Supplementary Information on Qualifications for Appointed Actuary

We have already covered the definition of qualified actuary but let's do a quick review:

An actuary normally has to satisfy conditions (i), (ii), (iii) to be considered a qualified actuary. In my own mind, I remember these 3 items as follows:

(i) SAO education & experience

(ii) AAD (Accepted Actuarial Designation)

(iii) member of professional actuarial body

There are also a couple of exceptions that you can review in the wiki article Exceptions to Definition of Qualified Actuary. Anyway, let's take a closer look at items (i) and (ii) from above. They say merely that a certain level of education and experience is required and that you need an Accepted Actuarial Designation. But does that mean? In other words:

• What type of education and experience are required?
• What is an AAD?

The answers are contained in the Qualifications. This is section 2.2 in the COPLFR source text. It provides very detailed information on things like how many years of actuarial experience you need (3), how many hours of relevant Continuing Education you need each year (30), and much more. You should take a look at that section in the source text, but my feeling is that it's a little too detailed for an exam question. It might be an idea to know a few basic things though...

Question: what are the 4 categories of qualification standards for P&C appointed actuaries as listed in COPLFR (Source text: Section 2)

• U.S Qualification Standards - General

→ FCAS/ACAS/MAAA, 3 years experience, 30 hours continuing education

• U.S Qualification Standards - Specific

→ general requirements + 3 years experience in relevant area + 15 hours continuing education in relevant area

• NAIC Standards

→ has an AAD (Accepted Actuarial Designation) or the CPC (Casualty Practice Council) has determined the actuary is a qualified actuary for that line of business/activity

→ NAIC standards largely just restate items (i) & (ii) from the definition of "qualified actuary"

• CAS Standards

→ actuaries doing the SAO must meet U.S. Qualification Standards

→ the CAS standard just seems a repeat the above

Define: AAD or Accepted Actuarial Designation (Source text: Section 2.2.2)

• Accepted Actuarial Designation in item (ii) of the definition of a Qualified Actuary, is an actuarial designation that meets or exceeds the NAIC’s minimum standards for an appointed actuary.
• The minimum standards are satisfied by:

FCAS with Exam 6U

ACAS with Exam 6U,7

FSA with additional relevant exams

At first I wasn't sure why they said FCAS with Exam 6. That seems redundant. You can't get your FCAS without Exam 6. But then I remembered there are 2 versions of Exam 6, the U.S. and Canadian version. I guess for actuaries working in the U.S., they want you to have 6U not 6C. Anyway, illustrative language for this could be as simple as the following:

• I obtained my FCAS in 2016 and passed Exam 6U in 2014.

Qualification Documentation: who must the appointed actuary provide qualification documentation to (Source text: Section 2.2.1)

who: to the BOD (Board of Directors)

You should probably also know when and what regarding the qualification documentation:

when: on occasion of apointment

what: biographical information and how requirements for qualified actuary will be met