Tag: SOA

Weekly News Update – July 28

Jamaica’s Ministry of Finance announced last Friday that it had completed issuance of a Catastrophe Bond through the World Bank. The Jamaican government is the first in the Caribbean and the first island state in the world to independently access the CAT bond market. The bond will provide the GoJ with critical disaster insurance protection against losses from named storms across three Atlantic hurricane seasons up to December 2023. More details at the World Bank website.

CBTT: Launch of 2020 Financial Stability Report webinar 5th August.

Watch for public webinars on Diversity, IFRS – 17 and Exam Techniques and…

Details of our Conference 2021!

All Ordinary, Affiliate and Associate members are reminded that online CPD attestation for 2020 closes THIS WEEKEND. Please read our CPD Policy then complete your online attestation NOW.

The SOA has published their slate for upcoming elections. We note with pleasure that our long-time friend John Robinson is on their ballot for President Elect. We urge all our members with SOA voting privileges to participate in these elections which open between 13th – 24th September.

Actuarial articles & webinars of interest:
Climate Corner:
Food for Thought:

The downside of 21st Century Technology

Please visit our website and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Your News Team: Shubhash, Betty & Pedro

The views expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

Weekly Update – March 23

Hi Everyone,

Don’t forget our own webinar, THIS THURSDAY, 25th. The material is not SOA specific so is of interest to actuaries/aspiring actuaries from other bodies.

The target audience includes:

  • Early career actuaries and students who want to take a long-term view of their career paths.
  • Advanced actuarial students closing in on *Fellowship* and looking forward to more free time for building their interpersonal versatility.
  • Seasoned actuaries who seek guidance for the next stage of their careers.

REGISTRATION IS FREE! More information and registration on our website.

More Items of Interest:

  • Actuaries in Banking: The South African Experience – Presented by the IAA Banking Task Force, Actuarial Society of South Africa’s Banking Committee and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ Banking Member Interest Group – 31st March. (You will need to log into your IAA account to register).
  • International Conference on Inclusive Insurance 2021: call for proposals now open. Deadline for submissions is 15th May. Under the theme Reaching scale in small countries, this conference is tentatively scheduled to take place late October in Jamaica.

* Opening for a fellow, or near fellow, at Colina Insurance in The Bahamas: details here. *

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Your News Team: Shubhash, Betty, Pedro and Brian

The views expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

News Update – February 23

Hello Everyone, especially Students,

Candidates wishing to sit SOA exams have been having difficulties doing so because of COVID-19 restrictions.  The CAA has been in top-level dialogue with the SOA for some months now and has been able to assist several students. If YOU are having difficulties, please contact us at caa.secretariat@gmail.com.

The SOA and CAS have both published information for candidates on their respective websites.

Society of Actuaries: Prometric Testing Centers – Answers to Your Questions

Casualty Actuarial Society: Letter to Candidates from the CAS President and CEO Regarding CAS Exams

The CAA offers refunds to students who sit SOA Exams P and FM while enrolled in the Actuarial Science BSc programmes at UWI.

If you plan to sit either exam this year and had a 3.65 average last year you might qualify. If you sat the exams last year and had a 3.65 average the year before you might qualify. Please ask your programme coordinator to send us your details.

If you’re enrolled at university and undertaking exams with another actuarial body please get in touch with us to see if you qualify for a refund for any of those exams.

Did you know that there are several Actuarial Scholarships available at the University of the West Indies?

The Stephen Alleyne Memorial Scholarship: endowed by the CAA in honour of one of our first Executive Council members who passed away at an early age.

Candidates must:

  • be CARICOM nationals in their final year of the BSc degree in Actuarial Science at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies
  • have a B+ average or its equivalent and must maintain this average for the duration of the award
  • be in financial need

Read more and apply here.

The Caribbean Actuarial Scholarship: established by Mike McLaughlin in memory of his in-laws, Basil L. and Monica G. Virtue. Three scholarship are available.

Candidates must:

  • be an undergraduate student entering their second or third year at the University of the West Indies
  • be enrolled in UWI’s actuarial science program
  • hold a minimum GPA of 3.0 or equivalent

Read more here.

The Long Actuarial Scholarship: donated by Andrew Long, alumnus of UWI Mona.

Candidates must have:

  • outstanding academic record (at least a 3.0 GPA for current UWI students or excellent results in CAPE examinations for incoming students)
  • verifiable financial need
  • demonstrable community/co-curricular involvement and strong leadership qualities

Read more here.

The Norbert Fullerton Actuarial Scholarship: donated by Norbert Fullerton, alumnus of UWI Mona.

Candidates must have:

  • Academic performance based on the results of the previous academic year University examinations (at least a GPA of 3.3
  • Demonstrable community/co-curricular involvement
  • Strong leadership skills

Read more here.

For minority students resident in North America, the International Association of Black Actuaries offers several scholarships.

