Professional Actuarial Designations

Actuaries earn professional designations based on the organization they belong to and their status in the professional exam system.

When an actuary has met certain professional educational standards by passing a series of exams, he or she achieves the designation of Associate. Actuaries who specialize in property and casualty practice receive the ACAS designation. It stands for Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society. Actuaries who practice in life, health, finance, investments or pensions receive the Associate of the Society of Actuaries, or ASA, designation.

After achieving the Associate designation, the actuary can elect to continue to take exams to achieve the highest designation, Fellow. Casualty actuaries are Fellows of the Casualty Actuarial Society, or FCAS. Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, or FSA, is the designation achieved by life, health, pension, finance, and investment actuaries.

Below are the different actuarial designations and the organizations that grant them. Check out the actuarial alphabet.

FCAS
Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society

ACAS
Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society

FSA
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries

ASA
Associate of the Society of Actuaries

MAAA
Member of the American Academy of Actuaries

FSPA
Fellow of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries

MSPA
Member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries

FCA
Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries

ACA
Associate of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries

FCIA
Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries

EA
Enrolled Actuary