Forging his own path through the MQF programme

Growing up in a small town on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, Anirudh Somani’s path in life could have been pretty clear-cut — had he chosen to follow it. His parents owned a textile manufacturing business, and they hoped he would follow their footsteps after performing well in school, so as to eventually take over the business.

As it turned out, Anirudh wasn’t very fond of studying, but there was one exception. “I liked math very much,” he remembers. “I felt it was very ‘black and white’; there was always an answer for everything. Even for a very complex math problem, I really enjoyed the journey of decoding and solving the problem.”

As an undergraduate, he majored in management studies, “but it wasn’t my core interest”, Anirudh admits. Then, he learned about the existence of a discipline called actuarial science, which uses mathematical and statistical methods to analyse levels of financial risk. “It was very challenging, very interesting, and resonated strongly with what I wanted to do.”

What happened next was the first step he took that deviated from the path that had been laid out for him. He spoke to his father about studying actuarial science, and although his father was sceptical, he agreed to let his son explore this new path.

Subsequently, instead of joining the family business, Anirudh joined the insurance industry in 2015. He worked in the pricing team of an insurance company, and his work involved handling the mathematical modelling of insurance products, understanding the risk involved, and dealing with internal stakeholders. 

But at that point, he once again felt the urge to explore another path. “I had the feeling that if I stayed on, it would become increasingly difficult to move out of this niche. And I was hungry to learn more.”

His elder brother had graduated from the Master of Science in Applied Finance programme at SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), and Anirudh had heard about the university’s positive attributes from him. After some research, he decided to apply for the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance (MQF) programme at LKCSB. “The programme was exactly what I was looking for. It taught abstract mathematical concepts, as well as the practical application of those concepts in real life. The modules were extremely interesting and challenging.”

The beginning of his studies in Singapore was also the first time he had left India. To pay for his studies and living expenses, he set himself the goal of getting an internship, and managed to do so within a month of arriving in Singapore. He continued this internship, with financial advisory 360F, when he went to London in early 2020 for the portion of the MQF programme that takes place at the city’s Cass Business School.

“I loved my time in London,” he says. “It taught me adaptability, and I was having a great time travelling, exploring, and meeting people.” Then came the Covid-19 pandemic. He flew back to India, continued attending classes online, and continued to work remotely for 360F.

In fact, the internship has since been converted into a full-time job. Currently working as the research lead of an insurtech company based in Singapore, “I am more involved in innovation and disruption that can be brought to the traditional insurance market, dealing with technological solutions backed by mathematical research, and connecting it with the challenges faced by the insurance industry”, he explains. “I have a client-facing role dealing with several clients, and that excites me.”

His MQF experience has proved invaluable for his current responsibilities. “My work revolves a lot around behavioural finance, optimisation and automation. The programme’s training in abstract concepts helped me develop new solutions and challenge existing ones.”

And it seems Anirudh is poised for the next disruption in the insurtech sphere, leveraging on the innovations in financial modelling gleaned from the MQF programme.

“The application part of the course helped me develop my modelling skills while introducing various modelling methodologies,” he adds.

“This proved vital in connecting the abstract concepts to the practical insurance challenges faced in the industry.”