July 28, 2010

CERA Evolves into a Global Credential

Last November, the SOA and 13 international organizations signed a treaty to establish the Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst (CERA) credential as the globally recognized risk management credential.

The signing of the treaty has opened a new chapter in the life of the CERA. The global nature of this credential will increase its prominence within North America as well as globally, giving SOA members greater opportunities at home and abroad. And organizations worldwide, people inside and outside of our profession, employers, clients and others will benefit from having the CERA as part of the global marketplace.

Offering the CERA globally will facilitate the free movement of actuaries internationally. It will also increase the influence of the actuarial profession in the world of ERM and will allow CERAs to have an internationally recognized credential.

Let me tell you about some of the progress that has been made in evolving the CERA into a global credential.

The CERA Global Association (CGA) was established on May 7, 2010. Based on a Swiss verein model (an association of participating organizations,) the CGA will hold the intellectual property rights in the CERA credential. The credential will then be issued by those participating organizations that are recognized as "Award Signatories". Efforts are now underway to complete the transfer of the SOA intellectual property in the CERA to the CGA.

I am pleased to announce that the U.K. application was recently approved for Award Signatory status, which means that members of the U.K. actuarial profession are now able to earn the CERA credential. This is an exciting development, and soon we expect to have more organizations joining their ranks.

Four organizations are in queue for review of their applications to be Award Signatories. These organizations are: Institute of Actuaries of Australia, Casualty Actuarial Society, Actuarial Society of South Africa and Actuarieel Genootschap (Dutch Actuarial Association).

Quality assurance is vital to ensuring the value and strength of the CERA credential. The global CERA has a strong governance process headed by a Board of Directors that has proportional representation from all of our member organizations. A Review Panel has been established to create and maintain a strong quality assurance program to uphold the value of the credential. The Panel's responsibilities include reviewing applicant associations' proposed processes to qualify candidates for the credential. The Review Panel is also responsible for managing an ongoing, thorough review of each association's learning objectives, syllabus and learning materials once the association has obtained Award Signatory status.

Organizations will undergo an annual review of testing processes, pass rates and quality assurance, and will undergo a much more in-depth review every three years.

The skills and knowledge that CERA holders can deliver helps client organizations remain competitive, enables transparency in operation, and ensures their preparation for potential disaster and to manage business continuity.

Those who choose to pursue the CERA benefit from the most comprehensive and rigorous ERM training available, and we intend to keep it that way, whether the CERA is offered by one organization or 20!