The remember this tidbit from college, where actuarial studies was ranked as the highest earning qualifications. I think this comes down to a combination of (1

The remember this tidbit from college, where actuarial studies was ranked as the highest earning qualifications. I think this comes down to a combination of (1) being relatively difficult and/or esoteric, so the pool of people is small and (2) having a strong guild structure which ensures a "market" structure that favours qualified) chartered individuals. Apart from being operationally important, actuaries are part of insurance companies CYA. Ultimately, even today, when a profession can impose structure on itself (eg lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc.) that both admits/certifies a limited number of professionals and requires certified professionals for certain tasks... It still tends to work out well for members. For the most part this is legacy, and is found in older professions. If insurance was invented today, actuaries would probably be data scientists.