Non-UK student appearing for ST2 & SA2

[Ivanhoe]

Hi,

I work in the Pensions domain outside UK. I wish to know if one needs to be aware of the UK life insurance environment/regulations in order to be able to successfully pass ST2 and SA2. I intend to specialize in Life Insurance.

Also, I am not inclined to study for ST5&6 and SA5&6 as I understand that for these subjects knowledge of CT8 is a prerequisite. I had secured an exemption in CT8 due to a degree in finance earned a long time ago. I do not have the time or the inclination to study CT8 again.

Can I please have your thoughts on this?


Regards,

 

[cjno1]

ST2 talks about products in very general terms so you don't need any specific UK knowledge.

However, SA2 is a UK specific exam that considers the UK's products, tax, regulation, etc. Again, you don't NEED to have experience in the UK since the core reading will explain all the relevant UK-specific details, however it will be hugely beneficial.

Additionally, some of the questions at SA level try to draw upon recent events in the real world, so it will be useful if you are aware of what has been going on in UK life insurance markets in the last couple of years.

 

[bystander]

If you are doing the UK exams, whichever SA you do will have a UK bias but non of the STs do.

Regarding your CT8 exemption, you wouldn't need to study it in earnest, but it may be wise to look at the syllabus now to compare with what you did at uni. Syllabuses move over time. Then think how well you remember it.

It may be enough to simply buy a copy of the course notes in case you need a quick refresher on certain things. The core exam qns will be on the ST stuff rather than retesting earlier stuff so I think you'd be OK.

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you Cjno1 and Bystander!

Cjno1: So, you suggest that attempting the life track would be risky, and this would hold for other tracks as well,I guess. I wonder if any non-UK student has managed to clear SA2.

Bystander: Can you let me know the amount of content of CT8 that is in ST5 and how much time will I need to dedicate in order to grasp it? I cleared CFA exams 7 years ago and hence cannot remember much of it. I am faced with a paucity of time and my ebbing drive and was hence was loath to study a prior paper.

Do let me know of your opinion..Thanks...

 

[zhin2000]

You don't need to study CT8 to take ST5. Where relevant, the acted course notes either recap or point you to the relevant parts in the CT8 notes. But the references to CT8 are pretty rare.

Where there are links to CT8, make sure you follow through. The ST5 paper I wrote had a question about the weaknesses of the Capital Asset Pricing Model. This wasn't in the ST5 notes, but if you'd just looked up CAPM in CT8, you'd have gotten 5 easy marks. I hadn't, but lucky for me that didn't turn out to be very costly.

 

[Mark Willder]

I work in the Pensions domain outside UK. I wish to know if one needs to be aware of the UK life insurance environment/regulations in order to be able to successfully pass ST2 and SA2. I intend to specialize in Life Insurance.

There's lots of good advice in this thread regarding ST2 and SA2. Thanks to everyone who has posted so far.

The fellowship exam is designed to test UK knowledge, so the more you know about UK life insurance the better. The Core Reading and ActEd notes cover what you need to know.

The notes also suggest additional reading which can help broaden your knowledge and fill in the gaps. You should also be reading The Actuary magazine to keep up to date with current issues.

Lots of students from outside the UK pass SA2 each year, but I agree that it is harder to pass without working in the UK. However, remember that although a UK student may know the work of their department very well, it's unlikely that they will be familiar with all aspects of the course, so everyone will find that there's lots of unfamiliar material in SA2 anyway.

I hope this provides some encouragement. Good luck with your studies.

Mark

ST2/SA2 tutor

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you for your responses, Prof Willder and Zhin2000!

I cleared CA1 and so the decision needs to be made now.

Prof Willder: I had some questions...

Are you aware of the proportion of Non-UK students clearing SA2?

Is the additional reading enough to be able to successfully attempt SA2? What is the volume of this additional reading material?

Is additional reading necessary for ST2?

I was contemplating taking the October attempt for one ST. I will be happy if you could answer these

 

[Mark Willder]

I cleared CA1 and so the decision needs to be made now.

Excellent news. Congratulations.

Are you aware of the proportion of Non-UK students clearing SA2?

I don't have any figures for this, but the pass rate must be higher for UK-based students who have greater exposure to the UK environment and have access to tutorials.

Is the additional reading enough to be able to successfully attempt SA2? What is the volume of this additional reading material?

Core Reading lists around 30 papers in the additional reading. We've added a few more to the list that the tutors find useful too. Some of these papers are very long - well over 50 pages - so there's a huge amount of additional reading. Core Reading also recommends checking out a few websites (eg the regulatory authorities) for their updates.

If you could read (and fully understand) all of these papers and keep up to date with current affairs from all the websites, then you would be incredibly well prepared. Realistically you won't be able to read them all, but try to read at least the summaries, introductions and conclusions of as many papers as you can to get the main points.

Is additional reading necessary for ST2?

No. There is no additional reading for ST2.

ST2 is not UK specific, so there's not a requirement to read up on UK issues. Everything you need is in the course notes.

Good luck with whichever subject you decide to take.

Best wishes

Mark

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you Professor!