Hi, I am planning to take CA2 but unfortunately I don’t have any work experience in the insurance field yet. Will I be able to do the paper? Also are we required to know on our own what formulas will be needed to formulate the models? Will the course notes help in terms of refreshing our knowledge on the formulas such as annuity calculations etc.? Thanks. Sheri
The paper doesn't rely on work experience, but it helps. (Just as it's recommended that you pass all the CTs before trying - it's not required, but it helps.) Generally, you can get by with rudimentary Excel skills (IF, SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, VLOOKUP, RANK, etc). If there's anything out of the ordinary (LOGINV, NORM.DIST, etc) then these are generally explained in the notes. Things like annuity formulas and recursive assurance factors will also be explained. I'd suggest that you try a few past papers to get a feel for the level of knowledge required. However, the focus of the exam is communication of what you're modelling, rather than the model itself, and so while it obviously helps a lot to get the model right, it's not essential.
