TIA’s Exam 7 Blog

Welcome to those who have signed up for the 2022 exam sitting, and also welcome back to those who sat in 2021.
For the 2nd year in a row, the CAS has made no changes to the syllabus content.

I’m currently in the process of converting all the TIA exercises, and the last 10 years of exams to CBT format, and also recording at least 2 problem walkthroughs per paper.

The exams are mostly done, and the exercises are about 35% done; I expect section A to be done by the end of the year, and the rest by the end of January.

I’ve also made a slight change in the order of the syllabus; the new schedule does a better job of spreading out the reading/watching videos. Each week’s videos are about 4 hours of content.

As per usual, the place to ask questions is in the forum, I’ll typically respond within 2 days.

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With the exam window opening on Thursday, November 19th, I will stop taking new questions during the exam window.
Also, do not use the forum as a place to discuss the exam topics. The material that is already up will stay up.

CBT Exams for Practice

In addition to the exams that are already up, we will also publish Practice Exam 2 in CBT. This is expected to go up on Thursday 11/19.

The currently available CBT Exams are:
CAS 2016
CAS 2017
CAS 2018
CAS 2019
Practice Exam 1

-Alejandro

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I’ll be posting past CAS exams in CBT format in the next few weeks.
The following exams will be ready by the date listed below.

October 23rd - CAS Exam 2017
October 30th - CAS Exam 2018
November 6th - CAS Exam 2019

I’m going to see if I can post more past exams, as well as TIA Practice exams in CBT format.

-Alejandro

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The exam is 18 weeks away. The study schedule is setup for 15 weeks, so starts on June 22nd.

Just a reminder that I am here daily to check for questions in the forum.

Stay safe

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TIA Announcement

I’m writing to let you know that in the event that your exam is canceled due to COVID-19, we will grant you a free extension. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email us.

Study hard,

James Washer, FSA
CEO

CAS Announcement
CAS Announcement

Dear Candidates,

As you know, the CAS has been closely monitoring the continuing developments pertaining to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including their potential impact on our ability to safely and effectively administer exams to CAS candidates at testing sites around the world. After reviewing the latest information from the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as well as evolving employer restrictions and international site closures, we have made the decision to postpone the CAS exam sittings scheduled for April 22-29 for MAS-I, MAS-II, Exam 5, Exam 6-Canada, Exam 6-US, Exam 7 and Exam 9 until further notice.

This announcement pertains solely to the CAS exams mentioned above. For exams and courses administered by other organizations, such as SOA preliminary exams and CAS online courses administered by The Institutes, please refer to those organizations directly for the most updated information. We are also actively monitoring the situation with respect to the CAS Course on Professionalism offerings scheduled for June; plans for those courses will be announced at a later date.

We understand the gravity of the situation for candidates who utilize CAS exams to advance their careers, as well as their employers, and very much want to preserve the opportunity for you to sit for your exam. We are actively exploring options to administer the exams at a later date, with our goal at this point being mid-June. Should that prove feasible, we will contact you as soon as we have firm details on the new exam schedule and will strive to provide at least six weeks’ notice of the new exam dates. If we decide that we need to shift that timeline further, we will contact you as soon as that decision is made. If you would no longer like to sit for your registered exam at a future date and prefer a refund, please contact the CAS at [email protected]. If we are unable to administer the exams at a later date, the CAS will contact you directly with additional details regarding refunds.

Please know that I understand the disappointment and frustration you may be feeling. We recognize that this is a challenging time for all, and we remain deeply committed to your safety and that of all our CAS community. If you have any additional questions about this topic, please reach out to the Actuaries’ Resource Center at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Steve Armstrong, FCAS
CAS President

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The Book 5 material is updated.
This is all the material in Enterprise Risk Analysis (ERA), or Brehm.

-Alejandro

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Book 4 material is up: Marshall, Teng & Perkins, Goldfarb.

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The papers for weeks 4 & 5 were published. This is Book 3, so that is also published.

You can see changes made to material under Other Info/Books -> Study Tools -> Updates to TIA Material

I’ll be traveling through January 27th, and will have little opportunity to respond to questions until the 28th.

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Welcome to the TIA Review Course for exam 7.

The syllabus is unchanged from last year, and has had only minor changes in the last 4 years, and the addition of one paper (Taylor in 2019).

Therefore, there are no major changes to the TIA material.

A recommended study schedule has been posted under Other Info / Books -> Study Tools.

The Manuals and Lessons are prepared with the goal of explaining the concepts to you. These have the most value where the material is particularly technical, difficult to read or follow, or lacks context.
There are a number of exercises for each paper, and the past problems are also included in the manual.
I also prepare “Books” that are just the manuals for several papers into a single pdf, so you can download and print. These are ideal for binding.

The papers are updated for Book 1; Book 2 will be ready in the next couple of days; and Books 3-5 will be updated in the next 2-3 weeks.

For those who took the course last year, I’ve also published a document that points out any changes in the material from last year. This is in Other Info/Books -> Study Tools.
This will be updated at the Books are published.

For the Review stage of preparation, there are three types of material for you to use:
- Flashcards
- Review Notes
- Past/Practice Exams

The Review Notes are intended to cover the major points of each paper, in just a few pages - including major concepts, lists, algorithms, and formulas. These are not explanatory documents, but rather intended for review. I like this, because I can review the entire contents of a paper relatively quickly. It’s also a good source for looking things up.

I’ll be on the forum nearly daily; and should be able to get back to you within a couple of days, if not sooner. This may be delayed when I’m traveling. I’ll post travel on here a week in advance.

Good luck! I look forward to helping you pass exam 7.

-Alejandro

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I will be without internet access from March 27 to March 30th.
I should be able to clear any backlog on the forum by April 1st.

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