IFoA SA7 study plan

Map the full SA7 syllabus against your existing knowledge and rate each learning objective red/amber/green

Build a one-page asset-class taxonomy covering equities, government and corporate bonds, money market instruments, property, and private markets, noting the return drivers and principal risks of each

Derive and practise using the present value formulas for fixed-interest securities, including the relationship between price, yield, coupon and term to redemption

Explain how monetary policy, inflation expectations and the yield curve shape interact to affect insurer and pension scheme asset returns

Work through at least ten past-style numerical questions on bond pricing and duration, recording every error with its root cause

Calculate Macaulay duration, modified duration and convexity for a multi-bond portfolio and interpret each measure for a non-technical trustee audience

Price plain vanilla interest rate swaps, forward rate agreements and interest rate futures, and explain how each can be used to alter a scheme's interest rate exposure

Apply the Black-Scholes framework to equity options, stating and testing each underlying assumption and its practical limitations

Distinguish between arbitrage-free pricing, actuarial best-estimate pricing and market-consistent valuation of embedded options and guarantees

Construct a worked example showing how a guaranteed annuity option or with-profits guarantee is valued under a stochastic model

Specify the structure of an asset-liability model for a defined benefit scheme, listing each asset class, liability cash flow and stochastic driver required

Design and justify an investment strategy for a scheme with a funding deficit, including the rationale for the chosen asset allocation, contribution rate and recovery period

Compare deterministic and stochastic projection approaches, explaining when each is appropriate and how model risk and parameter uncertainty are handled

Apply mean-variance optimisation and the efficient frontier, then critique its outputs for unrealistic corner solutions and estimation error

Explain how liability-driven investment, matching adjustments and repo or gilt-based leverage change the risk profile of a scheme

Identify and quantify the market, credit, liquidity, counterparty and operational risks in a representative insurer or scheme portfolio

Design hedging strategies using swaps, futures and options for interest rate, inflation and equity risk, and calculate the hedge ratio and residual basis risk

Explain the mechanics of collateral management, variation margin and central clearing, and assess the funding strain a large rate move places on a hedged portfolio

Build a risk budget allocating total tracking error across asset classes and active managers, and test whether the allocation is internally consistent

Distinguish value at risk, expected shortfall and stress testing, and state the weaknesses of each for a long-horizon investor

Compare property, infrastructure, private equity and private credit on return source, valuation frequency, liquidity and fee structure

Explain how illiquid assets are valued in the absence of market prices, and assess the smoothing effect on reported volatility and measured correlations

Evaluate the role of illiquid assets in a scheme's portfolio, including the liquidity premium, the cash flow commitment profile and the risk of forced selling

Critique the use of appraisal-based indices in asset allocation studies and describe the effect on the efficient frontier

Assess the governance and resourcing implications of a scheme materially increasing its private markets allocation

Calculate time-weighted and money-weighted returns for a portfolio with external cash flows, and explain when each measure is the appropriate one to report

Decompose portfolio return into asset allocation, security selection and interaction effects, and interpret a manager's attribution report critically

Compare performance against a benchmark and peer group, adjusting for risk, and explain the pitfalls of short-horizon and survivorship-biased comparisons

Summarise the capital requirements and reporting obligations bearing on an insurer's or scheme's investment portfolio, including the treatment of different asset classes

Explain the governance framework for investment decisions, covering the statement of investment principles, delegation, trustee duties and conflicts of interest

Identify the behavioural biases most relevant to institutional investment decisions and describe a structural safeguard against each

Apply an ethical and professional judgement framework to a scenario involving conflicted advice, soft commission or the mis-selling of a guaranteed product

Evaluate how trustee board composition, groupthink and anchoring on past funding levels can distort a strategy review

Re-run the week 3 strategy note, testing whether the recommendation survives an explicit challenge to its behavioural assumptions

State the professional standards expected of an actuary advising on investment matters and the consequences of breaching them

Sit at least one full timed mock paper under exam conditions and mark it strictly against the mark scheme

Revisit every red-rated syllabus objective and close the largest remaining gaps

Consolidate the formula sheet, error log and case study notes into a single revision document for final review

Practise exam technique on long-answer questions, allocating time to planning, structure and the explicit statement of assumptions

Identify the three weakest areas from the mock and complete targeted practice on each