I'm just on chapter 6 of the material - it's INCREDIBLY detailed. How on earth am I going to remember all this legislation/methods of calculating different capital requirements ? (It's interesting tho , well sorta)
you should see the other SA subjects! Think yourself lucky - SA3 has the least Core Reading of all the SA subjects. There are LOADS of legislation chapters for SA2, for example. And given how little other bookwork there is in the notes, I think SA3 students get off lightly. Of course, the exam is a different matter!
How do all the SA subjects compare for core reading? Things are getting desperate and I am starting to panic. If I do not get SA3 this time Nov/Dec2005, should I switch to SA0? As I have no proper GI experience, will no proper Healthcare experience be just as relevant? Effectively the reading for the SA3 exam is SA3 and ST3. How does this compare with the other SA and ST subjects?
What about the paper recommended as essential extra reading: "Risk-based capital in general insurance" - 1996 , I can only find a 1994 paper on the IOA website , can u provide a link ?
Differences between SA subjects Shyguy: Don't panic! It's very early days so far. Having no GI experience is a disadvantage for SA3. However, I've known plenty of people in this situation who have passed, but it will involve more reading around the subject and perhaps talking to people in the industry to get a better idea of "what's going on". Should you switch to SA1 (health)? If you need a "fresh start", this could be the way to go. SA1 is fairly similar to SA3 in terms of volume and difficulty of content. There are bits taken from SA2 and SA3 (eg legislation), but there is less detail than in those subjects. Again, having health experience is an advantage, but it's not impossible without it. Like SA3/ST3, SA1 questions test ST1 Core Reading knowledge too, but be warned as ST1 is BIG. How do the other SA subjects compare? SA2 has a vast amount of CR and also relies on having a good understanding of ST2. Although specifics from ST2 are unlikely to be examined in the SA2 exam, the topics will be similar. SA4 is similar in these respects to SA2. SA6 relies heavily on CA11 and ST5 but contains a lot of stuff that is outside any of these. SA5 contains a lot from ST5 and a lot from SA5 itself but not much from outside the courses. I hope all this gives you some idea of which way to go. If you're still not sure, contact the relevant SA tutor for further information or you could try asking other students via the other SA subject forums. Parnell: You need to log in as a member to the Institute/Faculty site, then click on "resource centre", then "actuarial journals" to access the relevant BAJ. Best of luck to you both Ian
Thanks parnell and ian Thanks to you both... I am retaking SA3 (an FB again)...I will have to make that investment and do an assignment marking course - series Y and put in those studying hours of which I have been deprived in the last decade and even possibly give up work. At least I have achieved the latter (voluntarily or stupidly). Parnell, if you desperately need a hard copy of the additonal reading the libraries (Institute and Facuty) are helpful but Ian's sughgestion is better for the 21st century...you can also get the old GIROs from the actuaries.org.uk website too.
