USAID offers certificates to new insurance graduates

TIRANA, Dec. 7 – Albania’s first class of professional actuaries received certification for completion of an actuarial training and certification program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Eight graduates completed the two-year Actuarial Certification Program, organized by the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC), in cooperation with Albania’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) and the UK Institute of Actuaries.
“FSVC congratulates the first graduating class of actuaries in Albania,” said Andrew Cunningham, FSVC Managing Director for the Balkans and the Middle East. “Certifying these participants is a critical step toward developing a robust actuarial profession in the region. When insurance and pension companies can better measure risk, they can provide more and improved services and ensure their solvency for generations of Albanians.”
Actuaries combine mathematics, finance, probability analysis and statistics to forecast the likelihood and magnitude of insurable risks. Actuarial forecasts are vital to the operations of insurance companies, which use them to calculate premiums charged for insurance policies and to determine the amount of financial reserves to set aside for payments on future claims.
“Programs like the one we are celebrating today further strengthens public confidence in Albania’s banking and non-banking financial sectors, and provides for a more secure, efficient and transparent financial system to meet the credit, savings and insurance needs of businesses and individuals,” said USAID head Edward T. Landau.