Treatment of Regulatory Material

In combination with specific FSA courses, the U.S. regulatory certificate covers all the knowledge statements for meeting the basic education requirements of the SQS.

The certificates will be of value to FSAs or near-FSAs who intend to be an insurer’s appointed actuary, work heavily in valuation aspects of an insurer, or will be required to sign specific life or health financial valuation statements (colloquially, blue blank and orange blank). The certificates will also benefit those working on teams that focus in these areas.

There are no prerequisites for individuals to take the U.S. Regulatory Certificates.

No. The certificate is for FSAs working in life and health who have completed their FSA requirements in November 2025 or onward, and intend to sign a Statement of Actuarial Opinion.

The certificate is not a requirement and is not necessary to obtain an FSA. If you have taken the FSA course requirements that align with the certificate and currently work in life or health valuation or you decide to work in health or life valuation later, you may want to take this certificate now.

The CIA sets their own requirements for the FCIA designation. Please contact the CIA for more information.

The certificate is not necessary to obtain on FSA.

FSAs earned completely under the prior structure do not need to take any additional courses. While they meet the basic education requirements, they are still responsible for the other requirements of the SQS.

The U.S. Regulatory certificates were designed like other SOA e-Learning modules.

Each certificate is an educational program that comprises:

• Self-paced e-Learning (40–60 hours)
• Live virtual seminar with an instructor (6-8 hours)
• Take-home assessment (96-hour window)

The assessment will be offered three times during the year.

The SOA released both the life and health certificate modules.

The live, virtual seminar and assessment will be available by November 2026 and it will be offered three times a year starting in 2027.

The reinsurance section of the life certification is still being finalized. Those taking the November 2026 assessment in life will also need to complete the reinsurance section at a later date. Please contact education@soa.org.

The first assessment for both regulatory certificates will open by November 2026. There will be a 120-hour period and candidates select the 96 hours to work within. There will be three assessment windows starting in 2027.

Once downloaded, the assessment must be completed within 96 hours or before the submission deadline, whichever comes first. If your submission is not uploaded before time expires, you will need to retake the assessment during the next offering.

In conjunction with required coursework, the SOA’s regulatory certificates will have covered the knowledge statements of the Basic Education requirement in Section 3.1.1 of the U.S. Specific Qualification Standard (USQS_2021). The SOA courses and exams are the only formal way a candidate can demonstrate coverage of all the knowledge statements.

Members of U.S.-based organizations that have adopted the Code of Professional Conduct, whether or not they are also members of the American Academy of Actuaries, are subject to all requirements imposed by the Qualification Standard for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States (U.S. Qualification Standards).

All FSAs who took courses in the new pathway meet the basic education requirements for signing general statements of actuarial opinion.

To cover the SQS, you must take specific exams in addition to the certificate in your practice area/line of business:

• Health:
  • GH 101: Benefits and Pricing
  • GH 201-U: Valuation and Regulation, U.S.
  • GH 301: Health Analytics and Management
• Life
  • ILA 101: Pricing and Introduction to Valuation and Risk Management
  • ILA 201-U: Valuation and Advanced Product and Risk Management, U.S.
  • CP 351: Asset Liability Management

The SOA works with the NAIC to ensure that the curriculum in the required courses and certificate fully cover the knowledge statements. There will be an annual review to ensure that the curriculum reflects current practice and regulations.

We have regulatory material available. We made adjustments to ensure our courses are relevant to our FSA candidates regardless of location. Depending on practice area, there are opportunities to learn about local products (U.S., Canadian, international) and how their pricing and reserving are influenced by local regulations.

The SOA does not currently have regulatory content that is country specific outside of the U.S. and Canada.

Yes, the SOA will continue to offer Canadian-specific content via our new courses and their accompanying exams as we have successfully done for decades. We remain committed to providing this education for those working with Canadian products and regulations.