Category Archives: Actuarial Exams

NEW Professionalism exams for Actuaries

Posted on 12 December 2011 | Leave a comment

A meeting was held for CPD Co-ordinators to introduce the new way of examining professionalism for actuaries. Initially only those who join the Institute after May 2012 will be subject to the new exam and those within 6 years of joining or who qualify whichever is first. No decision has been made about how to examine experienced fellows.

As this years chairman of the Argonauts Actuarial dining Club, I am delighted our concerns (and lobbying) have been taken into account. Having an online exam takes away the requirement for those not in traditional actuarial employment to take a days holiday to sit an exam. It will also Im sure be welcomed by those in traditional organisations that the exam can now be taken in what would otherwise be wasted time such as waiting at airports.
The on-line exam has had input on the technical side from Leeds University’s ethics dept.

Going forward I would like to see more emphasis in the other exams and tutoring on the long term consequences of decisions-especially those in the public interest. Traditionally actuaries dealt with pensions and life assurance which automatically made them think of long-term consequences-now that they have moved into wider fields more emphasis must be brought to bear on this during their training.

Dr. Geraldine Kaye

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Actuarial Qualifications, International, news

Tagged actuarial profession, CPD, examination, Professionalism, Society of Actuaries

Argonauts Dinner at Painters’ Hall

Posted on 7 November 2011 | Leave a comment

The first Argonauts Meeting of this year, with myself as chairman, was recently held at Painters’ Hall.

There were two speakers; the first, Andre Kerr, is an RAF pilot who is taking the actuarial exams as a hobby and he gave the most wonderful speech on ‘Supersonic Risk Management’. The highlight for me was when he told us about trying to get the Institute to approve his taking an exam whilst he was stationed in Afghanistan; knowing the enormous number of regulations regarding which calculator you can take into an exam, he was concerned about how they would react to the fact that he would need to keep his gun with him, in fact they provided no restrictions for him.

Our second speaker was Richard Cousins of PwC. He started his speech on ‘Working as a credit advisor’ by saying that Andrew was a hard act to follow, in this case this was a very true statement but he performed admirably.

After the dinner, more people stayed for longer for drinks than I have ever known at an Argonauts dinner before. All crowded around our guest speaker.

The next Argonauts meeting will be at Tallow Chandlers Hall and the final meeting of the year will be held at The Ivy. I’m only chair for a year but if it were up to me we would almost definitely use Painters Hall again next year.

For more information about joining The Argonauts, contact Heath Mottram, the Honorary Secretary.

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Networking, news, Risk, Wider Fields

Tagged Argonauts, Painters' Hall, Pilot, RAF, Tallow Chandlers Hall, The Ivy

Letter of the Month: Women in the Profession

Posted on 2 October 2011 | Leave a comment

The following letter by Dr Geraldine Kaye, MD of GAAPS was published as Letter of the Month in this month’s issue of The Actuary Magazine

Women in the Profession
In response to your invitation for feedback on the introduction of the page dedicated to the profession’s female actuaries, I write as one of the first ever female actuaries to qualify in the UK — I was within the first 20. Times have moved on, or so I had thought.

Reading The Actuary magazine and coming across a special page for women in our professional magazine seems demeaning. Non-professional issues are, in my opinion, dealt with perfectly adequately elsewhere. On a professional level, there are no differences between men and women in the actuarial profession. We have taken and passed the same exams.

A page dedicated to female actuaries seems not only superfluous, given today’s heavily legislated business conduct stipulated against gender bias, but comes across as patronising towards achievements from both genders. Surely what is achieved by both male and female actuaries are celebrated on the same page. No doubt, with careful forethought, a note that has been included to encompass male interest, seems to contradict the point of a page dedicated to women in the first place?

