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2022 SOA Changes

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Team CA, Dave Kester

You can read the SOA's official ASA curriculum changes fact sheet, and get further clarification on their FAQ page.

Your Way Forward

CA Recommendations

  • I’ve passed P and/or FM. FAM is offered three times a year in March, July, and November. You're not allowed to take FAM-S and FAM-L separately as a replacement for FAM. You will have a choice between ALTAM or ASTAM. Review the latest ALTAM syllabus and the latest ASTAM syllabus. SRM is not changing. You’re free to take SRM whenever it works best for you. You will need to take ATPA since you don't have IFM credit.
  • I’ve passed P, FM, and IFM. Since you've passed IFM, you won’t need to take ATPA. FAM is offered three times a year in March, July, and November. You're not allowed to take FAM-S and FAM-L separately as a replacement for FAM. You will have a choice between ALTAM or ASTAM. Click here for the latest ALTAM syllabus and here for the latest ASTAM syllabus. SRM is not changing. You’re free to take SRM whenever it works best for you.
  • I’ve passed P, FM, and SRM. FAM is offered three times a year in March, July, and November. You're not allowed to take FAM-S and FAM-L separately as a replacement for FAM. You will have a choice between ALTAM or ASTAM. Click here for the latest ALTAM syllabus and here for the latest ASTAM syllabus. You will need to take ATPA since you don't have IFM credit.
  • I’ve passed P, FM, IFM, and STAM. Since you've passed IFM, you won’t need to take ATPA. Since you've passed STAM, you're eligible to take FAM-L, which is half the size of the full FAM exam. Be sure to pass FAM-L between October 2022 and July 2024 (six sittings). This will give you credit for the full FAM and ASTAM under the new system. Otherwise, you’ll need to take the full FAM after July 2024. SRM is not changing. You’re free to take SRM whenever it works best for you.
  • I’ve passed P, FM, IFM, and LTAM. Since you've passed IFM, you won’t need to take ATPA. Since you've passed LTAM, you're eligible to take FAM-S, which is half the size of the full FAM exam. Be sure to pass FAM-S between October 2022 and July 2024 (six sittings). This will give you credit for the full FAM and ALTAM under the new system. Otherwise, you’ll need to take the full FAM after July 2024. SRM is not changing. You’re free to take SRM whenever it works best for you.
  • I’ve passed P, FM, IFM, LTAM, and STAM. The exam changes don’t affect you much. You’ll still need to take SRM and PA. SRM is not changing. You’re free to take SRM whenever it works best for you.
  • I’m on the CAS track. If you have passed IFM, you will be exempted from the new Data Concepts Online Course (OC) the CAS introduced as a replacement for 3F.

Exam Changes

P

  • Administration: 6 times a year (odd months)
  • Format: Multiple-choice, 3 hours, CBT

FM

  • Administration: 6 times a year (even months)
  • Format: Multiple-choice, 2.5 hours, CBT

FAM

  • Administration: 3 times a year (Mar, Jul, Nov)
  • Format: Multiple-choice, 3.5 hours, CBT
  • New exam; approximate replacement for first half of LTAM and STAM.
  • Important Transitory Info: For administrations from October 2022 to July 2024, in addition to FAM as a whole, FAM will also be offered as "half exams" FAM-L and FAM-S, each 1.75 hours with 20 multiple-choice questions. This is to accommodate candidates who pass LTAM or STAM but not both before those exams are replaced. See Transition Rules below for more info.

ALTAM (Advanced LTAM)

  • Administration: 2 times a year (Spring, Fall)
  • Format: Written-answer, 3 hours, CBT
  • New exam; approximate replacement for second half of LTAM.

ASTAM (Advanced STAM)

  • Administration: 2 times a year (Spring, Fall)
  • Format: Written-answer, 3 hours, CBT
  • New exam; approximate replacement for second half of STAM.

SRM

  • Administration: 3 times a year (Jan, May, Sep)
  • Format: Multiple-choice, 3.5 hours, CBT

PA

  • Administration: 2 times a year (Apr, Oct)
  • Format: Project assessment, 3.5 hours, CBT

ATPA (Advanced Topics in Predictive Analytics)

  • Administration: 3 times a year, each with a 3-month submission window (Feb-Apr, Jun-Aug, Oct-Dec)Format: Project-based assessment, take home
  • New exam.

Transition Rules

Exam and Modules

Exams

  • P, FM, SRM, and PA will provide credit for the same exams under the new curriculum.
  • IFM will effectively provide credit for ATPA. The SOA has indicated that the ASA designation can be earned by having credit for either IFM or ATPA.
  • LTAM will provide credit for FAM-L and ALTAM.
    Candidates must pass FAM-S by July 2024 or will need to take the full FAM to complete the FAM requirement
  • STAM will provide credit for FAM-S and ASTAM.
    Candidates must pass FAM-L by July 2024 or will need to take the full FAM to complete the FAM requirement

Modules

  • Through Dec 31, 2024, the Pre-Actuarial Foundations module will provide credit for FAP Module #1 and #2.
  • Through Dec 31, 2024, the Actuarial Science Foundations module will provide credit for FAP Module #4.

Micro-Credentials

3 subsets of the ASA Designation

The SOA will be introducing 3 micro-credentials that are subsets of the ASA designation.

Candidates can earn the Pre-Actuarial Foundations and Actuarial Science Foundations micro-credentials starting January 2022, when the respective modules are released.

Pre-Actuarial Foundations

  • Exam P
  • Exam FM
  • VEE Economics
  • VEE Accounting/Finance
  • Pre-Actuarial Foundations module

Actuarial Science Foundations

  • Pre-Actuarial Foundations micro-credential
  • Exam FAM
  • Exam SRM
  • VEE Mathematical Statistics
  • Actuarial Science Foundations module

Data Science for Actuaries

  • Exam SRM
  • Exam PA
  • Exam ATPA


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