Leadership

The SOA is headed by a board of directors, consisting of a president, president-elect, and fifteen other board members.^[7] In addition, the most recent past president is a member of the board.

The board positions are filled by election. A member of the society is eligible to vote in board elections if they have the title of FSA, or if they have held the title of ASA for at least five years, and only FSAs can be elected to the board. (See the Membership section below for information on the professional titles granted by the society.) Regular board members are elected for terms of three years. The president-elect is elected for a term of one year, after which he or she becomes the president for a term of one year.

The employees of the SOA are headed by the chief executive officer, a salaried position appointed by the board of directors.

Elections

The SOA holds its elections annually in late summer or early fall for its board of directors and the Section Councils. In the board of directors election, one president-elect, and six elected board members are elected each year. Elected board members serve three–year terms. The president–elect serves three one–year terms as president–elect, president and past president.

In section elections, generally one third of the council is elected each year as members serve three–year terms. Section councils select their officers (chair, vice chair, and secretary/treasurer).

According to the SOA Bylaws, fellows and associates who have been members of the society for five years or more are entitled to vote in the board of directors' election. According to the Section Bylaws, all members of a Section are entitled to vote in the Section Council election. This includes ASAs, FSAs, and members of co–sponsoring organizations who are also members of a Section. SOA members with valid e–mail addresses in the SOA database are sent login credentials to vote online. Members without valid email addresses, or who notify the SOA of their request, receive paper ballots.

Membership

The society's members are involved in the life, health, pension and general insurance areas of the actuarial profession.

There are three designations offered by the SOA. The two Associate-level designations are Associate of Society of Actuaries (ASA) and Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA), which was introduced in 2007. The highest designation is Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA). The SOA has more than 30,000 actuaries as members. The 3 micro-credentials and affiliate membership was introduced in 2022.

Requirements for membership for the SOA include the actuarial exams, a comprehensive series of competitive exams. Topics covered in the exams include mathematics, finance, insurance, economics, interest theory, life models, and actuarial science. Non-members working in the actuarial profession and taking exams are often referred to as actuarial students or candidates.

Members of the SOA who meet a professional experience requirement are eligible for membership in the American Academy of Actuaries, which represents United States actuaries from all practice areas.^[8]

Preliminary exams

The first six to seven exams (preliminary exams) consist mostly of core mathematics related to actuarial science including probability, interest theory, life contingencies, risk models, statistical modeling, and predictive analytics.^[9]

Preliminary exams administered on computers at Prometric testing centers. The scores are reported in a scale of 0 to 10 in the transcript.The score is referred to the actual passing percentage ${\displaystyle P}$ to the following scale.

If ${\displaystyle P>{\frac {100}{1.4}}\%\approx 71.4\%}$, then ${\displaystyle 1.4P>100\%}$, i.e. the requirement for the percentage of score to get grade 10 will be higher than ${\displaystyle 100\%}$. That is, grade 10 is unachievable. Hence, the highest grade achievable can be 9 for a test.

The current form of preliminary exams were established in year 2000 and evolved over time. Significant changes were introduced in 2005 and 2007 to introduce the new education components of Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) and Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice (FAP) learning modules. In 2018 and 2023, the preliminary exams have undergone another wave of significant changes to reflect an emphasis on predictive analytics, and also provides a curriculum balance between long-term and short-term insurance coverages.^[10] The rough equivalent of preliminary exams since year 2000 are listed according to the transition rules published by SOA. There are also differences in detail between exam syllabus over time.

Other components toward associateship

In addition to the exams, candidate would also need to complete the additional education requirement such as Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) and a series of e-learning modules.

In 2000, candidate may be admitted to associateship by completing Course 5 (Application of Basic Actuarial Principles), Course 6 (Finance and Investments), and Associateship Professionalism Course (APC) in addition to the preliminary exams.

In 2005, the SOA introduced the Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) as the additional topics covered by actuarial education in addition to exams. The 3 VEE subjects were: Applied statistical methods, Corporate finance, and Economics. The introduction of VEE also made the scope of preliminary exams to shrink. As a part of the education pathways reform, the SOA temporarily admitted candidates to associateship if they completed 2 courses from Course 5, 6, 7, 8, and Professional Development Requirement (PD). Where Course 7 (Applied Actuarial Modeling), Course 8 (Advanced Specialized Actuarial Practice), and PD were part of the fellowship requirement.

In 2007, the Fundamentals of Actuarial Practice (FAP) were introduced to cover real-world topics such as insurance and professionalism with readings, case studies and projects.^[11] The FAP modules superseded the former Course 5 (Application of Basic Actuarial Principles) and Course 7 (Applied Modeling) in year 2000 syllabus. The FAP which contains 8 modules and 2 associated assessments, became the only option to attain assiciateship effective January 2007.

In 2018, the VEE 3 subjects were amended as: Accounting and finance, Economics, and Mathematical statistics as part of preliminary exams reform.

In 2023, more e-learning modules were added to the education requirement as a part of educational pathway redesign, including the Pre-Actuarial Foundations (PAF), Actuarial Science Foundations (ASF), Advanced Topics in Predictive Analytics (ATPA). The FAP has also shunk to 5 modules and 1 final assessment.

Fellowship exams

Upper-level exam topics for the FSA designation include plan design, risk classification, enterprise risk management, ratemaking and valuation. Three fellowship exams are taken in one of six specialization tracks chosen by the candidate – Finance & Enterprise Risk Management, Investments, Individual Life Insurance & Annuities, Retirement Benefits, Group & Health Insurance, or General Insurance. The SOA is updating the Fellowship tracks beginning in late 2018.^[12] Candidates completing the Finance & Enterprise Risk Management track will also earn the CERA designation. Candidates in any of the other five tracks have the option of replacing their track-specific Enterprise Risk Management exam with a more generalized ERM exam in order to obtain the CERA designation in addition to FSA.^[13]