Faculty of Actuaries

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The Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland is the professional body representing actuaries in Scotland. The Faculty of Actuaries is one of two actuarial bodies in the UK, the other is the Institute of Actuaries, which is a separate body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. While the Faculty of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries are separate institutions, they work very closely together, and the professional qualifications and professional standards for actuaries are identical in each of them.

1 Establishment of the Faculty of Actuaries
2 Examinations
- 2.1 Core examinations
- 2.2 Specialist examinations
3 List of Examinations
4 Exemptions from Examinations
5 Membership Categories
6 Presidents of the Faculty of Actuaries
7 Notes and references
8 External links

[edit] Establishment of the Faculty of Actuaries

The Faculty of Actuaries was founded by 38 Scottish actuaries on the 4th of January 1856 with the aim of representing the interests of actuaries practicing in Scotland.

In September 1868, the Faculty of Actuaries became the first actuarial organisation to be granted a royal charter. The Royal Charter confirmed the Faculty's role and the right to confer qualifications, i.e. the Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA). Since then there has been an underpinning concept of professional behaviour and the implicit right, or even duty, to discipline members who did not conduct themselves appropriately.

On 17th March 2008 a requisition for a Special General Meeting (SGM) was handed in to the Faculty of Actuaries. This requisition was signed by four past presidents of the Faculty and three professors of Heriot-Watt University. The requisition requested that four resolutions be placed before the SGM, including directing Faculty Council to arrange detailed consultation on all three main options outlined by the Faculty Task Force in its Report and to replace the proposed in-principle vote with a vote based on each of the three options in the Report of the Faculty Task Force, with the option receiving most votes to be taken forward by Council. The SGM was held on 16th April 2008 and 137 eligible voters were present. The voting on each resolution was as follows:

Resolution 1: 61% for, 38% against, 1% abstained.
Resolution 2: withdrawn as having already been complied with.
Resolution 3: 58% for, 42% against, 1% abstained (possible rounding error).
Resolution 4: 53% for, 47% against.

The Faculty's slogan is "Making financial sense of the future."

[edit] Examinations

Qualification through the Faculty consists of a combination of examinations and courses. The examinations can only be taken upon having officially joined the body, unlike many other countries where exams may be taken earlier; although a candidate may offer proof of having previously covered topics (usually while at University) in order to be exempt from taking certain subjects.

The examinations are split into four sections: Core Technical (CT), Core Applications (CA), Specialist Technical (ST), and Specialist Applications (SA). Study material for the examinations is usually obtained through the official bookshop of the Faculty of Actuaries ^[1] or through the Actuarial Education Company (ActEd) ^[2], a subsidiary of BPP Actuarial Education Ltd.

In addition to examinations and courses, it is required that the candidate both complete at least three years work as an actuary and be at least 23 years of age, for one to qualify as a “Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries” (FFA) ^[3]

[edit] Core examinations

The Core Technical section consists of the 8 exams and a “Business Awareness Module,” CT9. These are usually first sat by a candidate and include the underlying mathematics involved in actuarial work as well as an introduction to financial and economic issues. These are also the most common exams for which candidates may get exemptions. While these are the first exams, candidates coming from a less mathematical background often find these more difficult than the later ones due to the mathematical theory content. Topics covered include annuities, stochastic modelling, time series, and triangles.

The Core Applications section consists of two exams and a modeling course, CA2, that focus on the application of concepts learned, especially to insurance companies. This includes the communications model, CA3, which tests the candidate on their ability to communicate complex actuarial concepts to others.

[edit] Specialist examinations

The Specialist Technical section represents the first time the candidate has a choice of which exams to take. The candidate chooses two from the various actuarial specialist subjects i.e. Health and Care, Life Insurance, General Insurance, Pensions, Finance or Investments and further technical knowledge on said subjects is attained.

The Specialist Applications section allows the candidate to choose one area for which they take the SA paper and attain full Fellowship; leading to many referring to this as the “Fellowship paper.” However, as the rules on the ordering of examinations are relaxed, this examination may be taken before taking some earlier examinations resulting in candidates qualifying on other papers.

