Actuarial Notes

Course on Professionalism

The Course on Professionalism (COP) is required for the ACAS. It is designed to make the candidate aware of the requirements of the CAS and the American Academy of Actuaries regarding the conduct of the actuary in the performance of their duties. There is no exam: a candidate earns the credit by completing the preliminary requirements, then attending and actively participating in the full course.

About the course

The CAS offers courses on a first-come, first-served basis, prioritized by exam progress, in February, June, August and December. The February and August courses run only when demand calls for them. A virtual course is offered in June for candidates with extenuating circumstances that make travel to an in-person course difficult, and the CAS also runs an Asia virtual COP.

To register for the Asia virtual COP (October 2026), a candidate needed credit for any six actuarial exams in the 2026 education structure if they held Exam 3F credit, or any five if they did not. DISC and VEE status didn't count either way, and a Fellow of another organization applying for mutual recognition was also eligible. The exams counted are Exams 1, 2, 3F, MAS-I, MAS-II, PCPA, 5 and 6. Its fee was $1,050 USD, and attendance at each virtual course is limited to 40 participants.

The preliminary requirements. Every registered candidate views presentations on each of the ASOPs before the course. These e-modules are slides with audio, with questions placed throughout that must be answered correctly to proceed, and the CAS tracks each candidate's completion. All of them must be completed by the date in the confirmation email. The communication-skills pre-work takes approximately three hours. The same professionalism standards apply to the virtual courses as to the in-person ones.

Canadian candidates. The CIA's enhanced Professionalism Workshop (PW), offered after April 1, 2024, meets the COP requirement on its own for candidates pursuing an ACIA or FCIA designation. Completing both the CIA's earlier Professionalism Workshop and its Practice Education Course (PEC) between 2019 and March 2024 also meets it.

Learning Objectives

E-Modules

  1. View the presentation on each Actuarial Standard of Practice, answering its questions to proceed.

Communication Skills

  1. Complete the pre-work on communication skills topics (approximately three hours), and use those skills during the course.

Pre-Readings

  1. Read the pre-readings, which prepare a candidate to discuss professionalism topics.

The Course

  1. Attend the course and actively participate in it, on the requirements of the CAS and the American Academy of Actuaries regarding the conduct of the actuary.

Source Material

Source Material

  • COP e-Modules and Pre-Readings
    • The CAS publishes no reading list. A link to all the preliminary requirements is emailed to a candidate after registration.