IAI SA7 study guide
IAI SA7 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
SA7 is one of the Specialist Advanced subjects in the actuarial examination system run by the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI). IAI is a statutory body established under The Actuaries Act 2006 (35 of 2006), whose provisions came into force on 10 November 2006 under a Government of India notification issued through the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. The IAI SA7 study guide has 4 sections and about 1,549 words.
01Business Awareness and the Operating Environment
Domain 1 tests whether you can place a correct calculation inside a commercial setting: who pays, who carries the risk, what the supervisor will permit, and what the decision does to capital, customers and reputation. At Specialist Advanced level the examiner assumes the technical machinery works; answers that compute neatly but ignore the business frame routinely score around half marks.
422 words, about 2 min02Problem Framing, Assumption Setting and Modelling
Domain 2 examines how you behave when the question is deliberately under-specified: a business problem, partial data, a limited word count. Marks reward choosing a method that fits the decision, setting assumptions defensibly and expressing uncertainty, not producing the longest calculation.
390 words, about 2 min03Capital, Risk and Financial Management
Domain 3 tests how capital, risk and asset-liability management interact on a real balance sheet: how much capital is needed, how it is measured, how risk is transferred, and what is left over after the transfer. The solvency capital requirement is calibrated to a 1-in-200 adverse event over one year.
384 words, about 2 min04Professional Judgement, Communication and Ethics
Domain 4 examines the actuary as adviser: how you exercise judgement under pressure, how you communicate uncertainty to a non-technical board, and how you behave when the commercial answer and the professional answer diverge. Responses that describe only a technique, without a process, score poorly here.
353 words, about 2 min