Debarshi Chatterjee - Head Actuary, Tata AIG General Insurance Company

Name: Debarshi Chatterjee Current Title: Head Actuary Company Name: Tata AIG General Insurance Company Location: Mumbai,India University attended: Indian Statistical Institute Course: Bachelors and Masters in Statistics

Started Late, ended late – but enjoyed the journey…

Actuary? What’s that?

As a Statistics undergraduate student inIndiain the late nineties, I had no idea what an actuary was. In fact, there were very few jobs for statisticians in the market.  However, things changed pretty fast.  At the time of our campus recruitment, there were quite a few “analytics”-related job openings that companies were recruiting for.  There were also a couple of global insurance companies who were recruiting students for offshore actuarial roles. It was through their campus presentations that I got introduced to the profession.

Started late

Even after starting to work as an actuarial student, I was reluctant to take so many exams. I had just completed five years of college and was tired of exams. So, I was thinking about making a career as a general analytics professional. But over the next three years the importance of specializing in an industry gradually became clear to me. And besides the analytical side, the statutory role that an actuary plays also appealed to me. So, after four years, I started with my exams.

Why the UK exams

TheUKexams seemed to provide me the greatest flexibility. In the current scenario, global mobility is important. TheUKexams had mutual recognition with both theUSand Indian societies besides being widely accepted all overEurope. Over the years, I found the study materials very interesting and application-oriented, and the exam system pretty fair.

Enjoyed the journey…mostly

The common advice is to start taking the exams while in college and try and be done with most of them before getting married.  I started my exams two years after my marriage.  Most of my exams were taken after the birth of my elder son, and the last exam was taken when our younger son was only six months!  This wouldn’t be possible without the support for my wife. However, I would say that I have maintained a steady social life all through this period, and this hasn’t hampered my progress.

Overseas candidate

The Institute has been very flexible and helpful all through my exam journey.  They started a centre inChicagowhich was very convenient for me. I took the exams in five centres inIndiaand two in theUS!   After completing my exams, I had the chance to visit the Staple Inn and receive the fellowship token from the President which will always remain a treasured memory for me (see photo).

An actuarial career

I have just started working as the Head Actuary at Tata AIG General Insurance Company. Before this, my experience has been more in the Consulting space.  Overall, I am very happy with my career-profession-life balance. I see this more as three-pronged thing as there are specific professional requirements that you need to meet as an actuary which are separate from your job requirements. I love attending and speaking at seminars and reading about new developments in the industry.  This academic angle to the profession and the knowledge-sharing between actuaries that go beyond their respective jobs is what I most like about being an actuary.