Master of Actuarial and Financial Engineering

This Master’s program prepares you for a wide array of careers in actuarial science, financial engineering, or quantitative risk management in financial institutions. You will learn to construct robust risk models and integrate techniques to report the results of your in-depth analysis, you will study the quantitative instruments necessary to analyze vital contemporary issues.

This is an English-taught programme of 120 ECTS which prepares students for careers in actuarial science, financial engineering, or quantitative risk management within financial institutions.

This master's program brings:

• Basic training in actuarial engineering, insurance, financial products, financial mathematics and engineering, data analytics for finance and insurance, risk management for financial institutions
• Advanced courses showing the latest developments in the field
• A blend of theoretical coursework and computational training
• An introduction to practical aspects, through the straight-from-the-frontline experience of our staff, guest lecturers, and an internship (6 ECTS)
• A multidisciplinary approach, where technical, quantitative courses come along with coursework in (financial and insurance) regulation, prudential regimes, economics, and reporting.

Forms of instruction

• Lectures (including web lectures), guest lectures by professionals working in practice, computer labs in R, Python, and Matlab, and paper-based exercises, classroom and home assignments

The master's program is jointly organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) and the Faculty of Sciences (Department of Mathematics). The majority of classes are organized at FEB in the historical center of Leuven.

Duration: 2 years (full time), 120 ECTS

EEA nationals and non-EEA nationals who reside in Belgium under a valid residence permit can follow less than 60 ECTS per academic year and accordingly spread their studies in several years. This possibility needs to be discussed with a study career consultant. Note that there are no part-time, evening, or weekend courses organized for this category of students.

Actuarial Engineering: Life, Health, and Pensions (18 ECTS)

• Life Insurance Mathematics
• Actuarial Mathematics for Pensions
• Advanced Life Insurance Mathematics

Actuarial Engineering: Data Science Methods (12 ECTS)

• Loss Models
• Data Science for Non-Life Insurance

Risk Engineering (18 ECTS)

• Risk Management in Financial Institutions
• Statistical Tools for Quantitative Risk Management
• Foundations of Quantitative Risk Measurement

Financial Engineering (12 ECTS)

• Fundamentals of Financial Mathematics
• Financial Engineering

Regulation (10-12 ECTS)

• Solvency of Financial Institutions
• Electives: European Financial Regulation / European Insurance Law / Inleiding tot het verzekeringsrecht

Master's Thesis (24 ECTS)

Electives (24-26 ECTS), Including

• Courses Organized Along the Same 5 Topics
• An Internship, a Summer School, or a Project in Collaboration with Our Research Center LRisk for 6 ECTS.
• The Electives Include Courses Offered by Our Partner Institutions Université Catholique de Louvain and Université Libre de Bruxelles. As Such, an Exchange Within Belgium While Studying at KU Leuven Can Be Realized.

If your mind is on applying tools and models from mathematics and statistics to real-world economic and financial problems, then this program may be the right one for you. If you want to learn more about data science and analytics and how these tools are used in insurance and finance, we have some relevant coursework and expertise to share with you. The program prepares students for careers in financial institutions which involve analytics and quantitative risk measurement. Graduates from the program are employed with insurance companies, banks, pension funds, consultants, or governmental institutions where they are involved in a variety of analytic tasks, including (but not limited to) product development and pricing, solvency calculations, risk management, employee benefit calculations, asset and liability management,… Moreover, the degree of MSc in Actuarial and Financial Engineering gives access to the Institute of Actuaries in Belgium, the professional association of actuaries in Belgium.

Students and young graduates can consult relevant job vacancies and internships with the help of our online career platform Career Corner. You will also have the opportunity to meet potential employers at job and internship fairs organized throughout the year and during campus recruitment activities.

The courses are fully taught in English and also available in Dutch.

• Credits: 120 ECTS
• Degree Type: Master
• Specifications: Master of Science.

What sets us apart as a university?

A highly-ranked university

KU Leuven is among the best 100 universities in the world according to both Times Higher Education World Rankings and QS World University Rankings. All of KU Leuven’s disciplines proudly belong to the top 100 of their field. Furthermore, KU Leuven was ranked by Reuters as the most innovative university in Europe in 2016.

Research-based education

Education at KU Leuven is research-based, which means students will learn from the same professors who are performing the ground-breaking research you read about in the press. New insights are instantly integrated into classes and students are encouraged to perform their research. In our FabLab, students can use several high-tech machines to create whatever they want – all free of charge.

Affordable tuition fees

Higher education is highly valued in Belgium and therefore subsidised by the government. This allows KU Leuven to keep tuition fees relatively low, which gives you a price/quality ratio very few top-100 universities can match. We take pride in keeping our programs as accessible as possible to allow the brightest students from around the globe to join our courses.

International student life with respect for diversity

According to Times Higher Education, KU Leuven is in the top 50 of most international universities worldwide with staff and students from over 150 different nationalities. For all our international students, the Pangaea student center is their home away from home. Our university also strives for diversity and inclusion and wants to work together on a pact for more respect.

Learn more about why you should choose KU Leuven.

KU Leuven combines the best of both worlds by hosting both online and live info sessions. You choose how, where and when to get your information in your search for the right program

KU Leuven is among the best 100 universities in the world according to both Times Higher Education World Rankings and QS World University Rankings. All of KU Leuven’s disciplines proudly belong to the top 100 of their field. Furthermore, KU Leuven was ranked by Reuters as the most innovative university in Europe in 2016.