Two versions of Life Contingencies exam...

[drsingh]

It's great that SOA and CAS have common preliminary exams (and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries too).

Well, almost...

What's the real story behind SOA and CAS not getting along on this test?

Given that all other preliminary exams are common, what's the rationale behind separate MLC and 3L exams?

Other than one being 2.5 hours, and one being 3 hours, is the syllabus vastly different?

What would be the reasons to choose one versus the other, or both?

[Nyorky2428]

Well the reason to choose SOA's MLC is because it gives you credit for CAS's 3L, but not the other way around, so it's good if you are still undecided about which society you want to join. As far as the actual difference between the exams, no clue

[Gandalf]

Life contingencies is traditionally very important for life actuaries. It still is very important, though more for life actuaries working individual life insurance than for life actuaries working in group, health or investments. It is not as important a topic for casualty actuaries. The CAS thinks all its actuaries should know something about life contingencies, but not as much as the SOA thinks its actuaries need to know.

The CAS thinks its actuaries need to know more statistics than is on the other joint exams. The SOA thinks the statistics coverage in the other prelims is sufficient (as a standard for all SOA actuaries; some may need to learn more.)