Here’s a comprehensive description for CB3 (CT9) Business Management in Actuarial Science. Happy reading!
CB3 / CT9 (Business Management) is an easy Actuarial Science exam, as compared to other Actuarial exams. It has many small elements –
- PST (Professional Skills Training)
- I-coach tutorials
- College of law study material
- Business game (group discussion)
- Assignment
- Online MCQ test.
PST (Professional Skills Training)
Before appearing for CB3, one must clear Professional Skills Training (PST), which is a paid exam whose details could be found here (https://theactuarialclub.com/2020/05/08/changes-to-ifoa-professional-skills-training-pst/
Booking CB3 exam
After a week of clearing OPAT, you will be able to book a session for CB3 business game, through the website. After logging in, go to My account > My exams > Book an exam > Book CB3 exams. Then choose exam session for business game according to your convenience. Full fee is £550 and reduced fee is £350. A session is usually a 6 weeks period in which you have to take part in business & also complete the assignment.
I-coach tutorial in CB3 (CT9)
You need to see tutorial videos and attempt quizzes on i-coach website. This is called pre exam study material. The recommended time to complete the course is 20 hours, however, I personally took more than that. You can watch the videos multiple times. The videos give insights to survival, growth and development for a business.
College of law study material
This attempts to teach us some topics of law :
- Contract law
- Mergers & acquisitions
- Data protection
- Trusts
- Company law
- Intellectual property
The study material under each topic is also available for downloading at the end of each tutorial. The downloadable document is more detailed but less interactive.
You will get links for both (i-coach & college of law tutorials) in your email a couple of weeks before your business game starts.
Business game in CB3 (CT9)
CB3 (CT9) involves a virtual game that you play in groups. This involves group discussion to be done on website through the virtual learning environment (VLE). It is based on case studies given to your group.
During the business game, you will be given case studies and your team will take decisions accordingly. At the end of each half year (HY : which is 5-10 days long), every group needs to submit documents like decision sheet, agenda items, etc. Based on these decision, financial statements (profit & loss statement and balance sheet) will be prepared by the IFOA for each team.
Each group consists of 8 people. Every group is considered to be one company. There are 5-7 more other groups, who will compete with you in terms of share prices. Share prices change every week based on the documents submitted by team.
You will be provided with a timetable for this business game. It will span days of each HY and days for submitting documents.
Assignment in CB3 (CT9)
It has 7 questions, based on
- topics you discussed in the business game
- i-coach & college of law tutorial
- business ethics & communication
- finance and financial system
There will be a specified deadline for submitting this assignment.
Online MCQ exam
4 weeks after your assignment is submitted, you will receive a link in email to give the MCQ exam. It can be given 2-3 times, in case you fail in the first attempt. It is an untimed online. Timing of appearing can be adjusted as per your convenience. To appear for the exam, login to i-coach website and search in My Tasks tab. The MCQ exam is based on :
Actuarial code, i-coach tutorials, college of law study material and business ethics.
Declaration of results
A pass list for CB3 exam is published on the 1st of every month. Your name will appear in this list if you have passed and completed all the elements of CB3 before 26th of the previous month. This post is only relevant for IFOA students and it holds true according to 2019 curriculum. I recommend that you should at least study CB1 exam material before business game session starts.
Exemption criteria
For being eligible for exemption for CB3 cleared under IAI, you need to fulfil following crieteria :
- You became IFOA member before 31st July 2019
- You sat for the exam & also passed it between January 2019 and December 2021
You can claim exemption before 31st December 2022
The article is written by Esha Oswal. She has cleared CS1, CS2, CM1 and CB3 from the Institute and Faculties of Actuaries (IFOA) and has graduated from Mithibai College with a B.com in Accounting and Finance degree (BAF). Currently, Esha is working in Willis Towers Watson, alongside volunteering with IFOA 400 club.
Comments 6
Related Posts
Plagiarism, September 2020 IFOA Actuarial Exams, and OptimismA guide to CB2 : Business Economics (IFoA)Open Book Exams (IFoA) – Actuarial Science FAQsA Guide to CP3 : Communications Practice (IFoA)
Thank you for explaining.
Your welcome Mohit 🙂
Hi , Thanks for the info . Is there any practice paper available or previous year asked questions for the main online exam of CB3 conducted by IAI?
Hello, thanks for the comment. For CB3 by IAI, you may want to ask your colleagues as there have been few exam questions that makes rounds within peers and the questions asked are generally from their material which they tell you to read.
Hi, this is so helpful, I booked the CB3 exam which will start on 4th Jan 2021. Does it mean I will start learning on that day or the assignment/ MCQ should be finished on that day? Thanks a million!
Hi Jack Chen, if your CB3 exam starts on 4th January, so it means business game would start on 4th January or maybe a week after that. But you will receive study material on or after 20th December 2020.