Explore the important initiatives driving the SOA.

For the first time, the Society of Actuaries in 2008 approved a portfolio of strategic initiatives for its strategic plan. These initiatives represent a key component of our strategic plan; they are the specific programs and activities that will make our plan come to life. See how the initiatives relate to the SOA Strategy Map.

This portfolio of strategic initiatives was developed in light of the new strategic plan, based on current initiatives in the pipeline as well as input from the April 2008 strategic planning summit. Each initiative has also been defined using a new "feasibility review" approach developed through our strategic planning process this year.

The following are the 10 initiatives in the portfolio:

1. Marketing and Market Development Plan (MMDP)

This is a long-term journey with other key North American actuarial organizations to market and position the actuarial profession, establish actuaries as primary leaders and decision makers in their traditional marketplace and establish an initial footprint in the broader financial services market (e.g., commercial and investment banks, mutual funds).

2. Continuing Education Redesign

The SOA introduced a mandatory CPD requirement beginning January 1, 2009. We recognized, as a consequence of this change to the membership requirements, that there was a need to improve the breadth and depth of the CPD program. Adopting a systematic approach to program design and development, the SOA conducted a detailed needs analysis of its members and their employers to establish a competency framework for post-qualification professional development. The competency framework will be launched officially in February 2009.

3. Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst Marketing

The introduction of the new credential is a milestone in the profession's overarching effort to have actuaries recognized as qualified for leadership in enterprise risk management in both the traditional and broader financial services sectors. The CERA credential is the most comprehensive and rigorously evaluated demonstration of enterprise risk management knowledge available and should be positioned as the pre-eminent international credential in ERM.

4. Intellectual Capital Framework

Actuarial science, to be strong, must continue to grow and develop in dynamic ways. Actuarial science integrates the best from economics, finance, demographic, mathematics and other disciplines to create models of risk and risk pooling used for social and business applications. We must continually ensure that "the best" of those disciplines is incorporated into our science, which means our intellectual capital must continually evolve. This initiative includes two parts: the first is a big-picture look at how best to use our research capabilities to meet the profession's intellectual capital needs. The second part considers current research processes and works to strengthen and improve those (the second part of the 2008 study) to meet the promise of the first effort.

5. Role of Academia

The goals for this initiative include working to strengthen the profession by strengthening the role of the academic branch of the profession through centers of excellence, growing more academic actuaries and building business/academic partnerships.

6. Untapped Opportunities in the Health Industry

Scoping has begun for this initiative, including market research to identify potential opportunities for actuaries in the health care marketplace.

7. Leadership Resource Program

This initiative involves creating an all-encompassing program that will identify, recruit, track, manage and recognize volunteers. There will be multiple components to this program that will require development and implementation. This is a three-year initiative. Phase One, 2008, included the development of the design for the program components and associated recommendations. Phase Two, 2009, will be the implementation of approved recommendations. Phase Three, 2010, will be the refinement of any component, as deemed necessary.

8. Web Content Library

This initiative includes helping members develop, capture and distribute the profession's collective wisdom and advancing our position as business thought leaders for the 21st Century. New technology has changed how knowledge is created. By leveraging technology, we can provide our members with additional opportunities to review, create, and contribute to the actuarial knowledge base and directly impact and address one of our strategic objectives to promote the development of intellectual capital and identify opportunities for its application.

9. International Actuarial Education Program (IAEP)

The International Actuarial Association (IAA) is considering the development of an actuarial education program which would augment the education offered or utilized by associations operating in actuarially developing regions. This initiative is in its very early stages but the SOA, via staff and volunteer participation, is an active contributor. In response to a recent call for proposals, the SOA jointly with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in the United Kingdom (UKAP) and the Institute of Actuaries of Australia (IAAust) submitted a proposal that utilizes various components of the three systems. This joint proposal brings to the table actuarial education with a proven track record. It unites three of the key providers of actuarial education in the world in an unprecedented way. All three providers have recognized experience in the delivery of rigorous and comprehensive education. This joint proposal will be worked into a larger business plan, which includes proposals from other actuarial associations. The IAA will use this business plan to attempt to solicit funding from international agencies.

10. Explore Professional Networking (Phase 1)

This initiative is the first phase of what is likely to be a multi-phase initiative to facilitate and promote professional networking within an online space. Phase I is exploratory–understanding what our members and candidates want and expect from their association in terms of supporting online networking; understanding what "best practice" is; understanding what our current capabilities are and what resources our future direction may require; and any ethical considerations. We anticipate that Phase II will marry all of these aspects of the issue. We will leverage existing communities/platforms to support the SOA's role in providing this service and benefit to our members.