New Material on Reserves

Hi,

In using the Revision booklets for the 2015 session, there are questions on Reserves which may no longer be applicable, or the answers for which are no longer accurate (and as such those answers in the Revision booklets should be ignored).

Could you please specify which is the case for the following questions on Reserves (I think these questions cover the whole Reserves topic:

1) Apr 2007 Q8
2) Apr 2008 Q4
3) Apr 2009 Q6
4) Sept 2009 Q3
5) Apr 2010 Q6
6) Sept 2011 Q1
7) Oct 2012 Q3
8) Oct 2013 Q5iii
9) Apr 2014 Q2
10) Sept 2014 Q3
11) Apr 2015 Exam sitting?
12) Sept 2015 Exam sitting?

Thanks,

James

 

Good question - I'm sure there will be others asking the same thing.
Nearly all of the existing questions are fine after the syllabus change.

The only question that we would not expect to be asked is S 11 Q1(i).

All the other questions you list are ok (and we can't spot any others that might be affected).

In terms of the solutions in the revision notes, we would expect slightly different answers just to S 09 Q3(ii), and (very slightly) to O 13 Q5(iii). Basically before the syllabus change, the default position was to assume that supervisory reserves would be prudent (though sometimes they were not, when instead there would be large solvency capital requirements). Now the default has shifted slightly, so that either we can have prudent reserves and not so much solvency capital, or we can have best estimate (eg market-consistent) reserves but loads of solvency capital, so the overall result is still "prudence". These old solutions were written from the old default position, and so would change slightly to reflect the new approach.

So, basically, the existing questions and their solutions would barely change. But, of course, don't forget there is new material on the 2016 syllabus which won't feature at all in past questions.

Robert