An error like that isn’t going to drastically change the passing rates on an aggregate level.
I took my first exam Jan 2017 and took my final FSA exam late last year. I used the ASM manual for most of my prelims, and there was a clear difference in difficulty between the older questions and the recent questions. Older questions appeared to test more clever insight while recent questions tested regurgitation and performing calculations meticulously. The former is harder to study for even with better study material, because the questions are also testing IQ / g.
Currently working through FAP and FSA modules.
And also, the SOA/CAS doesn’t need any authorization to do whatever they want. Whether the various states (or provinces or other countries’ governments) recognize the credential for official purposes is another matter.
Most importantly, the vast majority of SOA & CAS members do not have to have their credentials to legally do their jobs, unlike with doctors or lawyers. One of the things the SOA (maybe the CAS) keeps their eye on are all those jobs that actuaries have done … that people with other credentials (say statisticians) are filling instead of actuaries.
I believe that is the argument, partly, for this current attempt (after the attempts in 1970, 1988, and 2009) – those darned data scientists! Except there’s no “data science” credential, and none of the ones I’ve seen have professional standards or even professional orgs. I’m not seeing how universities are relevant at all to “data scientists” given there’s no “data science” degree or credential.
I’m not really seeing how this is supposed to do anything about other numbers nerds encroaching into insurance. They certainly aren’t encroaching into pensions.
The SOA is being misguided following the data science/ML hype train bubble. It sounds like companies trying to wow investors by using fancy terms like “AI” instead of companies actually finding use for the data scientists they hire.
Personally, I think data science is bullshit, and the SOA should focus more on legislation - Ex. Forcing companies to use 50 credentialed actuaries to check IBNR or pricing. We should become more valuable by being more of an administrative burden to insurance companies.
Time for the CAS to erect a big tent and start offering a few non-Casualty tracks, to attract actuaries and students who disagree with the SOA position?
How do Canadian actuarial salaries compare to American actuarial salaries? What are the supply/demand ratios like on either side of the border?
That being said…
One of the reasons I’ve heard given for supporting university credit in Canada, but not in the US, is that there are fewer schools and differences in culture in Canada supposedly would support greater adherence to an SOA/CAS-prescribed curriculum (and maybe grading standards) than is possible in the US.
However, that’s not something I am in a position to have an informed opinion about.
Well at the risk of stating the obvious, not all diversity-increasing measures are created equal.
Going to HBCU’s and giving presentations to the math & statistics majors to make them more aware of the actuarial field, establishing minority scholarships with built-in internships at actuarial employers, or talking to the kids taking Calculus at the inner-city high schools are measures that would likely increase diversity without watering down credentials.
Increasing diversity does not require watering down credentials. It just requires doing things differently.
BTW, my husband is African-American and working in a field with a disproportionately low level of African-Americans. He volunteers at camps for low-income kids (which means they skew very black and Hispanic, though there are some white and Asian kids at the camps) where they work with kids and expose them to careers in his field and do some light / fun enrichment stuff that’s related to the academics needed to excel in that field. Plant a seed when they’re young and hope that helps point a few of them in that direction.
I recall going to a math camp when I was a kid. Almost all white & Asian kids. Set up some math camps where the recruitment is focused in minority-heavy areas.
Diversity is important, but one of the reasons actuaries (supposedly) command respect…and good pay…are the standards we have measured ourselves against, and the high bar (supposedly) set by the exams / requirements to be credentialed.
I think the SOA’s diversity argument is a partial red herring. While more can be done to encourage a more diverse population in the credentialing pipeline, it doesn’t have to be…this.
CAE must have at least one SOA member actuary (ASA or FSA) on the faculty who will serve as the CAE’s Accreditation Actuary
I think the SOA is doing a good job looking out for our profession. Credentialed Actuaries may be employed at universities now.
The SOA gets no appreciation for how much they’re doing for us.
When some of you sit back in your comfy uni gig as the CAE Actuary, know that it was the SOA that got you that position.
I think that it should not be an either/or choice. We can have a challenging credentialing process AND we can do more to ensure a broader, more diverse group of candidates pursuing it.
Why lower the bar when you can help elevate people to cross it?
Man you just sound crazy. You’re the same bitcoin Tesla guy on reddit I’m assuming. You have a lot of time going on these crazy tangents on all these forums
You’re looking at society in general. I’m thinking more in terms of what a group of professionals can do.
I’m in a program that connects professionals to students in the local school system who need some help. I tutor kids (many of them minority, but I’m happy to help anyone who needs it) mostly in math. The job isn’t all just helping them with homework or getting them ready for the next quiz/test in class. I talk a little bit about my job, my life…including what it was like growing up in the 'hood, occasionally hungry, and keeping it together through college and into finding a job.
Or I talk about my wife, who had it harder than I did…
The local tutoring program used to have us set up at the local library or community center, but we shifted to Zoom during the pandemic.
Could you imagine the impact the actuarial profession could have if some of our members volunteered as tutors, potentially reaching students beyond “actuarial hotspots”?
Wasn’t there a problem a few years ago with “lowered standards” having turned out to frequently be “predatory lending”? I’m not sure that’s an analogue that we should be pursuing.
