The CAS Exam 6 is a four day course (8:00 am to 5:00 pm), taught by Mr.
Sholom Feldblum, FCAS, FSA, CPCU, CFA. Tuition is $485, payable to New
England Actuarial Seminars. The seminar will be held twice:
- At the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont,
Illinois, September 5– 8, 2010.
- At the Woodbridge Hotel and Conference Center (formerly the Sheraton
Hotel at Woodbridge Place) in Iselin, NJ, September 14 -17, 2010
Exam 6 is a broad examination. Candidates must be proficient reserving
techniques, reinsurance pricing, and intuition (statutory and GAAP)
accounting. Candidates lacking experience in the more complex subjects, such
as reserving for accrued retrospective premiums or accounting for
retrospective reinsurance contracts, find the readings difficult to master.
The seminar covers all the readings on the Exam 6 syllabus, with emphasis
on recent additions, complex papers, and likely exam problems. The study
material includes extensive study aids, illustrative test questions, and
practice problems with detailed solutions, such as the following:
- The Recommended Study Schedule provides a comprehensive roadmap
through the syllabus with an efficient study order, based on the
relative benefit per hour of study time spent on each reading. The Study
Schedule shows which pages and exhibits should be reviewed carefully
and which pages may be skimmed. It highlights the formulas most likely
to be tested and it explains how examiners form test questions. The
extensive study recommendations ensure that you are optimally prepared
for the exam.
- Seminar participants find the Study Schedule indispensable for
efficient review of the syllabus material. The Study Schedule
saves you weeks of wasteful wandering, of slowly getting acquainted with
the syllabus, and enables you to focus on the material that provides the
maximum benefit
- Accrued Retrospective Premiums
covers the Teng & Perkins
paper, with practice problems, illustrative test questions, and model
solutions to past exam problems. Candidates find this paper difficult to
master on their own; the study aid clearly explains both the concepts and
the details of the reserving method
- GAAP and Statutory Accounting:
Three study aids contain paragraph
by paragraph explanations of SFAS 5 (Contingencies), SFAS 60 (Insurance
Accounting), and SFAS 113 (Reinsurance Accounting). Eight additional study
aids have illustrative test questions and answers for the GAAP, statutory,
and reinsurance accounting on the Exam 6 syllabus.
- Reserving:
Step-by-step guides cover likely exam problems on
reserving, with the pieces needed for full credit in each scenario.
Comprehensive study aids and illustrative Excel work-sheets ensure optimal
exam preparation for Barnett and Zehnwirth, Pinto and Gogol, Mack, Brosius,
Patrik (Cape Code method).
- Reinsurance:
The Guides to Reinsurance Pricing rewrite the
syllabus readings (Clark, Ludwig, textbooks) in a step-by-step format,
with practice problems and illustrative test questions for each topic.
Mr. Feldblum covers advanced reserving, reinsurance, and accounting, with
material from each subject on each day, usually in reserving (A),
reinsurance (B), accounting (C) order. The order of topics will depend on
candidates’ preparation, with seminar time being spent where it is most
useful.
Session A1: Credibility for Loss Reserves
- Least squares (Brosius); Benktander (Mack’s paper).
- Brosius on Loss Development Using Credibility
: least squares method;
correlations; credibility; linear regression; tail development; Brosius’s
simulation; Bayesian analysis; continuous distributions; Development
Formulas 1 and 2; practice problems w/ expected process variance and
variance of hypothetical means
- Mack on Becktander Method
: optimal weights; iterated Bornhuetter-Ferguson;
comparison with Brosius’s least squares
Session A2: Patrick on Reinsurance Reserving (Cape Cod Method)
Patrik: Adjusted premium; rate level changes; loss trends;
Bornhuetter-Ferguson vs Cape Cod; loss costs vs claim counts; reported vs
paid losses
Session A3: Excess Loss Reserving
- For Pinto and Gogol we focus on the use of ISO size-of-loss distributions
for excess development by retention and maturity. We follow the steps of the
procedure, from empirical data at low retentions and early maturity to
fitted curves at high retentions and the progression of curves at later
retentions, and then to development in a layer of loss and to paid loss
development factors.
- Siewert uses the same indirect reserving methods as Pinto and Gogol. We
work likely exam problems on loss development above deductibles or in
layers.