Society of Actuaries

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) is a professional membership association that administers credentialing, publishes research, and sets standards for actuaries working in life insurance, health insurance, pensions, enterprise risk management, and related fields. It was formed in 1949 through the merger of the Actuarial Society of America and the American Institute of Actuaries, tracing its roots to 1889, and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded primarily by member dues, exam fees, and professional development revenues.

The SOA administers three principal designations -- ASA (Associate of the Society of Actuaries), FSA (Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, with specialty tracks in life, health, retirement, investment, ERM, and quantitative finance), and CERA (Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst) -- along with micro-credentials introduced in 2022 in pre-actuarial foundations, actuarial science foundations, and data science. Educational offerings include actuarial exams and study materials, annual conferences (ImpACT, ReFocus), the Innovation Trailblazer webinar series, The Actuary Magazine, and the North American Actuarial Journal.

With more than 34,000 members spanning insurance, reinsurance, consulting, banking, government, and academia, the SOA is the world's largest actuarial organization by membership. The organization maintains affiliated sites including BeAnActuary.org and ActuarialDirectory.org, and operates a dedicated InsurTech program connecting actuaries with technology startups through networking, a podcast series, and research produced by the SOA Research Institute.