Many students find it difficult to digest the vast SOA/CAS exam syllabus and work enough problems to master the required material in the short time before the exam. Our periodic and review seminars, which are taught by our actuarial instructors, will help you convert your understanding of the course notes into the skills required to pass the exam.

While all of the most important exam topics are covered during our seminars, the seminars focus on: key concepts, numerical techniques, the more difficult and challenging areas of the syllabus as well as the subjects most often examined.

We keep the group size to an absolute maximum of 30 to make sure our seminars are an interactive learning experience. We guarantee that you will work hard and learn a lot during our intensive seminars, which will go a long way towards helping you pass the actuarial exams.

Format of the seminars

The seminar consists of a lecture-style conceptual review, plus both guided and unguided solutions of exam-style questions and past exam questions provided in a seminar handout. There are many opportunities for students to ask questions.

We expect you to have read the study material carefully before attending the seminar so that we can concentrate on improving your understanding and exam technique rather than repeating basic bookwork. You should complete at least a first pass through of all the topics on the syllabus prior to the start of the seminar. (Note: for periodic seminars, the student should complete at least a first pass through of all the topics to be covered prior to the day of a particular session.)

You should bring an SOA/CAS approved calculator (the one you plan to use during the exam) and sufficient writing materials (including paper) to the seminar. The seminar follows the order of the exam topics as presented in the BPP FM course notes, so you may want to bring the BPP FM text, although this is not required.

Seminar schedule for the Fall 2006 exams

We are planning to run the following seminars for the Fall 2006 exams.

If a class is full, you may email info@bpptraining.com to get on a waiting list.

A typical public seminar lasts 2.5 days, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Days 1-2 and 9:00 to 1:00 on Day 3. The seminar will start promptly at 9:00 each day, so be sure to arrive early enough to allow getting settled in by then. The planned schedule of the seminar is as follows:

Day 1: Interest rates and factors, level annuities, varying annuities, non-annual interest rates and annuities
Day 2: Discounted cash flow analysis, nominal and real interest rates, investment funds, allocating investment income, loans: amortization and sinking fund, bond valuation, stock valuation, and short sales
Day 3: Duration, convexity, immunization, spot rates, forward rates, arbitrage, and practice exam

The BPP FM review seminar costs $225 which includes 2.5 days of teaching, seminar handouts (with exercises, solutions and important formulas), as well as a practice exam written exclusively for seminar participants.

Who are the instructors?

The seminars will be led by one of the co-authors of the BPP Exam FM/Exam 2 Study Program, Chris Ruckman (FSA) or Joe Francis (FSA, CFA). To learn more about our instructors, click here.

Seminars can be purchased in our online store (click here). Seminars are not guaranteed to run until they are confirmed. Please wait for email confirmation before making hotel/flight arrangements. If unsure, email us at info@bpptraining.com.

Places are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. You may change your seminar location or cancel your place with a full refund as long as BPP is notified by the registration deadline . If you cancel after the deadline and at least seven days before the seminar begins, 50% of the seminar fee will be refunded. No refund will be given if you cancel within seven days of the start of the seminar.

Note: If any seminars are overbooked, we will try to run extra classes to meet demand. Seminars may be cancelled or run in a new location if we do not receive a sufficient number of applications. The up-to-date timetable will be available from this website. We will contact you if you are likely to be affected by any change to the timetable.

Don't forget that you can request seminars in other locations by sending an email to info@bpptraining.com. This approach may seem unusual, but it allows students to organize a seminar at a different time and place than our public seminars. Subject to sufficient demand, we can run seminars to meet your requests, including evenings and weekends, saving you the time and expense of traveling.