I work in General Insurance but I am considering the Investment and Finance subjects for the specialist applications/principles exams. Does anyone know if it is common or usually permitted to do this? I am interested to know what some of the fields of work and roles are of students currently planning on sitting the SA7 exam are - that might help. Also of course, it would be interesting to know the fields/roles on SP5 and SP6 students, but that would be a different thread! Please share if you are willing. Thanks
I cant answer the part about whether employers are happy for students to sit SA7 if its not their main area of employment - I suspect that varies by employer and by employment area. But in terms of the types of work that SA7 students do, I would say that a high proportion do work in investment related fields (trustee advise, ALM modelling, manager research, structured products, banking, ...) But there are some that do SA7 because they dont want to do a liability subject in case it roots them to a particular area. Passing SA7 is easier when you work in a relevant role, but its not impossible if you dont, particularly if you enjoyed and were good at SP5. Hope this helps.
Hi! I saw this post and find this relevant to my recent experience. I have been in reserving for 5 years and that is all i did so far in the actuarial world, i have recently moved to an Investment & Pension role, and i have recently qualified as a GI actuary. I am learning the SP5 to prep for my new role and looking to learn SP6 and SA7 soon. The SP subjects do help a lot for the specific field, I find these essential, that is my opinions.
If a fellow is qualified on SA7/SP5 (i.e. investments and finance subjects), is there an IFoA restriction on areas one can work on? And also, can the same fellow also take on reserved roles in traditional areas like GI after getting the relevent experience?
