What about the CERA Designation?

Seems to be more extensive than the FRM for risk management.

If you base your analysis by comparing the two credentials in terms of total exam hours, then yes - the CERA will take signficantly more effort and time to obtain. The requirements to obtain one’s FRM is FRM Level I & FRM Level II. This accounts for 8 exam hours. The requirements for the CERA credential are as follows: - Exam P (3 hours) - multiple choice, covers probability models - Exam FM (3 hours) - multiple choice, covers interest theory and derivatives - Exam MFE (2.5 hours) - multiple choice, covers financial economics - Exam C (3.5 hours) - multiple choice, covers statistical tests & validation of models - VEE Economics - generally satisfied by a college course in intermediate economics, designed to attest that you understand the basics mired in micro & macro economics - Operational Risk module - online module, includes readings and end-of-module project that covers topics learned in module - Advanced Finance/ERM Exam (6 hours) - written answer, covers wide array of ERM & finance topics, many of which can be found in the FRM syllabus - Associateship Professionalism Course (one day) - participatory in-person seminar about ethics in an actuarial context, preparation time for it is somewhat insignificant If you’re taking actuarial exams, though, you’re basically required to satisfy the first 5 requirements and the APC anyway, as a part of basic actuarial education. I do feel that although the CERA is new to the marketplace and has yet to produce much popularity in media, I believe that actuaries are in a good position to understand and address the risks presented in ERM. I think the basic education offered in obtaining one’s CERA does attest that the CERA has a good grasp of mathematical models and quantifying risk. Part of the reason I’m taking the FRM exam is to compare and contrast the two syllabi to see for myself what each organization (and credential, I suppose) has to offer. I’m an actuary and have recently obtained the CERA credential, so I have seen quite a few of these topics on the FRM exam previously.

So many designations; it is getting abit confusing

I have visited over 100 fund management companies the last few years and have never… NEVER seen anyone use the CERA designation.

@mcpass: There might be a few reasons for that. First and foremost, the CERA is a credential that’s only been rolled out for a few years now. I believe the first CERAs were recognized as such in 2007. Given the number of exams one much take to obtain their CERA and how long the credential has been in place, I suspect that the only people that have the CERA credential via validation by exam are ones that were already in the actuarial track and decided to branch off into ERM (like myself). It would be quite a challenge to obtain the CERA credential in under 2 years. (Note: There was also a way to obtain a CERA credential through an “experienced practitioners pathway”, so there may be some individuals that have obtained the credential but not taken the exams. This option has since expired, I think, with only a few people utilizing it.) Given that, the CERAs today are mostly actuaries in traditional roles that are interested in ERM. I’m not surprised now that fund management companies have not yet paid attention to the CERA credential because it’s new. However, the other actuarial societies (CAS and other international societies) have liked the idea of a global CERA credential, and although it’s still in the early stages of planning and discussion, I do see a promising future for the CERA credential in the next decade or so with the support of all the actuarial societies around the world.

yah i was considering the CERA as well… I’ve completed the P and FM exams already, so I’ll just have to grind through MFE, C, and ERM + modules. Then again, that’s another 2+ years of additional time to study, so in the end, I opted out for the easier path of FRM.