The Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) announced the launch of a global risk management credential, the CERA (Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst), to address the urgent need for highly qualified risk professionals globally, especially in the financial sector. The launch was marked by the CAS signing of a multilateral treaty in Hyderabad, India, during the meetings of the International Actuarial Association (IAA). The treaty was signed by 14 IAA member associations based in 12 countries around the world, including many of the major world economies.

The credential will be awarded through qualified participating associations, and will incorporate and adopt the name CERA, currently issued by the Society of Actuaries (SOA). It will identify actuaries who meet stringent education requirements in enterprise risk management (ERM) and are governed by a strong code of professional conduct.

Fred Rowley, chair of the Global CERA Steering Group, said, “The demand for highly qualified professionals in this field is growing rapidly as management and boards recognize the need for substantially improved risk management. Markets and regulators are demanding better and more informed decision making and risk controls.
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Last year, the American Academy of Actuaries’ Casualty Practice Council announced that, under the CAS 2011 syllabus, the basic education requirements for signing an NAIC PC Opinion would be CAS Associateship plus new Exam 7 (Advanced Reserving and ERM) which, among other things, covers reinsurance. (See “Requirements for ACAS to Issue NAIC PC Opinions and the 2011 CAS Syllabus” by Mary Frances Miller and David Menning in the September 2009 issue of Future Fellows.)

In creating the individual exam syllabi for the 2011 education structure, the Syllabus Committee decided that reinsurance would best be covered on two exams—within the context of reserving (new Exam 7) and reinsurance ratemaking (new Exam 8). This proposal was submitted to the Academy’s Casualty Practice Council to address a concern that new Exam 8 might also be required to sign an opinion. The Casualty Practice Council reviewed the proposal and replied that this change did not cause it to change its previous guidance that, under the 2011 CAS education structure, ACAS and New Exam 7 (“or coverage of the reinsurance topic at the same level of mastery through alternative education”) would be required to meet the specific qualification standard for NAIC PC Opinions.