SOA GIADVGeneral Insurance — Advanced Topics

Fellowship (FSA)

4 hours·8–10 written-answer questions·≈400 study hours

Syllabus learning objectives

Paraphrased from the SOA syllabus so the study-plan builder and practice sets track the topics you will actually be examined on. Weights are the official topic ranges.

Excess, deductible & increased-limits pricing

30%

Compute increased limit factors (ILFs) from a fitted severity distribution.
Price excess and deductible layers using limited expected value functions.
Adjust ILFs for trend, ALAE inclusion/exclusion and loss development.
Evaluate the sensitivity of layer pricing to severity distribution tail assumptions.

Individual risk rating & retrospective plans

25%

Compute experience-rating modification factors incorporating credibility.
Determine retrospective premium under basic and incurred-loss retro plans, including loss limitation.
Apply schedule rating debits/credits to adjust manual premium for risk characteristics.
Assess the incentive effects of individual risk rating plans on insured behavior.

Catastrophe modeling & reinsurance pricing

25%

Describe the components of a catastrophe model (hazard, exposure, vulnerability, financial modules) and their use in pricing.
Price catastrophe excess-of-loss and aggregate covers using exceedance probability output.
Apply reinsurance pricing techniques (burning cost, exposure rating) to non-catastrophe treaties.
Assess model uncertainty and its effect on catastrophe reinsurance pricing decisions.

Stochastic reserving & reserve ranges

20%

Apply stochastic reserving methods (Mack, bootstrap ODP, GLM-based) to quantify reserve variability.
Construct a reserve range and interpret percentiles for risk margin and capital purposes.
Assess correlation across lines of business when aggregating stochastic reserve distributions.
Compare stochastic reserve ranges with deterministic best estimates for reasonableness.

Lecture videos for this exam

Open the full video library →

Introduction to Excess of Loss Reinsurance | Excess of Loss Reinsurance Course for Beginners

Underwrite University · Reinsurance

Introduction to Catastrophe Excess of Loss (XoL) Reinsurance | Introductory Course for Beginners

Underwrite University · Reinsurance

Overview

GIADV is the SOA analog of the advanced CAS pricing/reserving material: ILFs and layer pricing, experience and retrospective rating, catastrophe model structure and reinsurance pricing, plus stochastic reserving and ranges.

Duration: 4 hours
Questions: 8–10 written-answer questions
Style: Computer-based written answer
Credit: GI track FSA requirement

Syllabus map

Excess, deductible & increased-limits pricing

30%

GL, Auto & Umbrella Pricing: Increased Limits and Excess Ratemaking Reinsurance Structures and Pricing

Individual risk rating & retrospective plans

25%

Workers' Compensation Ratemaking Credibility Theory: Limited Fluctuation, Bühlmann, and Bayes

Catastrophe modeling & reinsurance pricing

25%

Extreme Value Theory and Heavy Tails Reinsurance Structures and Pricing

Stochastic reserving & reserve ranges

20%

Stochastic Reserving: Mack's Model and the ODP Bootstrap

Key formulas

Layer expected loss $\;E[\text{layer } (a,a+l)]=E[X\wedge(a+l)]-E[X\wedge a]$ ; with ILFs: $\;(ILF(a+l)-ILF(a))\times\text{basic-limit loss cost}$ .

Cat model chain: hazard → vulnerability → exposure → financial module; outputs OEP/AEP curves; $\;AAL=\int\text{EP}(x)\,dx$ .

Retro premium & Table M: see CAS Exam 8 guide.

Study strategy

Practice the layer-pricing arithmetic until it is mechanical, including trend leverage on excess layers.
Know what each cat-model module does and the sources of uncertainty (primary vs secondary).

Common traps

Treating OEP and AEP interchangeably.
Forgetting ALAE treatment (pro rata vs included) when pricing excess layers.

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