Probability for Risk Management

I just got this book last week, I had previously decided to find a cheaper statistics/probability book that was cheaper but I finally came to my senses and just got something that was recommended for the Actuary Exam. I am not that far into the book but I am seriously loving it. It's so easy to read, it doesn't feel at all like a text book! If you don't have strong statistics and probability background this is the book you need. The authors go things at a level that is really easy to understand! Loving this book!

This is an excelent book for students who are looking for a first course in probability. Hasset and Stewart wrote this book with the student/reader in mind; they use a lot of real life examples and teach you how to use technology. Actually you can replicate their examples using a spreadsheet or an advanced calculator and have a feeling of real ownership of the subject. You perceive that they are always interested in the student learning process. The authors tell you what really matters and what is less important or should be left to more advanced books. I found excelent the way the Bayes theorem is explained. Once you read carefully this book and you did all the exercises (there is a solution manual available separately) you can move to more advanced probability books.

I passed the SoA/CAS Course 1/Exam 1 with this book and then got an actuarial position immediately after that (so, I guess, the actuarial exams and being an actuary ARE at my level). It is exactly at the level of understanding needed to pass the exam, no more, no less. After all, your goal is just to pass; that is it. My only admonishment is that it should not be your only source of study for probability for the exam: the exam questions are too unpredictable for that. If used in conjunction with past exams, though, you should succeed.I took an honors course in probability in college using Ross's book. It was useless (so was the class) and is totally inappropriate for the exam. It routinely used distributions (e.g., Pareto, lognormal) in its questions that if they EVER show up on an exam, you can pass if you skip them.I also bought Probability: Science of Uncertainty. I will not go so far as to call it a waste of money, but it only added perspective to my studies, not knowledge. Its practice questions were also not very helpful.If you are studying for an actuarial exam, Probability for Risk Management will get you there. After the first eleven chapters you will be able to understand the solutions to the past exam problems, which is where most of your study time should be spent anyway. Of the books on the syllabus, this is the one to buy.

I bought this book to prepare for the first actuarial exam. The authors have written a book that is easy to follow and understand without a great deal of theory. The problems are not impossible, and the solutions to all of them are in the back of the book, not just the odd-numbered ones. If you are studying for Exam 1 and you are looking for a probability book, this is the one for you.