Lifelong Learning as an Essential Part of Actuaries’ Professional Development: the IAA Standards and Canadian Experience

Мета статті – аналіз постійного підвищення кваліфікації представників актуарної професії в Канаді з огляду на міжнародний стандарт, розроблений МАА. За допомогою методу компаративного аналізу в ході дослідження було встановлено, що, на відміну від представників більшості професій, діяльність актуаріїв з професійного розвитку є чітко структурованою та розглядається як необхідна умова здійснення професійної діяльності, реалізується відповідно до принципів практичної значущості, індивідуального підходу, гласності та системності. Практичне значення розвідки полягає в можливості використання прогресивних ідей міжнародного, зарубіжного досвіду для підтримання належного рівня професіоналізму вітчизняних актуаріїв.The aim of the research is to analyze continuing education requirements for Canadian actuaries in terms of the standards elaborated and set by The International Actuarial Association. The research methods are the analysis and synthesis of pedagogical knowledge and comparative approach. The research results consist in the following. Having analyzed the CIA qualification standard, we may conclude that it complies with the IAA Guidelines on Continuing Professional Development to a great extent. Lifelong learning addresses a wide range of skills that are necessary for actuaries to ensure competency in the areas where they perform professional services such as technical, management, business and communication skills. The main aim is to stay abreast of all developments in rapidly changing actuarial science and business environment. However, it is a personal obligation of an actuary to develop and adhere to a CPD program as each practitioner is free to choose what activity to devote time to depending on an area of expertise. The Qualification standard also prescribes how much CPD should be undertaken at a minimum for the period of two years, all activities are divided into structured and unstructured. Considering the role of the CIA as a CPD provider, we may reach a conclusion that apart from setting requirements for continuing professional development the functions of the professional body can be summarized as follows. It is focused on facilitating continuing education of actuaries by organizing and offering seminars, webcasts and meetings, suggesting resources that are useful for gauging knowledge and skills for requirements of job tasks and its core responsibility is also monitoring whether its members conform to the existing CPD norms. The practical value of our research consists in the possibility to apply the best practices of CPD investigated and described in the paper to continuing learning of Ukrainian actuaries. Nowadays, Ukrainian specialists who major in actuarial science don’t have any legislative framework or qualification standards covering CPD yet. However, taking into account the fact that the actuarial education is currently being established in Ukraine and the first specialists graduated from the corresponding master`s degree program in 2012, the need for elaborating guidelines on continuing professional development for actuaries will definitely arise, it’s just a matter of time. Therefore, research regarding elaboration of Ukrainian qualification standards of CPD is a very topical issue and might be of interest for further investigation