More information for students and useful links are available in the Student area of our website.

Other News:

The CAA’s 2020 CPD attestation is now open. Ordinary, Associate and Affiliate members must attest each year that they are in compliance with the CPD Policy of their primary professional body. Please read our CPD Policy and complete your online attestation here.

Webinars, Magazines & Journals, Blogs, etc. at your fingertips:

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Stay safe and be happy,

Your News Team: Shubhash, Betty, Pedro and Brian

The views expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

Weekly Update – February 9

Hello Everyone,

Our insurance actuaries in Trinidad & Tobago are all focused on the Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2020 which, after years in gestation, has finally come to fruition. Those who have not yet been transitioning have a great deal of catching up to do.

We reviewed the latest actuarial magazines and webinar offerings and here’s what we thought we should share.

Of critical interest to STUDENTS is this on the SOA’s website, Prometric Testing Centers – Answers to Your Questions. Many students were at a loss regarding what to do when the SOA’s new exam policy intersected with COVID-9 restrictions. The CAS also gave an update on exams: Letter to Candidates from the CAS President and CEO Regarding CAS Exams.  Also from the SOA are SOA Professionalism Courses – Changing gears after 30 years and 2021 Student Research Case Study Challenge.

The IAA recently held a 3-part mini-series on Risk-based Financial Management and Supervision, in collaboration with the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). One module, Using Actuarial Reports – Getting the Added Value, was presented by Britta Hay and Stuart Wason. Recordings of these and other IAA webinars are available on their YouTube channel.

Also recently published by the IAA is their Discussion Paper, Pension Fund ESG Risk Disclosures: Developing Global Practice, produced by members drawn from the Resource and Environment Working Group and Pension and Employee Benefits Committee.

From the Actuarial Review Understanding Threats: Gray Swans, Black Elephants, and Butterflies (Oh My!).  Understanding the different characteristics of threats can help actuaries better understand how extreme events can affect their work.

In The Actuary (North America) we read A Quantum Walk Through Actuarial Science.

Actuview announced that they have hit the 10,000 registered viewers milestone and now have over 1,000 videos available. Sessions from our 2020 Conference as well as some sessions from 2018 and 2019 are available on Actuview.

We’ve seen several of our members move from insurance companies to banks in recent years. The CIA has launched a new portal, Seeing Beyond Risk, for articles and stories about Canada’s actuaries and the Canadian actuarial profession, though many articles are of interest to non-Canadians. There’s one on banking:  The Banking Industry and Actuaries: Closing the Gaps.  The IFoA continues to promote actuaries in banking with Banking Lifelong Learning case studies. Keeping on the non-traditional path, The Actuary also included an article on providing insurance for small farmers, Microinsurance: Collective gains.

 Louise Pryor, IFoA’s President Elect, spoke on Climate Change at our 2020 Conference. Have a look at Louise’s “Talking Sustainability” series on the IFoA website. From the new issue of CAS’ Actuarial Review we read Social Justice and the Actuary: What’s Next?

As COVID-19 forces us more and more online we must become more and more Internet savvy. In The Actuary (UK) we looked at  Insurance and social media: Keyboard worriers. You might also be interested in the SOA’s Cloud Computing Webcast on 25th February. And, of course, we can’t go online without being fully aware of cyber threats. Zyber Global Centre’s February Newsletter gave a rundown of The Worst Cyber Threats of 2020.

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Stay safe and be happy,

Your News Team: Shubhash, Betty, Pedro and Brian

The views expressed above are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

Actuarial News – October 1

Hi Everyone:

Actuarial News:

Congratulations to CAA stalwart, Nazir Valani, on his election to the SOA’s Board!

Warm congratulations are also extended to our members and friends who were elected to SOA Sections:

Simone Davis – Smaller Insurance Company

Stephanie Banfield – Reinsurance

Stephen Cameron – Product Development

Good luck to you all as you serve!

Congratulations to member Angelita Graham on her recent appointment as head of Mercer’s Toronto Office.

Webinars & Events

All sessions are now online for ActuView’s first online conference, aoc2020, which took place last week.

Tonya Manning, Joanne Meusz and Cathy Lyn spoke at the latest Diversity Episode – Power of Diversity of Thought … Forging Partnerships with Actuaries. (no code is needed for this specific session)

If you’ve mislaid your ActuView code contact the CAA Secretariat and we’ll resend it.

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Best Regards,

Shubhash & Betty

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

Actuarial News Update – September 17

SOA Candidates

Candidates sitting the October/November 2020 ERM and FSA written-answer exams and/or the December 2020 Predictive Analytics (PA) exam would have received communication from the SOA.

Please note that all SOA multiple-choice exams administered in 2020 (P, FM, IFM, SRM, STAM, LTAM and the EA exams) will continue to be available as paper/pencil exams to candidates in Caribbean countries with no Prometric test centre.

