Actuary (ASA) wants to be a quant

[EmpireState]

I am an ASA with 5 years experience
4.5 years in a actuarial student program........doing valuation work of non traditional products then fixed annuities. Currently I am consultant, working as an illustration tester.

I feel certain about a couple of things : 1) I didn't like actuarial valuation work 2) I want to do the investment track to become an FSA.

I had an information interview about a 1.5 years ago, with someone from an investment bank and the interviewer not only didn't know about actuarial designations asked me two important questions 1) do you have you CFA? 2) do you have your MBA? This only seems to suggest that actuaries don't hold much weight outside of insurance companies where they are treated like "kings"

I have done research on MFE, I have looked at the syllabus of some of the classes.........and it kind of irks me to find that the material is very similar to that of the investment track in Actuarial Science. The texts books prescribed are the same.

Putting all the above together I am left with questions that I am seeking advice on
1) Career switch : Do an MFE, seek a quant job? The field is such a vast one, it is hard to nail down a specific role. I love programming (and I am good at it), I love problem solving type work, I have good experience modelling liabilities

2) Career continuation : become an FSA and somehow break into the quant world(to do non insurance related work). The ideal place for me to me to work leading up to my FSA would be a hedging/ALM department in an insurance company, but like the investment world, these types of positions are hard to get into

3) Do a MFE, leverage actuarial designation/experience and aim for a quantitative position in a bank,hedge fund etc utilizing insurance knowledge.

Any suggestions , criticisms are encourages and welcomed


I thought I would attach the syllabus for 2 of the investment track exams for the SOA

 

[C S]

Taking a class can't really be compared to taking an exam with well-known study guides. I took several actuarial exams and also took MFE classes and I know which were harder.

MFE requirements are pretty minimal though. To get the really good quant jobs requires a lot more, whereas I'm fairly certain (having known others that followed the actuarial track), it's not too difficult to make a very good career as an actuary (at least as far as technical skills go... I'll allow soft skills are deserving of notice and some quants are missing those completely).

All the paths you suggest are viable, as you know. The choice really depends on your risk appetite and how you are best fulfilled.