By Ted Gotsch
Since its founding more than six decades ago, the Academy has pursued both advancing professionalism within the actuarial profession and serving the public through objective, nonpartisan public policy expertise. Those missions have always been intertwined. In fact, one of the Academy’s original purposes was to establish a nationally recognized professional credential that policymakers could rely upon when laws and regulations required actuarial expertise.
That mission remains just as relevant today. The Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA) designation represents more than membership in a professional association. It signals that an actuary has demonstrated knowledge of U.S. laws, regulations, professional standards, and actuarial practice necessary to practice in this country and agrees to remain accountable to those standards.
Where statutes and regulations require actuarial services, policymakers should consider explicitly requiring the MAAA credential more broadly and more consistently.
A Competency Framework
for U.S. Actuaries
As the Academy explains in its Competency Framework for New Members, Academy membership requires foundational knowledge not only of actuarial principles but also of U.S. laws and practices as well as actuarial professionalism. The framework was developed to articulate the knowledge expected of actuaries practicing in the American regulatory environment and to ensure that new members possess competencies that extend beyond technical actuarial knowledge alone.
This distinction matters because actuarial work is deeply embedded in public policy. Whether determining insurance reserves, certifying pension funding, developing Medicare payment models, or supporting financial solvency efforts, actuaries performing services in the U.S. operate within legal and regulatory frameworks that are uniquely American. Technical expertise alone is not sufficient; actuaries must also understand the statutes, regulations, regulatory objectives, and professional obligations that govern their work.
For decades, policymakers have recognized this reality. Numerous federal and state laws and regulations already require that certain actuarial opinions be signed by actuaries meeting specific professional qualifications. For example, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) establishes qualification requirements for actuaries certifying the funding status of private pension plans, while many state insurance laws rely upon Academy qualification standards in connection with actuarial opinions supporting insurer solvency and financial reporting.
The Academy’s U.S. Qualification Standards reinforce these expectations by requiring actuaries issuing statements of actuarial opinion in this country to satisfy education, experience, and continuing education requirements appropriate to their practice areas. Those standards also require ongoing professionalism education, recognizing that competence is not a one-time achievement but an ongoing professional obligation.
Today, more than 20,000 actuaries hold and maintain the MAAA credential. They do so because it signifies not only professional achievement but also a commitment to practicing under the U.S. profession’s expectations for competency, ethics, and continuing education.
Yet there remains an opportunity to strengthen public confidence even further.
A More Global Profession
Where statutes and regulations require actuarial services, policymakers should consider explicitly requiring the MAAA credential more broadly and more consistently. Doing so would provide regulators, employers, courts, consumers, and other stakeholders with greater assurance that the actuary providing the opinion possesses verified knowledge of U.S. actuarial practice, is bound by the profession’s Code of Professional Conduct, and meets continuing qualification requirements.
This issue has taken on increased importance as the actuarial profession has become more global. Organizations such as the Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuarial Society now serve a growing international membership and credential actuaries practicing in many different jurisdictions. That evolution reflects the increasingly global nature of financial services and risk management, and it has benefited the profession in many ways.
At the same time, globalization makes it increasingly important to distinguish between broad actuarial education and preparation for professional practice in the United States. Questions naturally arise regarding how candidates educated through different pathways demonstrate sufficient familiarity with U.S. law, regulation, and professional expectations before practicing in the U.S. regulatory environment.
Recognizing this changing landscape, the Academy developed its Competency Framework to clearly identify the baseline knowledge expected of every new Academy member. Beginning with the new membership requirements that took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, applicants must demonstrate competency in general actuarial topics, U.S. laws and practices, and U.S. actuarial professionalism, along with responsible actuarial experience that includes U.S. practice.
The framework also reinforces another important public protection: Academy members are subject to the Code of Professional Conduct and must satisfy the U.S. Qualification Standards before issuing statements of actuarial opinion. Those standards require appropriate education, relevant experience, and continuing education throughout an actuary’s career, helping ensure that professional competence keeps pace with changing laws, regulations, and actuarial practice.
Strengthening Public Confidence
These safeguards are ultimately about protecting the public. Actuarial opinions influence the financial security of pension plans, the solvency of insurance companies, the pricing of health coverage, and the stability of numerous public and private financial systems. When those opinions are prepared by professionals who possess demonstrated knowledge of the applicable legal framework and who remain accountable to rigorous professional standards, policymakers and the public can have greater confidence in the decisions that are based upon them.
The MAAA designation is therefore more than a credential. It represents a commitment to U.S.-specific competency, professional accountability, and continuing education. Expanding recognition of the MAAA designation in statutes and regulations would not simply strengthen the profession—it would strengthen the integrity of the public policy decisions that depend upon actuarial expertise and reinforce public confidence in institutions that rely on sound actuarial judgment.
Ted Gotsch is policy content and publications manager at the Academy.