Certified Actuarial Analyst - continued

This is just an update to my previous post where I talked about the launch of a new qualification by the IFoA. The registration for this course is now open, and the last date for registering online is 18th July 2014. The first set of exams will be held between 4th - 15th August 2014.

The first Module launched by the IFoA as a part of this qualification is Module 0 - Entry Exam. This is a compulsory exam for those who wish t pursue the CAA qualification and those who successfully pass this exam can apply to the Institute for the Student Actuarial Analyst membership (SAA).

I am really very excited about this course because I think such a course has been long due and I can only imagine the vast number of students who could potentially benefit from it. I have already set up a facebook page titled CAA Coaching (and Aspiring Actuaries) and trying to build up a website to provide students with a set of questions to practice from. I am lucky to have found a friend in India who is very passionate about this course as well and together we have decided to provide free practice questions to students all over the world to practice for free.

I believe that there would be a large number of students who would be not in a position to pay the fees at the official rates of recommended providers. But I am only beginning to work on it, and let us see how economical the entire idea is. My friend and I have a feeling that it might not be feasible to provide this completely free of charge to account for the administrative part of it...but we have to start somewhere!

I will keep you all posted!

Disclaimer: All the above information relating to CAA course has been obtained from www.actuaries.org, and while every effort has been made to ensue accuracy of information, no liability whatsoever is taken for relying on the above information. This web-page is not endorsed by any actuarial society, including IFoA and IAI. 

Article in Indian Actuarial magazine!

My first article in the Indian Actuary magazine!!

http://actuariesindia.org/downloads/souvenir/2014/ActuaryIndiaMay2014.pdf

Certified Actuarial Analyst

The Actuarial profession has launched a new qualification called the Certified Actuarial Analyst. I was luckily one of the first ones to know about this while it was still not launched as I helped the Institute prepare questions for two of its modules. I find this course very exciting, not only because it is a new actuarial qualification, but because I can easily relate to a large number of actuarial candidates back in India who have been struggling to complete the actuarial qualification.

There is a whole lot of actuarial candidates in India who have the technical and professional skills to work in actuarial roles, but they have, for one reason or the other, not been so successful with their FIA exams. This qualification provides them with a ray of hope in the sense of getting a recognition world-wide that they are the not just part-qualified actuaries, but Certified Actuarial Analysts! Nobody likes being half-qualified for a long period of time. Specially when there are constraints on the study time one can get in an Indian work-life setup.

As the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries define it on their website 'The Certified Actuarial Analyst is a new qualification and membership category from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), providing an internationally recognised professional qualification, proven technical and professional skills and a gateway to a career in financial services.'

This very aptly summarises this course. It consists of a set of 5 + 1 modules. The first 5 modules are tested through online multiple choice questions, whereas the 6th module called OPAT - Online Professional Awareness Test is already a course mandatory for students who have joined the Institute after 1st March 2014. Further details about the course can be found at http://www.actuaries.org.uk/becoming-actuary/pages/exam-preparation.

I think this course is very timely and will help plug in a huge gap between supply and demand, so we should all welcome this with open arms! I will keep this page updated with the latest...so watch this space!

UK Insurance - Key Facts

The UK insurance industry is the third largest in the world and the largest in Europe. It manages investments amounting to 26% of the UK's total net worth and contributing £10.4bn in taxes .

It employs some 290,000 people. This is more than a quarter of all financial service jobs, and twice as many as are employed  in the combined electricity, gas and water supply sectors.

There are over 1000 companies authorised to write general insurance business in UK, and a further 300 are authorised to write long term savings, pensions and protection products.

The insurance sector is responsible for investments totalling £1.8 trillion, equivalent to 26% of UK's total net worth.

It is also a major exporter - about 30% of its net premium income comes from overseas business, most of which is long term business.

Of the 26.3 million households in the UK in 2011, an estimated 19.7 million households have contents insurance, and 16.6 million have buildings insurance from which 2.1 million claims were made with a total value of £3.3 billion, or the equivalent of £9.0 million per day.

23.8 million private vehicles were insured. 3.2 million claims were notified in 2011 resulting in payments to customers of £19.4 million each day totalling £7.1 billion.

£8.8 million was paid to customers each day for accident and health claims.

26.2 million travel insurance policies were bought by consumers in 2011. 0.7 million claims were made in 2011, resulting in £1.1 million paid to customers each day





Source: Association of British Insurers report

Direct Line IPO, Hill Insurance

Royal Bank of Scotland has found buyers for the full 33% stake of insurer Direct Line it has put up for sale, within 3 days of the 9 day marketing period. It had set a price range of 160-195 pence last week. Direct Line would be worth £2.66bn at the mid-point of quoted price range.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanely are running the offering, and are joint bookrunners together with UBS.

In another blow to Gibraltar insurance industry, Gibralatar-based Hill Insurance company is into liquidation.Court documents for the winding-up reveal the bonds it used as shareholders' equity were either non-existent or did not belong to the company.

This liquidation follows hot on the heels of Lemma insurance's liquidation last week.

Lemma Europe Insurance put into administration

The Gibraltar based insurance company Lemma Europe Insurance had been ordered by the Gibraltar regulator from making any claim payments. The insurer faces a winding-up order from the Financial Services Council (FSC), which will be heard in the Gibraltar Supreme Court and a liquidator will also be appointed.

It has been confirmed by a FSA spokesperson that UK policyholders with policies with Lemma are covered under the Financial Compensation Services Scheme.

It is worth mentioning that another Gibraltar based insurer Aldgate Insurance company has wound up in September 2009, leaving customers with outstanding claims.

Lloyds of London returns to making profits in the first half of 2012

Year 2011 was a really bad year if we look at the list of catastrophic events that affected the insurance industry. The year started off quite poorly with heavy flooding in Australia, Cyclone Yasi and a destructive earthquake in New Zealand. On March 11, 2011 we had a watershed catastrophe which changed how the world perceives nuclear power as a viable source of energy - the Japanese earthquake and the ensuing Tsunami.

If that wasn't enough, we had a series of Tornadoes in the USA in April/May time, and wildfires in Texas which all led to heavy losses for insurance. There were two more earthquakes in New Zealand later in the year, and England added its bit to the woes of an already terrified insurance industry with the unprecedented riots that spread throughout the country.

One might have hoped for a quieter end for the year, but as it was not to be! Thailand was lashed with heavy rains and devastating flooding hitting Lloyd's of London with over more than £1bn from a single event which is in the same range what it cost it for the Japanese Tsunami. If you haven't guessed it already then last year was the second most expensive year on record for the insurance industry in terms of losses arising out of natural disasters.

So the news that Lloyd's is now back in profit makes it a news really worth celebrating! It made a profit of £1.5 billion compared to a loss of £697 million in the same period for 2011. It might be a celebration bit too early when Chairman John Nelson was quoted as saying he was 'highly conscious' that the Atlantic windstorm season was currently underway. 

Read more at: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-2208777/Lloyds-London-returns-profit-quiet-period-natural-disasters.html?ito=feeds-newsxml