professional that uses the knowledge of statistics, mathematics and finance to predict the likelihood of future events and in doing so, enables its stakeholders to identify and quantify risks and exploit the opportunities in these risks. In other words, Actuaries evaluate the financial consequence of risk in business and advise accordingly.

Any person who is either an Associate or Fellow of NAS, is qualified to call himself/herself an Actuary in Nigeria.

• Life Insurance; 
• General/Non-Life/short term Insurance; 
• Pensions; 
• Enterprise risk management and 
• Health Insurance

We have also seen actuarial skills being used in the new and developing field of data analytics which can be applied to both financial (including banks) and non-financial sectors.

Typically, employers of actuarial resource in Nigeria include Life Insurance companies; General/short term Insurance companies; Actuarial consulting firms; Commercial banks; Actuarial consulting firms providing advisory services, Audit firms; Health Management organizations; Government; pension fund administrators etc. 

An actuary can work anywhere there is finance and risk and this applies to almost all organizations. Some actuaries take on very non-traditional roles such as Business Analytics, Sales and Marketing, Enterprise Risk Management, and they have reported usefulness of their skills in these places. The actuarial training generally provides one with a background in sound analysis figures, a curiosity for asking ‘Why’, and generally be a problem solver.

The Society of Actuaries, USA (SOA) and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, UK (IFoA) have exam centres in Lagos. 

Further information on  these exams are shown 

SOA: https://www.soa.org/Education/Exam-Req/default.aspx

IFoA: https://www.actuaries.org.uk/studying

To become an Actuary, basically you need to have very strong mathematical skills, sound communication skills and a savvy for computing. You do not need to have studied Mathematics or Actuarial Science in the higher institution. Many persons have been able to enter the actuarial profession to the top levels, from first degrees of Engineering, Physics, Statistics and so on. Your Senior Secondary Certificate Exams mathematical exposure and passion will be critical. There have also been reports of persons moving from the legal profession into Actuarial Science (Obviously, these persons must have had a remarkable mathematical background and bias). 

Your interest and passion for mathematics and problem solving and your determination and hardwork, will be critical to succeeding in an actuarial career. It could be helpful to speak to an Actuary for his/her opinion and advice, before you embark on an actuarial career.

Actuaries are constantly rated as number 1 best job in the US (2018 statistics) and it has been oscillating around the 1st and 2nd best job position (Along with Stock-broking) over the last at least 12 years to 2018. Actuaries are highly regarded professionals and they are also well-remunerated with a high demand and high job security. Here in Nigeria, the situation is similar. 

There are only a few actuaries practicing in Nigeria and as a result, the career prospects are equally huge in Nigeria. There are also advancing areas of practice like health and risk management, where more actuaries will be needed in the future. 

As insurance companies in Nigeria expand and increase capital, they will require more actuaries to help manage the safety of the shareholder’s investments. 

The introduction of accounting regulation will require actuarial skills in commercial banks (in the area of Credit Risk Modelling).

Government will also have increased role for actuaries, as it aims for stronger regulation of the relevant private companies and in analyzing the burden of pension on its budgets.

Visit beanactuary.org for more information about the Actuarial profession.

The NAS organizes regular learning sessions that qualify for CPD. These events are usually held, at least once quarterly. Members get an email notification of these events and they are publicized on our social media platforms and website.

All actuaries are risk managers by training because they have been trained to identify, quantify and monitor risks. In reaction to the growing space of ERM however, the global actuarial profession developed the Certified Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) qualification. To get the CERA qualification, you need to follow a similar route to that required to become an Associate and take additional specific examinations on ERM.