CERA 0: A Refresher Course in Financial Mathematics and Risk Measurement
The European Actuarial Academy is one of the main providers of actuarial education – especially when it comes to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). The concept of ERM has gained significant momentum in the insurance industry and beyond.
We offer a series of four training courses and exams (through DAV) to all actuaries who want to deepen their knowledge in Enterprise Risk Management and gain the international ERM-credential CERA. The defining characteristics of the CERA-credential as offered by the European Actuarial Academy are:
- Provides the most comprehensive and rigorous training in ERM
- Is a fast-growing globally-recognised credential
- Combines a range of business and professional skills with the mathematics of finance and risk
- Equips risk management professionals to empower better business decisions and more profitable business development
- Has a wide range of applications in insurance and finance, and well beyond
- Is supported by actuarial associations worldwide
- Is recognised and transferable internationally
- Has a rigorous and advanced curriculum underpinned by actuarial science, with an emphasis on ERM and professionalism
- Offers career choices outside the traditional actuarial markets
The web session 'A Refresher Course in Financial Mathematics' gives an introduction to modern financial mathematics and derivative pricing. It is designed to prepare actuaries without adequate training in these fields for the quantitative parts of the CERA education. The web session is moreover an ideal learning opportunity for actuaries who want to become acquainted with or refresh their knowledge in these highly relevant fields.
The online course begins with a repetition of basic concepts in probability theory including characteristics of random variables such as moments and quantiles. In order to prepare the analysis of dynamic financial models we introduce the idea of conditional expectations and we discuss stochastic processes in discrete time. The online session continues with an introduction to financial mathematics. We study risk neutral valuation and the hedging of derivatives in discrete-time models. The last part of the web session is devoted to an introduction to financial mathematics in continuous time. Topics covered include stochastic processes in continuous time such as Brownian motion and the Ito formula, the Black Scholes model and the Greeks very basic term structure models and the pricing and hedging of simple stock and bond options. The web session consists of lectures interspersed by short exercise sessions where participants can apply the probabilistic techniques hands-on.