Association Actuarielle Sino-française

By X.Sherwin Li, FIA, FCAA, China Re P&C

Many of my overseas friends asked me the question,"How can I become a China Certified Actuary?" "Can I directly be recognized as a China Certified Actuary if I hold the Fellowship of another international actuarial organizaton such as FSA(US) or FIA(UK)?"

The answer is, sorry that you can't.

At present one has to pass 14 exams to get the certificate of China Certified Actuary from the hand of CIRC, the China insurance industry regulator. After you pass the first 9 exams, you will get the certificate of China Certified Associate Actuary from CIRC.

You can claim some exemptions if you have successfully passed the exams of another international actuarial organization, but the exemptions are limited within the first 6 exams of China Certified Actuarial Examinations. For example, you will be exempt from the first 6 exams if you have passed the first 4 exams of SOA/CAS(US) or the CT 1-8 exams of IOA(UK). However, the remaining exams are required to pass if you want to get the Certificate of China Certified Actuary.

One more thing that needs to be clarified is the relationship between China Certified Actuary and Fellow of China Association of Actuaries(FCAA). I know that in other countries there are only Fellows of an national actuarial organization and the Fellows are certified actuaries, but it is not the case in China. The certificate of  China Certified Actuary is issued by the authorized regulator CIRC but the certificate of FCAA is issued by China Association of Actuaries(CAA). A China Certified Actuary can get the certificate of FCAA directly from CAA, but not all of the FCAAs hold the certificate of China Certified Actuaries issued by CIRC. Any person who is the Fellow of an international actuarial organization can apply for the certificate of FCAA directly from CAA, but he is not qualified to apply for the certificate of China Certified Actuary from CIRC unless he has passed all the required exams and the Course on Professionalism. It is the same with some university professors, who can be a FCAA but not a China Certified Actuary. That is to say, all the China Certified Actuaries are FCAAs but not all of the FCAAs are China Certified Actuaries. I have seen that some China Certified Actuaries use the designation FSAC, Fellow of Society of Acturies of China (Society of Actuaries of China is the predecessor of CAA) in order to indicate that he is a China Certified Actuary not just a simple FCAA.

Maybe you are wondering why the certificate of China Certified Actuary is so important. How about just a FCAA? Of cousre there are some differences. For example, if you want to be the Chief Actuary of a life insurer in China, you are required to hold the certificate of China Certified Actuary issued by CIRC. If not, you will be restricted by more requirements such as passing some extra exams organized by CIRC.