IFoA SP8 study guide
IFoA SP8 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
SP8 General Insurance Specialist Principles is a Specialist Principles examination within the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) qualification pathway, sitting in the practice area the IFoA labels general insurance. It is aimed at candidates who have completed the earlier technical stages of the IFoA curriculum and now want to specialise in non-life work: pricing, reserving, capital modelling, reinsurance and the regulatory environment in which general insurers operate. Note that the IFoA's own SP8 subject page has been archived and is no longer available, so this introduction is not based on an official syllabus statement and does not claim any affiliation with the IFoA. Candidates should confirm the current syllabus, exam format, sitting dates, fees and any entry requirements directly with the IFoA before planning a sitting. Preparation typically combines the IFoA's own curriculum materials with past-paper style practice under timed conditions, and benefits from practical general insurance experience such as loss reserving or pricing work. Treat the FAQ below as orientation only; where a question concerns official rules, the definitive answer is the IFoA's current published guidance. Topics on this exam: General insurance specialist principles. The IFoA SP8 study guide has 1 section and about 397 words.
01General Insurance Specialist Principles
SP8 General Insurance Specialist Principles tests whether you can apply actuarial technique to real portfolios - pricing, reserving, capital and reinsurance - rather than recite formulae. Expect scenarios with sparse or messy data and a request for a reasoned recommendation. Split expected loss into frequency and severity; fit GLMs (Poisson for counts, gamma or Tweedie for average cost) using categorical rating factors. Check the exposure base (earned car-years, written premium), and allow for trend, seasonality and large-loss loadings.
397 words, about 2 minMore study resources for IFoA SP8
- Practice questionsIn general insurance, which statement best describes the principle of indemnity as applied to a property damage claim?
- FlashcardsBurning cost. Incurred claims including IBNR and claims expenses divided by earned exposure, trended and adjusted for rate changes, used as a starting estimate of future expected loss cost.
- Cheat sheetBurning cost = incurred claims (including IBNR and claims handling) divided by earned exposure, adjusted for trend, large losses and rate changes before applying to the projected exposure base.
- Key termsGross written premium (GWP). Total premium written by an insurer over a period before deducting reinsurance ceded or unearned premium.
- Study planMap the SP8 syllabus into a personal topic checklist covering pricing, reserving, capital, reinsurance and regulation.
- Common mistakesCandidates treat SP8 numerical questions like a spreadsheet exercise and rush to the final figure, forgetting that markers award marks for the approach (formula, parameter choices, intermediate results) and that a bare number cannot be credited if a step is wrong.
- Exam-day guideSP8 (General Insurance: Pricing) is delivered under the IFoA's online remote-invigilation arrangements.