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If you’ve taken an exam in the last few years, you may have occasionally noticed a blurb in the examiners’ reports telling you to refer to a Future Fellows article about exam-taking strategies or some other exam topic. If you’re like me, you probably ignored those and continued with life — that changed for me when I started to utilize Future Fellows. Future Fellows (FF) is a valuable resource for candidates that goes beyond the occasional shout-out from the Exam Committee to one of the articles available online.
The year 2020 was supposed to be a very big one for me. In 2015 my husband and I committed to a five-year plan to take a break from working and go sailing around the world for a couple years. Deciding to take this step was pretty major for us, but also very natural. We had already purchased a previously owned 36-foot Hallberg-Rassy that had much of the equipment used for crossing oceans. We were encouraged at a cruising seminar to pursue the opportunity to travel around the world and not to wait until retirement. Others attending the seminar with us said, “Why wait? You’ve got the boat.
Recent events including protests in response to the brutal killings of several unarmed Black people — George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery to name a few — reignited passionate conversations around systemic racism in North America and across the world. We have had to revisit questions like: Does racism really still exist? To what extent? How is it systemic? And, what can we do about it?
Victor Carter-Bey is the newly appointed CEO of the CAS. Recently I was given the opportunity to interview him to learn more about him, his role and his vision for the CAS.
The author (left) with Carter-Bey.
Rehan Siddique (RS): What is your professional background?
Could you talk about an initiative you are passionate about within the CAS?
I’m very passionate about the job task analysis that is underway, and how that will be used to set the stage for changes to the education and syllabus in the future. Think of a job task analysis as a clear description of what people do and know when completing a task. To make sure our credential is preparing our members for what they do on the job, we need to ask our members directly and then do what actuaries do best — analyze the data.
If you are one of those students who likes to listen to music while you study, may I suggest a Candidate's Code of Ethics Playlist? This short playlist was based on the seven rules that all people who have registered for a CAS-specific exam, but who have yet to become an ACAS, must follow. The Code of Professional Ethics for Candidates ensures that the public, whom we are responsible to, can count on high standards of conduct and practice from all those who are associated with the CAS — especially those providing actuarial services.
"I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating." — Sophocles
One of the biggest issues candidates seem to have with TBE is the potential for cheating. In conversation after conversation with friends and colleagues, the same questions keep coming up: How will they prevent this? How can they keep people from doing that? I have to admit I am somewhat baffled by this phenomenon. This is the last thing I expected to be on people's minds when they heard about TBE!
CAS Fellows to vote on ACAS suffrage this summer
The question of whether Associates should be allowed to vote was posed in the last three membership surveys (2018, 2013 and 2008), and the percentage of members that believe that Associates should be allowed to vote has increased with each survey:
While most actuaries credentialed through the CAS are based in North America, there are a number of CAS members who live and work in other parts of the world. In fact, according to the CAS website, there are members in 42 countries across the globe. Some of these might be local actuaries while others have relocated from abroad for their work. While some might apply directly to a position in another country, there are a number of other ways for actuaries to gain international work experience.
I remember well the presenter at an insurance conference that I attended more than 10 years ago. He told a dramatic story of being in a car full of children while pulling up to a drive-thru for some food. The clamor from the back of the vehicle with shouts of what each of them wanted was too much for him to handle. He barked at the order-taker, "I want $20 worth of food." The voice on the other end of the speaker tried to clarify, but he simply repeated his demand for $20 worth of food.
For those of you employed by insurance companies offering personal lines products, you probably have the opportunity to buy insurance from your own company. When I started working, my initial thought was, “Of course I’m going to buy insurance from the company I work for. I’m going to take advantage of the employee discount!” If offered, an employee discount can be a significant reason to purchase insurance from your company, but there are other considerations when making this decision.
A common question asked by candidates searching for their first actuarial job is, “Should I work for a consulting firm or a traditional insurance carrier?” In Future Fellows December 2008 & March 2009, we addressed several myths about the similarities and differences of consulting firms vs. insurance carriers from the points of view of long-term actuaries. For this article, we decided to interview people at an earlier point in their careers: candidates.
Actuaries have been using data science techniques for years. While the statistical methods are not new, there is now exponentially more computing power available. New technologies come with new risks. Thankfully, the theoretical concepts tested in actuarial exams have also prepared you to navigate the following data science pitfalls.
For CAS candidates taking the at times seemingly endless journey through the exams, there is fortunately no shortage of assistance. Textbooks, commercial study guides, practice questions and exams, and Examiner's Reports all help candidates master the material they need to reach the FCAS designation. But there is one resource that you don't often hear from – exam writers. Although you rarely communicate with them directly, there's an army of volunteers who work year-round to create your exams.
Exam day is over and for CAS candidates, eight weeks of waiting begins (actually seven weeks for the last exam sitting). Some candidates breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that their hours of studying probably paid off. Others feel a sense of dread towards results day and do their best to put it out of their minds. But what actually happens behind the scenes between the day of the exam and the day that the list of passing candidate numbers is released?
Which exam you should take and when can be a big decision to make. Because the CAS exams are numbered, it might at first glance seem like you have to take them in order and as fast as you can (see the CAS infographic for an example). While in general it's to your advantage to get through exams quickly, the order of the exams you take and even whether to take an exam at all during a given sitting can depend on many different factors. Every candidate's mental calculus will be different, and two actuaries given the same set of circumstances may make different choices.
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2020 CAS UNIVERSITY AWARD WINNER
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Take advantage of this one-day virtual seminar on underwriting and pricing topics. This virtual seminar features five sessions, each consisting of an engaging presentation and discussions with speakers and other attendees. Please see the “Sessions” section below for session descriptions, learning objectives, and speaker biographies.
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With the growing threat of cyber incidents, organizations and governments are rightfully concerned. In recent years, cyber incidents have caused significant losses to entities and insurers across the world. Therefore, there is a need to understand and provide greater context around the topic of catastrophic cyber risk, which has implications for insurance companies, reinsurers, regulators, consumers, and society. Taking a multi-disciplinary, holistic approach, an expert panel study was conducted on catastrophic cyber risk in this four-part series of discussions and subsequent reports.
CAS RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS(As Amended May 3, 2009)
CROSS-BORDER DISCIPLINE AGREEMENT(Effective November 1, 2005)
Agreement is made effective the _____ day of _______________, 20__ by and between the Casualty Actuarial Society ("CAS") and _________________________ ("CONSULTANT"). Based on mutual consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are acknowledged, the CAS agrees to contract for the services of the CONSULTANT, and the CONSULTANT agrees to provide services under the terms and conditions of this Agreement.I. STATEMENT OF WORK
