SOA Exam ALTAM Guide
ALTAM is the SOA advanced long-term actuarial mathematics exam. It extends the long-duration life-contingency side of FAM into written-answer reasoning, one Excel task, and deeper long-term product mathematics.
SOA Exam ALTAM
Official syllabus, notation, formula sheet, study note, and released materials are mapped; the public page remains noindex until expanded.
What the official PDFs establish
- Format
- 3-hour exam with six questions and 60 total points.
- Excel component
- One question is answered in an Excel workbook; five questions are answered in written booklets.
- Assumed knowledge
- FM, P, FAM, and mathematical statistics VEE are assumed.
Topic and domain coverage
| Topic | Weight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Survival Models for Contingent Cash Flows | 10-20% | |
| Premium and Policy Valuation for Long-Term State-Dependent Coverages | 12-20% | |
| Joint Life Insurance and Annuities | 8-16% | |
| Profit Analysis | 10-20% | |
| Pension Plans and Retirement Benefits | 10-18% | |
| Universal Life Insurance | 10-18% | |
| Embedded Options in Life Insurance and Annuity Products | 10-18% |
Chapter and reading intelligence
- Actuarial Mathematics for Life Contingent Risks, third edition
The syllabus maps selected sections from chapters 3, 7-11, 13-15, 17, and 18.
- Variable annuity study note
ALTAM-21-23 supports embedded option and variable annuity guarantee topics.
Official files used by the map
- Official syllabussyllabus
Primary source for format, topic weights, and readings.
- Formula sheetformula-sheet
Use for formula-page references and examples.
Source: ALTAM Formula Sheet - Released ALTAM materialsreleased-exam
Use for topic maps and answer-style analysis; do not republish questions or solutions.
Source: April 2026 ALTAM Exam
Quick Answer
Choose ALTAM when your stronger post-FAM fit is long-term actuarial mathematics: life contingencies, policy values, pension and retirement mathematics, universal life, and embedded-option style product mechanics.
Official Format And Structure
The Spring 2026 syllabus maps ALTAM as a three-hour exam with six questions worth 60 total points. One question is answered in an Excel workbook, while five questions are answered in written booklets.
That split matters because ALTAM is not purely computational. You need enough notation fluency and actuarial reasoning to write clean partial-credit answers, then enough spreadsheet calm to execute the Excel component without turning it into a time sink.
What The Exam Actually Covers
The official overview frames ALTAM around contingent payment models and their application to insurance and other financial risk. In practice that means long-duration products, policy valuation, survival-state modeling, profit analysis, pensions, and embedded-option style features in life and annuity contracts.
- Survival models for contingent cash flows: 10-20%.
- Premium and policy valuation for long-term state-dependent coverages: 12-20%.
- Joint life insurance and annuities: 8-16%.
- Profit analysis: 10-20%.
- Pension plans and retirement benefits: 10-18%.
- Universal life insurance: 10-18%.
- Embedded options in life insurance and annuity products: 10-18%.
How ALTAM Differs From ASTAM
ALTAM and ASTAM are not simply two flavors of the same exam. ASTAM is short-term actuarial modeling, pricing, reserving, credibility, and parametric estimation. ALTAM is long-term contingent-payment mathematics with a heavier life-contingency and product-valuation feel.
If ASTAM feels closer to actuarial statistics and property-casualty style modeling, ALTAM feels closer to advanced life contingencies and product mechanics.
How To Study Rationally
The cleanest ALTAM study plan is to revisit FAM's long-term side first, then move into the official ALTAM topic blocks with special attention to notation, survival-state transitions, policy-value relationships, and written-answer clarity.
The exam also rewards a deliberate distinction between what belongs in your final written answer and what belongs in rough Excel work. Candidates who blur those modes often know the mathematics but still bleed time.
Original exam practice
3 questions built from syllabus outcomes and released-exam patterns. The prompts and answers are original, so they train the skill without copying official exam text.
ALTAM Profit Test Workbook Drill
Original ALTAM workbook checks for policy-year cash flows, profit signatures, discounting, and written interpretation.
- Question 1/Spreadsheet
Profit test layout
Build the main blocks for a five-year life insurance profit test workbook. What should appear on the input and projection tabs?
ALTAM Profit Test WorkbookA workbook skeleton for policy-year cash flows, reserves, profit signature, and value of new business.
Download .xlsx templateSolution and grading points
The input tab should hold premium, expenses, interest, risk discount rate, benefit, and assumptions. The projection tab should show year, mortality rate, starting reserve, ending reserve, profit signature, and present value.
- Separates assumptions from projection formulas.
- Shows reserves and policy-year cash flows by year.
- Includes a profit signature and present-value column.
- Question 2/Calculation
Risk discount rate
A profit signature is 20, 30, and 40 at the end of years 1, 2, and 3. Using a 10% risk discount rate, write the workbook formula for value of new business.
Solution and grading points
Use 20 / 1.10 + 30 / 1.10^2 + 40 / 1.10^3. In a workbook, this should be a visible sum or present-value column, not a pasted number.
- Discounts each profit by the risk discount rate.
- Uses the correct policy-year exponent.
- Explains that visible formulas matter for grading.
- Question 3/Written Answer
Workbook result interpretation
A workbook produces a negative value of new business. What should the written explanation say?
Solution and grading points
It should state that the assumptions and pricing produce a loss on the risk-discounted basis, then identify the drivers: premium level, expenses, mortality, interest, lapse, reserve strain, or discount-rate sensitivity.
- Interprets the sign instead of only reporting a number.
- Names plausible actuarial drivers.
- Connects the workbook result to a pricing or assumption decision.