I am interested to know how much reading, outside of the core reading, people actually do for SA2 + also is this reading purely restricted to the recommended reading list or do people read around the subject using any other sources (e.g. reading that they come across in their day-to-day work)? Of the recommended reading, which items have people found particularly useful? It would be good to hear the views of people who have passed SA2/402 as well to see what additional reading they attribute their success to (although I doubt many of these people will actually be using this forum)!.
Most useful? In my opinion, the three papers below are the most useful of the recommended reading: 1 )Twin peaks - the enhanced capital requirements for realistic basis life firms 2) Asset shares and their use in the financial management of a with-profits fund. 3) Getting to grips with fair value. The first is one of the most readable of the SIAS papers, and is useful for the sections on RBSs. I'm guessing anyone on the Life side who's worked on an RBS will probably have seen this. Some of the diagrams are reproduced in the SA2 notes. The second is less readable, but since asset-shares tend to apply to so much of SA2, it gives some idea of how they are used in practice and alternative measures. The last one has a few sections on embedded value, which has been a popular topic in the past. There's some useful comparisons between embedded value and fair value. Can't actually tell you if they helped me pass until the results come out in December!
Bump!! A year on, are there any other thoughts out there in Actuary-land? How much help does reading all these things help come exam time? And what is the best way to churn through them? Cheers, CC
I'd agree that the 3 papers Paul mentions above are useful ones. Also worth highlighting is "Current Developments in Embedded Value Reporting" (2005) by O'Keeffe et al which, as well as being in the list of additional reading, is also mentioned in the Core Reading in Chapter 20 of the 2007 Course Notes. Best wishes with the studying (and further reading )
