Actuarial Organizations

We all know the adage that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” The actuarial profession has worked hard to live up to its duty, improving the quality of people's lives by making possible the prudent management of personal and corporate risk. As social and business circumstances change, actuaries must continue to adapt and expand their ability to contribute to the community.

The Actuarial Foundation has been established to help facilitate the profession's evolution in this important area. The Foundation explores innovative ways to employ actuarial skills to serve the public interest, educate professionals in the field in how to fulfill these new roles and bring together broad partnerships of individuals and organizations to address social problems in interdisciplinary ways.

American Academy of Actuaries

The American Academy of Actuaries represents and unites U.S. actuaries from all practice areas. As the profession's voice on public policy and professionalism issues, the Academy serves its members—and the public—in the following ways:

It establishes, maintains, and enforces high professional standards of actuarial qualification, practice, and conduct.
It represents the profession at the state, national, and international levels.
It assists in shaping public policy by providing legislators, regulators, and others with independent, objective information and analysis.
In cooperation with other organizations, it works to represent and advance the actuarial profession and to increase public awareness of the actuary's vital role in the economy and government.

American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries

ASPPA—the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries—is the premier national organization for career retirement plan professionals. The membership is comprised of the many disciplines supporting retirement income management and benefits policy. Members are part of the diversified, technical, and highly regulated benefits industry. ASPPA represents the most committed individuals of the profession—those who have made a career of retirement plan and pension policy work.

The purpose of ASPPA is twofold:

To educate retirement plan and benefits professionals
To preserve and enhance the private pension system

Based in the nation's capital, ASPPA is a non-profit professional organization acting on behalf of its 6,000+ members to improve retirement income policy. In pursuit of these goals, ASPPA offers extensive educational opportunities for its members—from professional credentialing to continuing education. ASPPA Government Affairs department keeps a close watch on all legislative and regulatory activities affecting retirement benefits and pension policy.

ASPPA was founded in 1966 originally as an actuarial organization. Since then, ASPPA has carefully tracked the changing needs of the retirement plan industry. As a result, ASPPA has expanded and diversified its membership to include all types of pension professionals--from actuaries, consultants, and administrators to insurance professionals, financial planners, accountants, attorneys, and human resource managers. Embracing diversity, the 6,000+ members of ASPPA are united by their commitment to the private pension system.

Canadian Institute of Actuaries

The Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) is the national organization of the actuarial profession in Canada. Member driven, the Institute is dedicated to serving the public through the provision, by the profession, of actuarial services and advice of the highest quality. In fact, the Institute holds the duty of the profession to the public above the needs of the profession and its members.

The CIA:

promotes the advancement of actuarial science through research
sponsors programs for the education and qualification of members and prospective members
ensures that actuarial services provided by its members meet extremely high professional standards
is self-regulating and enforces a Code of Conduct
is an advocate for the profession with governments and the public in the development of public policy

Casualty Actuarial Society

The Casualty Actuarial Society is a professional organization whose purpose is the advancement of the body of knowledge of actuarial science applied to property, casualty, and similar risk exposures. This is accomplished through communicating with the publics affected by insurance as well as presenting and discussing papers, attending seminars and workshops, conducting research, and maintaining a comprehensive library collection.

Other important objectives for the Society are

establishing and maintaining high standards of conduct and competence for its membership through study and a course of rigorous examinations,
developing industry standards and a code of professional conduct, and
increasing the awareness of actuarial science.

The Conference of Consulting Actuaries

Founded in 1950 as the Conference of Actuaries in Public Practice, today the Conference of Consulting Actuaries has over 1,100 members in the United States and Canada providing services in the life, health, casualty and pension fields. The Conference's mission is to advance the practice of actuarial consulting by serving the professional needs of consulting actuaries and by promoting member's views within the profession. The Conference advances the quality of consulting practice, supports the needs of consulting actuaries, and represents their interests.

Society of Actuaries

The Society of Actuaries is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and Society members. The Society's vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk and contingent events. The Society of Actuaries is committed to:

Education—Providing basic education in the fundamental principles of actuarial science, advanced education and professional development, and continuing education for practicing actuaries.
Research—Conducting research to develop studies of historical experience and techniques for projections into the future, analyzing the actuarial aspects of public policy issues and providing the foundation for further expansion of the profession.
The Profession—Promoting high standards of professional competence and conduct within the actuarial profession.