Predicting the future with math: actuaries and risk experts who measure what could go wrong and how much it would cost.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Actuary: Uses math and statistics to predict the cost of future risks, like how long people will live or how many cars will crash, so insurers can set prices. Typical pay $126k.
Chief Actuary: The top actuary at an insurance company, responsible for pricing, reserves and telling regulators the company can pay its claims. Typical pay $300k.
Pension Actuary: Calculates how much money companies and governments must save today to pay retirees' pensions decades from now. Typical pay $135k.
Chief Risk Officer: The executive responsible for spotting and limiting everything that could seriously hurt a bank or company. Typical pay $300k.
Catastrophe Modeler: Builds computer simulations of hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires to estimate how much insurers could lose. Typical pay $115k.
Market Risk Manager: Measures how much money a bank or fund could lose if markets move against it, and sets limits on traders. Typical pay $155k.
Model Risk / Validation Analyst: Checks the math in a bank's risk and AI models to make sure they aren't wrong in dangerous ways. Typical pay $140k.
Enterprise Risk Manager: Tracks every major risk a company faces (cyber, legal, supply, financial) and helps leaders plan for them. Typical pay $125k.
Corporate Risk & Insurance Manager: Buys insurance for a big company and handles its biggest claims and safety programs. Typical pay $120k.
Insurance Data Scientist: Builds machine-learning models to price insurance, catch fraud and predict claims. Typical pay $130k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Financial Risk Analyst: Analyzes risks that could cause a bank or company to lose money, from bad loans to market swings. Typical pay $106k.
Credit Risk Analyst: Studies how many of a bank's loans could go bad and sets rules to keep losses down. Typical pay $95k.
Operational Risk Analyst: Looks for things that could go wrong inside a bank, like system failures, fraud or human error. Typical pay $88k.
Actuarial Analyst: An early-career actuary who runs data and models while studying for professional exams. Typical pay $82k.
Climate Risk Analyst: Measures how floods, heat, fires and climate rules could hurt the value of loans, buildings and investments. Typical pay $100k.
Third-Party Risk Analyst: Checks that a company's suppliers and vendors won't expose it to hacking, fraud or failure. Typical pay $85k.
Actuarial Technician: Prepares data and reports for actuaries without taking the professional exams. Typical pay $55k.
Starter: fastest way in
Risk & Insurance Coordinator: Tracks insurance certificates, claims and paperwork for a company's risk team. Typical pay $52k.
Insurance Rating Technician: Enters data and calculates prices for insurance policies using rating systems. Typical pay $48k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.