Financial Mathematics for Actuaries

By Prof. Neelesh S. Upadhye, Prof. Pramod Kumar Naik | IIT Madras

Learners enrolled: 684 | Exam registration: 125

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Financial Mathematics for Actuaries introduces students to the fundamental principles of interest theory and time-value of money. The course equips learners with tools to analyze and solve problems involving accumulation, discounting, annuities, loans, bonds, and duration. Emphasis is placed on both conceptual understanding and practical problem-solving aligned with professional actuarial standards. By the end, students will be prepared to apply these concepts in finance, actuarial practice, and risk management contexts.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Upper‑UG students in Mathematics/Statistics/Economics/CS; actuarial aspirants; early‑career analysts.

PREREQUISITES: Level 12th, Mathematics (basic level)

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Insurance and reinsurance (LIC, GIC Re, Swiss Re), actuarial consulting (EY, Deloitte, PwC), analytics/KPO firms (Genpact, EXL).

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Mathematics
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Time value of money; accumulation & discount factors.

Week 2: Nominal vs effective rates; force of interest.

Week 3: Equations of value; unknown n / i problems.

Week 4: Level annuities-immediate &-due; present vs accumulated value.

Week 5: Level annuities-immediate &-due; present vs accumulated value.

Week 6: Varying annuities (increasing/decreasing, arithmetic & geometric progression); deferred annuities.

Week 7: Loan amortisation: level payment schedules, interest-first vs principal-first methods.

Week 8: Sinking funds; outstanding balance by prospective & retrospective methods.

Week 9: Bond basics: price, redemption amount, coupon, book value; premium/discount theorems.

Week 10: Yield-to-maturity; callable bonds introduction.

Week 11: Duration and modified duration; convexity preview; immunisation intuition.

Week 12: Integrated review

Books and references

Ross, S. M. (2011). An Elementary Introduction to Mathematical Finance.

United States: Cambridge University Press.

Instructor bio

Prof. Neelesh S. Upadhye

IIT Madras

Prof. Neelesh S Upadhye is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras. His teaching and research span probability, statistics, time series, and actuarial/financial mathematics, with a focus on translating academic ideas into practice.

Prof. Pramod Kumar Naik

Dr. Pramod Kumar Naik is an Assistant Professor (Level 13A1) of Economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras. Prior to joining IIT Madras, he served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Central University of Rajasthan, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay.

Dr. Naik has been invited as a resource person for several faculty development programs and workshops. He has taught a wide range of courses, including Fundamentals of Finance, Macroeconomics, Mathematical Economics, Quantitative Economics, and Econometrics at the Central University of Rajasthan. At IIT Madras, he has been teaching Money, Banking, and Financial Markets as well as Macroeconomics over the past three years.

His research interests span Financial Economics, Stock Market Volatility, Corporate Finance, Behavioral Finance, Banking, Insurance, and Valuation of Markets and Firms. He has published numerous research papers in reputed national and international journals, such as Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Review of Accounting and Finance, Journal of Developing Areas, International Journal of Accounting and Finance, International Journal of Management Practice, Global Business Review, Indian Economic Journal, Indian Journal of Finance, and Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 26, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team