Field Work: Designing a Professionalising Master’s Degree in Honduras

Abstract

The Actuary is a professional risk manager who estimates the proba bility of occurrence of a future event. They value and design products to reduce their negative impact. Actuarial training is internationally regulated, leading to a consensus of required competencies and skills in professional practice. It is a glob ally recognised profession that can be obtained through higher education or through professional qualifications awarded by actuarial organisations or by governments themselves. Its main activity focuses on social welfare, both public and private, as well as risk control of the financial and insurance system. However, not all countries have sufficient infrastructure to offer programmes for the training of actuaries. This is the aim of this chapter: to establish the key to the success that has enabled the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras to design and implement the MSc. in Actuarial Science, which enables the professional qualification of Actuary. The methodology used follows the regulations of the leading actuarial associations. At the national level, the regulations that define the actions to be taken by the graduate with this qualification are taken into account. These regulations define the minimum knowledge that the professional must have, its recognition, as well as the type of activity that can be carried out. As a result, the perception of the main stakeholders in Honduras has been collected, highlighting the high perception of the quality of design, as well as a high demand for the first promotion of this professional university degree. However, mechanisms are needed to certify that the professional skills are those required by the previous institutions. This delimits the need to build a quality assurance system on the profile of the graduate on the part of Honduras’ society.