SA receives international approval to train actuaries in managing risk

South Africa is in the process of training some of the world’s first actuaries formally qualified to devise and implement effective risk strategies for organisations. This follows the approval last month of South Africa’s Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary (CERA) qualification by the CERA Global Association in Switzerland.

Peter Doyle, President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa, says the Society is expecting to announce the country’s first actuaries with the internationally recognised new CERA qualification later this year. Currently the US, UK and Australia are the only other countries where actuaries can obtain the international CERA qualification.

Towards the end of 2009, the Society joined 13 actuarial societies around the world in adopting the CERA designation through the signing of a multilateral treaty. The CERA Global Association was set up last year, tasked with ensuring that high technical standards are maintained for the qualification and that the syllabus is comprehensive and addresses the important challenges across all major sectors. Accredited organisations, such as the Actuarial Society of South Africa, are required to undergo an annual review of testing processes, pass rates and quality assurance, and will undergo a much more in-depth review every three years.

Doyle says an internationally recognised enterprise risk management qualification for actuaries is critical as this ensures best practice risk management across global financial services sectors.

“We envisage actuaries not only being equipped to identify and assess risk, but also to lead the development of an organisation’s risk management strategies. The qualification is designed to equip actuaries to fulfil roles such as chief risk officer beyond the traditional actuarial fields. Key for multi-national companies is the fact that the CERA qualification is accepted globally.”

Doyle says the global financial crisis exposed excessive risk taking by organisations around the world, highlighting the need for people qualified to assess and manage complex financial risks. This accelerated the development of the CERA qualification, which aims to address the urgent global need for actuaries highly qualified in risk management.

“The CERA qualification demonstrates the commitment of the actuarial profession to creating and maintaining the highest level of professional standards in risk management,” comments Doyle.

In preparation for Solvency II and Basel III, for example, the qualification requires understanding of how to measure, model and manage risks and how economic capital can be best applied.

Doyle says the new CERA qualification has been incorporated into the Society’s education curriculum and Associate members and Fellows of the Society interested in adding the CERA qualification to their names have commenced their studies.

The Society launched South Africa’s own professional actuarial qualification at the end of 2009. Previously South Africans had to turn to foreign countries to qualify as actuaries, with the majority qualifying via the UK system.