2017-Dues

The Meaning of Your Membership

Membership in the American Academy of Actuaries confers many valuable benefits. As a member, you contribute to and receive extensive information about the Academy’s initiatives in…

Professionalism

Your membership reflects the profession’s self-regulatory structure that is housed at the Academy. Through important professionalism resources, bodies, and activities, the Academy enhances the value of the accreditation and professional independence of the actuarial profession.

Academy membership also provides you with the ability to support and maintain the high level of professionalism we expect of each other:

Code of Professional Conduct
U.S. Qualification Standards
Actuarial Standards of Practice (ASOPs), developed by the Actuarial Standards Board
Applicability Guidelines for Actuarial Standards of Practice
Requests for Guidance and investigation of potential violations of the Code through the Actuarial Board for Standards and Discipline
Other professionalism resources, such as webinars, discussion papers

And, in 2016, professionalism committees at the Academy have been hard at work, describing and defining how professionalism principles should be applied in various situations.

In an effort to assure regulators that actuaries who sign statements of actuarial opinions are qualified to do so, the Academy developed the U.S. Qualification Attestation Form, which allows actuaries to voluntarily attest and demonstrate that they are qualified to perform actuarial duties. It has received widespread use.

The Committee on Professional Responsibility released a discussion paper, Considerations of Professional Standards in International Practice. This is an important paper for those concerned about understanding how their work is affected if it is intended for other jurisdictions.

The Council on Professionalism updated the seminal 2004 discussion paper, Structural Framework of U.S. Actuarial Professionalism—Concepts on Professionalism. This excellent paper explains why and how the profession regulates itself through the activities housed at the Academy.

The Committee on Qualifications continues to answer specific questions and provide guidance on existing qualification standards and their applicability to emerging areas of practice. In addition to greatly enhancing its FAQs late last year, this year the COQ added three new questions to its FAQ on qualifications, regarding long-term care policies, actuaries changing practice areas, and experience required under the Specific Qualifications.

Public Policy

The Academy is dedicated to assuring that public policy is developed amid the sound application of objective actuarial principles. In 2016, Academy work groups offered policymakers and regulators the actuarial perspective on:

Casualty issues including flood insurance, workers’ compensation, and price optimization
Health issues including long-term care, Medicare, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act
Life issues including longevity risk, lifetime income, and principle-based reserving
Pension issues including plan composition, Social Security solvency, and multiemployer plans
Risk management and financial reporting issues including ORSA reports, international capital standards, and risk regulations

Academy volunteers regularly are invited to testify before congressional committees and state and federal regulatory bodies, assuring that the actuarial perspective is a part of these important conversations. The Academy’s credibility on public policy issues reflects on and to its members.

And the Academy makes sure that members are kept informed of how state and federal legislation and regulations will affect their daily work, through practice-specific and cross-practice Alerts, and through StateScan, a portal added in 2016 that highlights state legislation and regulation across the country that may be of interest to practicing actuaries.

Publications

The actuarial profession is constantly challenged to maintain currency—and Academy membership provides you access to informative and insightful membership publications to help you stay abreast of the latest trends in all areas of actuarial practice, not just the area in which you practice.

Contingencies, the award-winning bimonthly magazine of the U.S. actuarial profession, offers diverse perspectives and innovative ideas across all practice areas.

Actuarial Update, the monthly newsletter that covers the many public policy and professionalism news and issues that arise each month, highlighting Academy activities in these areas.

Practice-specific publications drill down into your area of expertise, making sure you stay current with the latest developments in your field.

And every Friday, This Week compiles a week’s worth of news, updates, events, and media coverage in one convenient, easy-to-read publication.

Resources

As a member of the Academy, you can be proud of the breadth of educational opportunities and public-facing initiatives undertaken in 2016.

Webinars, Seminars, and Events

Members can participate in numerous educational events, ranging from webinars on essential fundamentals to in-depth, hands-on seminars for more experienced actuaries, including the all-new “PBA Boot Camp” series. Topics span all practice areas and a wide variety of subjects relating to public policy and professionalism. In addition, members have access to a library of archived webinars; reviewing the materials can provide no-cost continuing education credits.

This interactive learning module helps members stay current with valuable continuing education as they refresh their knowledge of key professionalism topics. In 2016, the Academy added a module on actuarial ethics.

As part of its mission to serve the public, the Academy released several new tools of significant interest to the public at large in 2016, including:

Members of the public can get insights into how long they might live—information critical to planning for retirement.

In this historic election year, the Academy developed issue guides focusing on how various reforms and proposals would affect everyday Americans and their financial security. And with a new administration moving into the White House in January, the Academy will repurpose these to help inform key stakeholders on subjects that affect the lives of millions of Americans.

Renew Your Membership

Don’t miss out on all these valuable member resources—and make sure you can share in the professionalism and public policy mission of the Academy. Renew your membership today.

To pay your dues without logging in, simply click the link in the email from Tom Wildsmith that brought you to this page. To review and modify your membership information before paying your dues, go to the members-only page of the Academy website. Log in with your user ID and password, and follow the instructions to pay your dues.