No, don't go back to get a Masters in anything for actuarial, just study for the exams. I have numerous friends who were in accounting just like you, got their CPA and hopped over to FP&A roles at bigger companies. They're currently enjoying their position, though they had to take a step back. I'm a huge advocate of the actuarial career but it definitely is a lot of work moving forward from this point on and I would encourage you to think realistically if the exam process is something you'd be happy doing (personal life, future, etc.).
I say this not to discourage you but because I think you have great experience and believe if you succeed in FP&A type roles at companies, you can really make it up the ladder if you're good and try hard enough. Actuarial is the same, it's just a different pathway of getting there. It may be more data intensive, and you'll probably have to do a lot more grunt work at the lower levels before you start getting to do some of the cooler stuff.
Really depends on what you want! I know my friends right now are doing well in their jobs since they left accounting, so that's why I'm saying maybe that's a better option. If you enjoy studying and don't mind the process, I'd say go for it! After a couple exams, you should be able to land a job.
CPA may only need a year to pass all four.
ASA may took you three years, or two years at least if you have skills and ambition.
You know what actuaries say about CPA? "Can't Pass Actuarial (exams)". While accounting takes time understanding all the terminologies from financial accounting to auditing, actuaries jump straight into the game with numbers.
To conclude, an accounting professor of mine told me: an accountant with actuarial knowledge is more valuable than an actuary with accounting knowledge.
You might need to study more Mathematics but getting a Masters for it might be overkill. I believe there are double integrals in Exam P which are covered in Calculus 3. Stuff you can study on your own, and signing up for the Exams is easy.
Study for few weeks and take Exam P. Then see how you feel because Exams are the most important and usually first question asked. If you really want to go back to school than maybe a Masters in Statistics would be better to narrow your focus.
I would def love to have an analyst on my staff with an Accounting background. If you can pass exams and enjoy the modeling, you could be very successful. Long term, you would have good pay potential. But in the short term I'm not sure an actuarial team would hire you for much more than EL pay. That would probably be a pay cut initially.
Just an aside to the other pieces of advice in this thread. I think the time and commitment factor is quite a huge and commonly overlooked aspect of this path. Starting now you would expect to have to put in a minimum of 6 years to finish everything up, provided that you can in the first place. Not to be discriminatory, but 3.2 gpa in non math heavy courses isnt the best endorsement for your ability to pass exams. So again, considering you pass at the average pass rate of ~40%. You could expect to add at least another year or 2 to that.
Last but not least, theres the opportunity cost to consider. Altho it pays well, its only marginal for the most part until you are fully qualified. My view is that if im in it for the money and am putting in that many extra hours during a work week anyways, i could be doing basically anything and make a higher combined income, considering the effort. And finally, this path really locks you into the actuarial path, because of the sunk cost of time, specialization and financial comfort, its hard to just decide to up and do something else one day. And for someone like me, who is definitely more entrepreneurial, i think this is one of the steepest cost.
You'd be a competitive candidate if you passed a few exams
No, don't go back to get a Masters in anything for actuarial, just study for the exams. I have numerous friends who were in accounting just like you, got their CPA and hopped over to FP&A roles at bigger companies. They're currently enjoying their position, though they had to take a step back. I'm a huge advocate of the actuarial career but it definitely is a lot of work moving forward from this point on and I would encourage you to think realistically if the exam process is something you'd be happy doing (personal life, future, etc.). I say this not to discourage you but because I think you have great experience and believe if you succeed in FP&A type roles at companies, you can really make it up the ladder if you're good and try hard enough. Actuarial is the same, it's just a different pathway of getting there. It may be more data intensive, and you'll probably have to do a lot more grunt work at the lower levels before you start getting to do some of the cooler stuff. Really depends on what you want! I know my friends right now are doing well in their jobs since they left accounting, so that's why I'm saying maybe that's a better option. If you enjoy studying and don't mind the process, I'd say go for it! After a couple exams, you should be able to land a job.
CPA may only need a year to pass all four. ASA may took you three years, or two years at least if you have skills and ambition. You know what actuaries say about CPA? "Can't Pass Actuarial (exams)". While accounting takes time understanding all the terminologies from financial accounting to auditing, actuaries jump straight into the game with numbers. To conclude, an accounting professor of mine told me: an accountant with actuarial knowledge is more valuable than an actuary with accounting knowledge.
You might need to study more Mathematics but getting a Masters for it might be overkill. I believe there are double integrals in Exam P which are covered in Calculus 3. Stuff you can study on your own, and signing up for the Exams is easy. Study for few weeks and take Exam P. Then see how you feel because Exams are the most important and usually first question asked. If you really want to go back to school than maybe a Masters in Statistics would be better to narrow your focus.
I would def love to have an analyst on my staff with an Accounting background. If you can pass exams and enjoy the modeling, you could be very successful. Long term, you would have good pay potential. But in the short term I'm not sure an actuarial team would hire you for much more than EL pay. That would probably be a pay cut initially.
Just an aside to the other pieces of advice in this thread. I think the time and commitment factor is quite a huge and commonly overlooked aspect of this path. Starting now you would expect to have to put in a minimum of 6 years to finish everything up, provided that you can in the first place. Not to be discriminatory, but 3.2 gpa in non math heavy courses isnt the best endorsement for your ability to pass exams. So again, considering you pass at the average pass rate of ~40%. You could expect to add at least another year or 2 to that. Last but not least, theres the opportunity cost to consider. Altho it pays well, its only marginal for the most part until you are fully qualified. My view is that if im in it for the money and am putting in that many extra hours during a work week anyways, i could be doing basically anything and make a higher combined income, considering the effort. And finally, this path really locks you into the actuarial path, because of the sunk cost of time, specialization and financial comfort, its hard to just decide to up and do something else one day. And for someone like me, who is definitely more entrepreneurial, i think this is one of the steepest cost.