The Investments Bridging Course has been mapped to the International Actuarial Association's (IAA) Subject 8: Investment and Asset Analysis. While some of this content is covered by the Core Technical courses CT8 – Financial Economics or Part II - The Actuarial Control Cycle, most content is from Course 1 - Investments, which was discontinued from 2013.
The IBC Course will cease on 30 June 2020. After Semester 1 2020, this course will be replaced by the 'Asset and Liability Management' subject.
The Investments Bridging Course is delivered online and consists of two units:
* Unit 1 - Investment Background
* Unit 2 - Asset Liability Management
Course materials, readings and interactive practice exercises will be available on the Institute's
Learning Management System and there are three prescribed textbooks:
* Fitzherbert, R. (2004) Investment Principles for Actuaries, Actuaries Institute.
* Sherris, M. (1996) Money and Capital Markets (2nd Edition), Allen & Unwin
* Viney, C. (2003) Financial Institutions, Instruments and Markets (4th Edition), McGraw-Hill.
Investment Principles for Actuaries is available from the
Institute Bookshop.
The Investments Bridging Course has no tutorials or discussion forums and participants are able to enrol at any time. See the
Investments Bridging Course Syllabus for more information about the course content.
Enrolment
Enrolments and re-enrolments for IBC have closed on
31 December 2019, no re-enrolments will be accepted after this date.
Students who have failed three attempts at the assessment after the above date will not be able to enrol into the course again. These students will need to complete the new Asset Liability Management subject – starting in Semester 2 2020.
Eligibility
Associates
Members who have only completed the Actuarial Control Cycle (i.e. have not also completed Part IIB - Investment and Assets Modelling) must take the Investments Bridging Course to become Associates, unless they completed all Part I and Part II study to the exemption standard, before the end of 2009.
Fellows
Members who completed The Actuarial Control Cycle only (i.e. have not also completed Part IIB - Investment and Assets Modelling) by 1 January 2010 must take the Investments Bridging Course if they do not take any Investments related options in their Part III studies (i.e. C1, C5A or CFA) to ensure that they have met the International Actuarial Association’s minimum investments education standards when they become Fellows.
Assessment
The assessment for the Investment Bridging Course is one online multiple-choice test. The test has a time limit of one hour and has 30 questions, covering a range of topics. Participants have three attempts to pass. If a participant fails three times, they must re-enrol before making another attempt.
Witness
Participants will need to find an actuary or Fellow to witness them login to attempt the test. Witnesses are required to submit the
Investments Bridging Course Witness Form and will be provided with a password, which will need to be entered into the system to attempt the test.
Assessment venue
Exam centres will not be provided for the assessment. Participants are able to sit the Investment Bridging Course assessment on any computer with internet access.