Sa7 purpose

Discussion in 'SA7' started by i-actuary, Dec 21, 2019.

  1. i-actuary

    i-actuary Active Member

    Hi ,
    I have just finished with my sts (st2 and st5). So now it is time to choose my sa. I work as a life actuary so the easiest choice would be sa2 as i am familiar with the material. However i enjoyed st5 much more. So i started thinking about sa7. The main problem is the lack of actual knowledge so by default i will be in disadvantage compare to others. On the other hand it is in my intentions to change my career path at some day and move to investment actuarial stuff. Any feedback?

    thanks
     
  2. Colin McKee

    Colin McKee ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    Hi, Glad you enjoyed ST5 (SP5) - you are certainly right that it helps with an SA subject to be working in the area. For SA7, the ideal field is something like investment consulting, trustee advice, manager selection or other fund management / structured products area. But it is not essential, and many students from other disciplines have successfully passed SA7 without working in this environment. So it is a hard one to advise. On the one hand it is definitely possible with hard work to pass SA7 when working in life insurance. On the other hand if you were unlucky and got an exam with a topical question in it, which perhaps you were unaware was a current issue in the investment consulting field, then you might struggle and have to sit the exam again. Sorry I cant be more helpful. It is really a question of personal preference.
     
    i-actuary likes this.
  3. i-actuary

    i-actuary Active Member

    Hi Colin,
    Many thanks for this. So practically lets stick to sa2.
    Thanks again and all the best!
     
  4. studier

    studier Member

    Passing SA7 working in Life is doable. I work in Life passed it at the first attempt and haven't got the ST5, the prerequisite exam (I did 6 and 9). I haven't worked in our Investment teams but do have quite a bit of market and credit risk modelling experience. Even with having to go back and learn bits of ST5 which aren't covered in 6 and 9, I didn't do more than the recommended number of study hours. I would recommend Colin's tutorials though if you decide to do it.

    Certainly for me, it was important to do study something that I enjoyed as I had got fed up with studying. I enjoyed the majority of SA7 but don't think that I would have enjoyed much of SA2.

    Even doing SA2, you can get caught out on areas you are not that familiar with. SA2 often has only two questions and people I work with have struggled on questions about managing WP funds in runoff or matching adjustments if they have no relevant experience.
     

Share This Page