[edit] List of Examinations

[edit] Core Technical Stage

CT1 - Financial Mathematics
CT2 - Finance and Financial Reporting
CT3 - Probability and Mathematical Statistics
CT4 - Models
CT5 - Contingencies
CT6 - Statistical Methods
CT7 - Economics
CT8 - Financial Economics
CT9 - Business Awareness Module

[edit] Core Applications Stage

CA1 - Core Applications Concepts
CA2 - Modelling
CA3 - Communications

[edit] Specialist Technical Stage

ST0 - Alternative Specialist Technical
ST1 - Health and Care Specialist Technical
ST2 - Life Insurance Specialist Technical
ST3 - General Insurance Specialist Technical
ST4 - Pensions and other Benefits Specialist Technical
ST5 - Finance and Investment Specialist Technical A
ST6 - Finance and Investment Specialist Technical B

[edit] Specialist Applications Stage

SA0 - Research Dissertation Specialist Applications
SA1 - Health and Care Specialist Applications
SA2 - Life Insurance Specialist Applications
SA3 - General Insurance Specialist Applications
SA4 - Pensions and other Benefits Specialist Applications
SA5 - Finance Specialist Applications
SA6 - Investment Specialist Applications

[edit] UK Practice Modules

for students working in the UK only

P0 - Generic UK Practice Half Module
P1 - Health and Care
P2 - Life Insurance
P3 - General Insurance
P4 - Pensions
P5 - Finance
P6 - Investment

[edit] Exemptions from Examinations

A student may choose to complete an accredited actuarial science degree at an undergraduate or at a postgraduate level through a number of recognised universities. Successful students may offer proof of having covered the topics whilst at university and students may be granted exemptions from certain professional examinations from the Institute of Actuaries.

Depending on the University, a different number of courses may be recognised for exemption. The examinations and the exemption pass level for the examinations is usually externalised by members of the Faculty and/or Institute of Actuaries.

Naturally, the quality of the courses and lecturing at these universities are a determinant as to whether the course is recognised by the Faculty of Actuaries.

Most universities offering actuarial science courses also require the student in addition to complete various other related topics, including statistics, mathematics, applied mathematics, economics and accounting for recognition of an actuarial degree.

Upon completion of the university degree, students would then complete all remaining examinations through the Faculty of Actuaries to qualify as an actuary and become a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries(FFA).

Universities offering accredited actuarial courses include:

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA

BULAWAYO NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ZIMBABWE

DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY, IRELAND

CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL, ENGLAND

CITY UNIVERSITY, ENGLAND

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY (EDINBURGH), SCOTLAND

IMPERIAL COLLEGE (LONDON) TANAKA BUSINESS SCHOOL, ENGLAND

LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, ENGLAND

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY (SYDNEY), AUSTRALIA

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, SINGAPORE

NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY (POTCHEFSTROOM), SOUTH AFRICA

STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY, SOUTH AFRICA

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY, WALES

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK, IRELAND

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, IRELAND

UNIVERSITY OF KENT AT CANTERBURY, ENGLAND

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (SYDNEY), AUSTRALIA

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND

UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE (BLOEMFONTEIN), SOUTH AFRICA

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND (JOHANNESBURG), SOUTH AFRICA

Other qualifications recognised by the Faculty of Actuaries for exemption from certain examinations include:

ACCA Qualification
Chartered Financial Analyst (formerly membership of the Association for Investment Management and Research)
Fellowship of the Chartered Insurance Institute
Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland
MBA

[edit] Membership Categories

In total there are approximately 2500 members of the Faculty of Actuaries falling into the following categories. ^[4]

Student actuaries are members of the Institute who are taking exams;

Associates are members who have completed both the CT and CA subjects and have completed one

year's worth of relevant work-based skills experience;

Affiliates are members of the Faculty of Actuaries who are kept up-to-date with the developments within the Actuarial Profession through publications and affiliates are able to participate in meetings, research and conferences;

Fellows are full members of the Institute who have met the training demands by both completing all the examinations and meeting the work experience requirements. Fellows have the right to call themselves 'Actuaries'. There are about 1300 fellows of the Faculty of Actuaries.

Honorary Fellows are voted on by the Council as whom they feel appears to be able to render assistance in promoting the objects of the Faculty and who is not professionally engaged in practice as an actuary.