This may be a ‘call to action’ page for women to participate in the opportunities increasingly available to them worldwide, but surely a way to address issues and celebrate women in the actuarial profession should not be narrowed down in drawing a deliberate line to differentiate gender achievements in the actuarial industry when we are trying to achieve equality?
G. Kaye
8 September 2011

Editor’s comment:
Helen Crofts’ suggestion to have a women’s page in the magazine was widely debated and  I sought the views of the editorial advisory panel and other actuaries — male and female. There was no consensus view. The aim of the page was to have a home for resources related to women in business. In the spirit of sharing information that was indicated to be of interest to at least some of the readership, across the gender spectrum, I suggested a trial page with the aim of gauging feedback from readers. I have since received mixed feedback, from males and females alike, and I thank you for taking the time to write in.

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Actuarial Qualifications, Letters, news

Tagged actuarial, Actuary, Equality, Feminism, Gender

Congratulations!!

Posted on 14 July 2011 | Leave a comment

Congratulations to everyone who passed the actuarial exams.

The exam results are published on The Actuarial Profession website .

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, news

Tagged actuarial, actuarial exams, congratulations

What Skills Do You Need to Become an Actuary?

Posted on 25 April 2011 | Leave a comment

Ideally you should be studying for a degree with significant mathematical content; statistics, maths, engineering, science and economics are all ideal subjects. The advice that I was given as a student, and that I still give whenever speaking to students today, is to study a subject that you enjoy. You are better with a good class of degree than a poor degree and some exemptions, and you are more likely to do well at something you enjoy.

Tenacity is essential, as the actuarial exams are demanding. To be accepted as an actuarial student usually demonstrates that you have the ability to qualify. The two reasons for not qualifying are that a) the student ‘learns well how to fail’ and gives up, or b) gives up, albeit for some wholly justifiable reasons (such people are often referred to as ‘unqualified successes’).

In theory, exemptions make it easier to qualify, but you need practical experience in an office in order to integrate the theoretical knowledge and to learn the jargon. Take advantage of the long summer holidays before you graduate to gain as broad a range of experience as possible.

Actuaries need good communication skills. It used to be said that you know you are talking to an extrovert actuary because they look at your shoes rather than their own when they speak. This is no longer true. As an actuary you will often need to explain complex technical information to non-technical audiences.

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Actuarial Qualifications

Tagged Exams, exemptions, graduates, studying

Actuarial Skills Travel Well

Posted on 18 April 2011 | Leave a comment

The actuarial qualification is one of the most mobile of qualifications because the IAA Education Syllabus and Guidelines ensure that the same 10 subject areas are covered to an appropriate depth by all actuarial education systems.

Once qualified there are bilateral agreements for the mutual recognition of qualifications with the institutes of India, South Africa, Canada, the USA, Australia and Japan. There is also a multi-lateral mutual recognition agreement covering all member associations of the Groupe Consultatif of the EU. Additionally, the actuarial profession is the first to have a single global qualification – CERA (Chartered Risk Enterprise Actuary).

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Actuarial Qualifications, International

Tagged Actuarial Education, Bilateral Agreements, Education Syllabus and Guidelines, IAA

Student Calendar – Actuarial Timetable

Posted on 31 March 2011 | Leave a comment

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has published a timetable of events for the examinations and education year.

We hope that this link will be useful for those of you who are currently studying for your actuarial exams.

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Posted in Actuarial Exams, Great Links

Tagged actuarial students, Exams, Part qualified actuary, Timetable

Do You Want To Be An Actuary?

Posted on 28 March 2011 | Leave a comment

The graduate recruitment market is at its most competitive for years. At GAAPS Actuarial Graduate Division, we are dedicated to getting your actuarial career off to a flying start.

We want you to get that first step on the actuarial ladder absolutely right. We will do everything to ensure you are happy with the position and company.

We understand your problems and issues: loans, salary expectations, a bewildering array of companies, maybe even work permits.

Our experience and contacts within universities, as well as with our graduate recruitment clients, means we chart the way for you to sail into your first job.

We place graduates, part-qualified and qualified actuaries all over the world, so whether you want the UK, Europe, Australasia, the Far East or South Africa, look no further than us!