Actuarial Notes

Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA)

Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA)

ASA is the associateship credential of the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the professional body for actuaries working in life insurance, health insurance, pensions and retirement, investments and general risk management. An Associate has completed the SOA's basic education — probability, financial mathematics, statistics for risk modelling, predictive analytics, and short- and long-term actuarial mathematics — together with the e-learning modules and a professionalism course.

It is the first of the two SOA designations; FSA is the second, and it is earned on top of this one.

The SOA and the Casualty Actuarial Society share their first two exams, so the first year or so of study is the same whichever body you end up with. The tracks separate after that: the SOA's route runs through this designation and FSA, the CAS's through ACAS and FCAS into property and casualty work.

Requirements

The ASA pathway

  • VEE — Mathematical Statistics, VEE — Economics, VEE — Accounting and Finance
    • Approved university coursework rather than exams.
  • Exam P — Probability
    • The same paper the CAS calls Exam 1.
  • Exam FM — Financial Mathematics
    • The same paper the CAS calls Exam 2.
  • Exam FAM — Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics
    • Short-term and long-term actuarial mathematics in one exam.
  • Exam SRM — Statistics for Risk Modeling
  • Exam PA — Predictive Analytics
  • Exam ALTAM or Exam ASTAM — Advanced Long-Term or Advanced Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics
    • One or the other, depending on the practice area you are heading for.
  • Modules and e-learning — Pre-Actuarial Foundations (PAF), Actuarial Science Foundations (ASF), Advanced Topics in Predictive Analytics (ATPA), and the Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice (FAP) course
  • Associateship Professionalism Course (APC)

The SOA revises this pathway periodically, and credit for work already completed is carried across by published transition rules — check the current requirements before planning a sitting order.

Further Reading