CAS and SOA to Sponsor New Joint Exams 3 and 4

by Kevin B. Thompson

The Casualty Actuarial Society and Society of the Actuaries have agreed to joint sponsorship of new Exams 3 (Actuarial Models) and 4 (Actuarial Modeling), beginning in May 2000. Joint sponsorship was approved by the board of each society and will mean that the education of actuaries in the United States and Canada will be the same for the subjects covered by the first four exams under the new exam structure.

The approval of joint sponsorship was the outgrowth of a meeting convened by the presidents and presidents-elect of both societies in January 1998. This meeting was held to reevaluate the potential for joint sponsorship in light of favorable developments since the new exam structure was announced. During the meeting, both societies agreed to create a joint task force to recommend a common syllabus for Exams 3 and 4. Harry Panjer, president of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, was asked to serve as chairperson of the task force and the CAS and SOA each appointed two members.

The task force issued its report and recommendations in March 1998. These recommendations were reviewed by the appropriate education committees, senior leadership and ultimately the board of each society. Working with the recommendations of the task force, a larger group developed the actual syllabus for the joint exams. This group, co-chaired by Nancy Braithwaite (CAS) and Jim Miles (SOA) issued its report in June. This report was placed on the CAS Web Site and is available from the CAS Office for those without Internet access.

The joint sponsorship of the first four exams allows students to defer the need to make a critical career decision regarding the CAS or SOA exams until a time when most will have completed their undergraduate education and be in a better position to make an informed choice. It also results in the more efficient use of volunteer resources rather than each society separately developing exams that cover essentially the same topics. The volunteer resources freed up by jointly sponsoring these exams can be applied by the CAS to developing those other exams that deal with subjects that are specific to the education of casualty actuaries.