Actuarial News

New IFoA CPD Scheme took effect on 1st September

SOA Call for Essays: Impact of COVID-19: Lessons for Life Insurance Companies closes 18th September

Other News

OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report September 2020

Webinars & Events

ActuView’s first online conference, aoc2020 on 24th and 25th September.

Cathy Lyn, Tonya Manning and other panellists speak at the latest Diversity Session: Power of Diversity of Thought … forging partnerships with actuaries will be available on Friday, 25th.

If you’ve mislaid your ActuView code contact the CAA Secretariat and we’ll resend it.

Remember to visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Best Regards,

Shubhash & Betty

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

News Update – September 2

Hi Everyone,

The whole world has turned to online meetings. Some of us have been doing it for years and are quite comfortable while to others it is an obstacle course.

Here are some articles and videos we’ve come across which may help negotiate this new normal of business communications.

On the lighter side: A Video Conference Call in Real Life (A Zoom Ad)

Please remember to send your submissions or ideas in time for next Wednesday’s Open Mic!

Reminding everyone with SOA voting rights to consider CAA members and friends when casting your votes in the SOA Elections which close on September 4.

Nazir Valani – Board

Stephen Cameron – Product Development Section

Stephanie Banfield – Reinsurance Section

Simone Davis – Smaller Insurance Company Section

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Best Regards,

Shubhash & Betty

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

COVID-19 Update – September 1

Dear Colleagues,

A message from the CAA Board:

“We are aware that the following CAA members/supporters are candidates for positions in the Society of Actuaries:

Nazir Valani – Board

Stephen Cameron – Product Development Section

Stephanie Banfield – Reinsurance Section

Simone Davis – Smaller Insurance Company Section

We encourage you to consider voting for them if you are eligible to do so. Polls close on September 4.

We also encourage all CAA members, especially younger members, to volunteer for service in the CAA and their other actuarial associations, whether for elected positions or to serve on committees. 

It builds networks, develops you personally and professionally (CPD), and increases your marketability.”

Today’s interesting reading:

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Your feedback is much appreciated. Please continue.

Thank you.

Shubhash Gosine

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

Daily Update – August 27

Hi Everyone:

Actuarial News

Reminding all members with SOA voting rights to consider CAA members and friends when casting your votes in the SOA Elections which close on 4th September.

Nazir Valani – Board

Stephen Cameron – Product Development Section

Stephanie Banfield – Reinsurance Section

Simone Davis – Smaller Insurance Company Section

CAS Elections close on 31st August

IFoA launches the IFoA Foundation

Webinars & Events

At the recent Actuarial Research Conference, our Editor, Shubhash Gosine, was one of the presenters of  COVID-19:  International Perspectives. The session was moderated by John Robinson, long-time friend of the CAA.

2021 ASTIN/AFIR/ERM Colloquium Call for Papers opens until 7th October 2020

2021 ASHK/IAALS /PBSS Colloquium Call for Papers opens until 6th November 2020

The UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 Call for papers

IFoA’s  Asia Conference 2020 7th-25th September

2020 AICT/CAS Joint Property/Casualty and Health Actuarial Seminar 14th-15th September

ActuView’s first online conference, aoc2020 24th-25th September

SOA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting & Exhibit 26th-29th October

2020 Understanding Risk Forum

Recoding of IACA’s webinar Managing and Growing your Firm in an era of Pandemic and Lockdown (YouTube)

The Caribbean Actuarial Association’s 30th Annual Conference

Remember to visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Best Regards,

Shubhash & Betty

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.

News Update – August 26

Hi Everyone,

Please remember to send your submissions or ideas in time for next Wednesday’s Open Mic!

Diversity is very much in the news these days, particularly as it relates to race and gender. A very serious problem in many parts of the world

We are all familiar with Cathy Lyn’s mission to carry Diversity in the Actuarial Profession across the globe. Watch some of these presentations on Diversity from Berlin, South Africa, Curacao and cyberspace. Stay tuned for the next installment at our 2020 Annual Conference!

IABA also spoke to Diversity at their recent Annual Meeting:

Panel Discussion on Racism

George Floyd and Beyond

Relevant sessions from the recent Actuarial Research Conference:

Diversity and Inclusion

Making Micro-Insurance Work for Women

Social And Racial Inequities In Health

Reminding all members with SOA voting rights to consider CAA members and friends when casting your votes in the SOA Elections which close on September 4.

Nazir Valani – Board

Stephen Cameron – Product Development Section

Stephanie Banfield – Reinsurance Section

Simone Davis – Smaller Insurance Company Section

Please visit our website, Facebook page and LinkedIn page.

Best Regards,

Shubhash & Betty

The information on this page does not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of the CAA. Data included in graphs has been obtained from several sources the accuracy of which cannot be guaranteed by the CAA. The CAA assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of content contained in any linked site.