ASOP.36
Reading: “Actuarial Standard of Practice No. 36, Statements of Actuarial Opinion Regarding Property/Casualty Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves,” December 2010
Author: Actuarial Standards Board of the American Academy of Actuaries
BA Quick-Summary: Actuarial Standards of Practice 36
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Pop Quiz
Multiple Choice (mini BattleQuiz 2) ← for general review of topic
Study Tips
ASOP stands for Actuarial Standards of Practice . ASOP 36 is titled Statements of Actuarial Opinion Regarding Property/Casualty Loss and Loss Adjustment Expense Reserves. Much of the ASOP material is also contained in other readings. Occasionally there is an exam question directly from an ASOP that can't be found elsewhere but the ASOPs are primarily of value to a working actuary. They provide a concise summary of important principles.
There are 4 ASOPs: (Virtually all of the material in the ASOPs is included in other readings.)
Estimated study time: 10 milliseconds (for ASOP 36) → But make sure to do the multiple choice quizzes on the SAO from the Pop Quiz above
| Source Readings: BattleActs includes all material from past exams in at least 1 of the elements of the system: wiki articles, BattleCards, BattleTables. It also covers significant material that has not appeared on past exams but that I've judged to be important. Still, it's a good idea to spend a portion of your time reviewing the source readings. You may have a different opinion on what's important and what you can skip. You cannot read all 2,500 pages in depth, but BattleActs give you the necessary background knowledge so that the time you do spend on the source readings will be much more efficient. For a little more on this click on Using the Source Material. |
BattleTable
There are no old exam questions that relate exclusively to ASOP.36. (So no BattleTable is required) All old exam questions on the SAO are included in Odomirok.16-17-SAO and COPLFR.SAO.
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In Plain English!
ASOP stands for Actuarial Standards of Practice. Virtually all of the material in ASOP.36 is covered in Odomirok.16-17-SAO and COPLFR.SAO, so ASOP.36 doesn't need its own BattleTable. Strictly speaking, this would be a low-ranked reading because there are no old exam questions. The reason I put it in the #3 spot in the rankings is that the SAO is the most important topic on the syllabus and I wanted to group it with the other SAO readings.
Still, it might be an idea to do a quick scan of ASOP.36, just so you're familiar with the format of these ASOP documents. The ASOPs are all organized the same way:
Section # Section Title 1 Purpose, Scope, Cross References, and Effective Date 2 Definitions 3 Analysis of Issues and Recommended Practices 4 Communications and Disclosures Appendices topics depend on the particular ASOP
Something that might be important from Section 2 (and very easy) is the following definition:
- unpaid claim estimate: the actuary’s estimate of the obligation for future payment resulting from claims due to past events
The only reason I mention this is that it appeared on the Canadian version of the exam a couple of times and the examiners were very strict in their grading. They didn't give credit unless you got it exactly right.
One small point:
- The COPLFR source text seems to be slightly inconsistent with both Odomirok.16-17-SAO and ASOP.36. Odomirok says the Identification section typically includes intended user & purpose. Also, ASOP.36 says in section 3.2 that the actuary should identify intended users & purpose. But COPLFR doesn't mention this. Are they making a distinction between something that must be included versus something that should be included. That seems like splitting hairs. Take a look at part (a) of this exam problem:
- E (2019.Spring #20)
- I think saying that "intended users & purpose" was omitted would be an acceptable answer to this question, but I'm not sure if the examiner's would have accepted that. If you get this question on the exam, I recommend using the WARD memory trick from The Boring Details.
The only other item from ASOP.36 that might be worth looking at is Section 4 - Communications & Disclosures. There's a lot of detail here. I don't know if you need to specifically memorize anything since it's covered in COPLFR.SAO anyway, but it might be good bedtime reading.
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