Actuaries Without Borders® (AWB)

Course Samples

Below we outline some samples of the courses that AWB has offered in the past. AWB adapts the courses and/or seminars to the requirements expressed by the client on the project request.

Mathematics

Probability (Exam P of SoA syllabus, Exam 1 of CAS syllabus)

Basics of Actuarial Mathematics (Models for Life Contingencies (MLC) of the SoA syllabus)
Topics include

  • life insurance
  • life annuities
  • premiums
  • reserves.

Financial Mathematics (Exam FM of the SoA and CAS syllabus, Exam CT1 of the UK syllabus)
Provides the students with the understanding of fundamental concepts of financial mathematics applied in calculating present and accumulated values for various streams of cash flows.

Stochastic Modeling
Topics include

  • Introduction of stochastic models and their application;
  • Stochastic modeling in pricing and valuation;
  • Stochastic modeling in capital management and risk analysis;
  • Case studies of a few stochastic models and their application.

Risk Theory and Dynamic Financial Analysis

Skills and Strategies
Exam Techniques
Covers practical exam technique tips to assist in passing South African and UK professional exams

Financial Reporting
Finance and Financial Reporting (CT2 of the UK syllabus)
Topics include

  • Construction and interpretation of financial statements;
  • Capital raising;
  • Fundamental analysis;
  • Capital budgeting.

International Finance Reporting Standards (IFRS) 4 - Phase II
Topics include

  • Significant differences from current approaches;
  • Key features;
  • Setting assumptions;
  • Sensitivities and other issues.

Finance/Investment/ERM
Investment Mathematics

Topics include

  • Interest theory;
  • Discounted Cash Flow approach;
  • Bond pricing;
  • Amortization;
  • Portfolio optimization;
  • Capital Asset Price Model;
  • Arbitrage Pricing Theory.

Finance and Investment A (ST5 of the UK syllabus)

  • Advanced financial analysis;
  • Financial derivatives;
  • Financial markets;
  • Risk control;
  • Actuarial techniques;
  • Portfolio management.

Financial Economics (CT8 of the UK syllabus): Covers securities markets, options pricing, synthetic construction, stochastic and deterministic derivations and derives much from Futures and Options by Hull and Basu.

Enterprise Risk Management
Topics include

  • Risk Categories and Identification;
  • Risk Modeling and Aggregation of Risks;
  • Risk Measures;
  • Risk Management Tools and Techniques;
  • Economic Capital.

Reinsurance
Reinsurance Pricing

Topics include

  • Different types of reinsurance (proportional and non-proportional);
  • Variable features (AAD, AAL, reinstatement, sliding scale, profit commission);
  • As-if Principle;
  • Main pricing approach (experience rating, exposure rating, loss model).

Pension

Pension Mathematics
Topics include

  • Cost methods;
  • Analysis of gains/losses.

IAS accounting of pensions
Topics include

  • Classification of pension systems in IAS 19;
  • Valuing pension promises in accounting;
  • Presentation of results;
  • Will in the future also contain the standards of the IAA applicable to pension accounting.

Pension Risk Management
Topics include

  • Different types of management of occupational pensions: overview of different pension promises and different funding mechanisms;
  • Overview of ERM in general and how it can be applied to pensions.

Life Contingencies and Pension Funds

Health Care

Health Care Reserving in a Market With Constant Change and Limited Data

Health Care Cost and Utilization Analysis With Limited Data

General/Non-Life/Property and Casualty

Introductory P&C Ratemaking
Topics include

  • Exposures;
  • Adjustment of premiums and losses;
  • Calculation of overall indications.

Advanced P&C Ratemaking
Topics include

  • Classification ratemaking;
  • Credibility;
  • Commercial lines ratemaking.

Introductory P&C Loss Reserving
Topics include

  • Information gathering and the development;
  • Expected claims;
  • Bornhuetter-Ferguson techniques.

Advanced P&C Loss Reserving
Topics include

  • Cape Cod;
  • Frequency-severity;
  • Case outstanding and Berquist-Sherman techniques;
  • Estimating claim adjustment expenses.

Introduction to Capital Adequacy Testing for General Insurance Companies

Solvency II

Solvency II and insurance risk management
European Solvency II and how the solvency of an insurance undertaking is handled with the three pillars of Solvency II. Comparison to banking prudential supervision in Basel III.

Own Risk and Solvency Assessment
The so-called qualitative 2nd pillar of the European Solvency II contains a risk management tool called ORSA. Lectures would cover how the ORSA has taken shape in the international discussion between the IAIS and the IAA and how it has then ended up into being a central component of the European Solvency II directive. The general guidelines for ORSA have been produced by EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) and the Groupe Consultatif has been active in putting flesh around the bones. The course would present the issue and outline the role of the actuary in performing the ORSA. Material: EIOPA guidelines on ORSA and GC work on ORSA.

Life

Survival Models
Topics include

  • Mortality tables;
  • Exposed to risk and graduation;
  • Simple life contingency problems.

Life Contingencies
Outline development of basic life contingency model, and its generalization to Markov chain based models.

Pricing
"Market Consistent Pricing (MCP)
Topics include

  • Introduction of MCP;
  • Comparison of MCP and traditional pricing using a case study;
  • The impact of MCP on product design;
  • Challenges with MCP.

Market Consistent Pricing of Participating Product
Case Study: MCEV0 for Taiwan Highwater mark product

Economics

Business Economics (Exam CT7 of the UK syllabus)
This subject provides a grounding in the fundamental concepts of economics as they affect the operation of insurance and other financial systems.

Risk Management

Actuarial Risk Management (Exam CA1 of the UK syllabus)
Topics include

  • life and non-life insurance;
  • reinsurance;
  • financial markets;
  • analysis of surplus;
  • asset-liability management.

Developing Risk Management Systems in Insurance (Reinsurance) Companies
Governance of the risk management function in an insurance company, and the roles of the different players (board, senior management, CRO, Chief Actuary, regulator, rating agencies, etc.)

Risk Appetite and Strategic Planning

Economic Capital (EC)
Topics include

  • Introduction of EC and its role in capital management and strategic decision;
  • Required EC calculation model for market risk, credit risk, insurance risk, and operation risk;
  • Diversification benefit and related model risk;
  • How to use EC in risk management.

Special Topics

Actuarial Issues of Climate Change

Policyholder Behavior and Management Action
Topics include

  • Introduction of policyholder behaviors and their potential impact such as dynamic lapse and dynamic premium payment;
  • Introduction of typical management actions such as credit interest rate setting and product bonus decision;
  • Dynamic models that reflect policyholder behavior and management action;
  • Model parameter calibration and experience data requirement;
  • Product designs that mitigate policyholder behavior risks.