The SOA recently announced future changes to fellowship exams. For people on the ILA track, the changes do not appear to be of major concern with respect to the timing of when you take exams between now and then. The earliest impact to the written exams is fall 2019, so the next 3 sittings are unaffected (4 in the case of LFV).
In summary:
- A new 5-hour ILA Product Management Exam will replace the current LP exam starting in fall 2019
- A new 5-hour ILA Financial Management Exam will replace the current LFV exam starting in spring 2020. There will still be US- and Canadian-specific versions.
- A new 2-hour ILA ALM and Modeling Exam will replace LRM starting in fall 2019
- A new Introduction to ILA Module is anticipated June 2019, and the current Financial Economics Module will go away at that same time.
- There are no changes to the ERM exam or existing requirements for people who want to take the ERM exam to obtain their CERA on the ILA track
The SOA has noted that:
Topic coverage will be restructured among the three ILA exams and exam names changed. Candidates with credit for any of the current exams will be given transition credit for the corresponding revised exam.
For example, if you have passed LP, you will be given credit for the ILA Product Management exam. The recommended order is also exactly the same as it is today. Therefore, I think it makes sense to simply stick to the same plan you have today.
We have plenty of experience with exam transitions and are fully committed to providing products for the new exams, which will likely be similar to the current exams in terms of substance and difficulty. Additionally, if you find yourself in need of your free extension after the new versions are released, you will also be able to apply it to the revised version of the exam as well.