Instructor: Jinguo Lian
Office: LGRT(1028)
Phone: (413)-545-6016
E-mail: lian@math.umass.edu
Website: http://www.math.umass.edu/~lian
Actuarial Career Fair
The resume event for the undergraduates.
The actuarial career fair: 5:30pm-8:30pm, Tuesday, Sept 21, LGRT 1634 (16th floor)
Class Schedule and Location
Section 1 (MWF: 1:25-2:15pm), Location: LGRT219
Office hours
MWF 2:30-3:30pm by an appointment
Prerequisites
Math 131 and Math 132
Required materials
Textbook: ASM Study Manual for Exam FM 14th Edition by Cherry & Shaban. You can buy it online at https://www.studymanuals.com/Product/Show/453142747
Calculator: Texas Instruments BA II plus calculator or following models approved by SOA,
Teaching Assistants
Grader: TBA
Description
This 3 credit hours course serves as a preparation for SOA's second actuarial exam in financial mathematics, known as Exam FM or Exam 2. The course provides an understanding of the fundamental concepts of financial mathematics, and how those concepts are applied in calculating present and accumulated values for various streams of cash flows as a basis for future use in: reserving, valuation, pricing, asset/liability management, investment income, capital budgeting, and valuing contingent cash flows. The main topics include time value of money, annuities, loans, bonds, general cash flows and portfolios, immunization, interest rate swaps and determinants of interest rates etc. Many questions from Past Exam FM will be practiced in the course.
Learning Objectives
Study Groups
Since week 2, when you log on the Moodle course, you may see the item “math437 study group”, where you can find your Group members, I will ask students to sit in group, you can work together to do in-class exercises and homework (if we have enough time during exercise time period). I encourage that you should actively discuss exercise and homework questions, keystrokes, course materials and formulas with your group members, which may help you understand course material better, and be a quick path to prepare for Exam FM.
Course Requirements
Students should attend classes regularly and complete in-class team exercises.
Complete assigned homework.
Attend and complete the midterm and the final exam.
Weekly Schedule
The following is meant to give a general idea of which sections are covered in which weeks
|
Week |
Lecture |
Events |
Memo |
|
Sept 1 |
Intro, 1.1 |
First lecture is on Wednesday, Sept 1 |
|
|
Sept 6 |
1.2-1.3 |
Monday Holiday-Libor Day, Wednesday is Monday schedule; Wednesday 9/8 is last day to add/drop |
|
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Sept 13 |
2.1-2.3 |
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Sept 20 |
3.1-3.3 |
|
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Sept 27 |
4.1-4.3 |
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Oct 4 |
4.4-4.6 |
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Oct 11 |
5.1-5.2 |
Monday is Holiday-Columbia day,Midterm Thursday Oct 14,7-9pm Make-up exam :Friday Oct 15, 2:30-4:30pm |
Midterm covers Chapter 1-4 |
|
Oct 18 |
5.3, 6.1-6.2 |
|
return exam to students |
|
Oct 25 |
6.3, 7.1-7.2 |
Last day to Drop with ‘W’ and select 'P/F' - Undergraduate, is Thursday Oct. 28 |
|
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Nov 1 |
7.3, 8, 9.1 |
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Nov 8 |
9.2-9.3 |
Thursday, Nov 11 is Veterans' Day |
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Nov 15 |
10.1-10.3 |
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Nov 22 |
11.1 |
Tuesday is Thursday class schedule. Thanksgiving Recess begins after end of classes of Tuesday |
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Nov 29 |
11.2-11.3 |
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Dec 6 |
Review |
Last class, Wednesday 12/8 |
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Dec 10-16 |
Final Exam Period, Final exam covers Chapter 5-11 |
Final grade is due by midnight Wednesday, 12/22 |
Your grade will be posted on SPIRE. |
Course information and communication
You may find printable syllabus, PDF notes, exercises and homework on Moodle course. If you have any questions, you may discuss questions with your group members, drop by my office hours through zoom (send me an email to schedule an appointment, I will let you know my zoom id).
Weights of Individual Assignments toward final grade
Exercise: there are exercises during the lecture. Most of excises are the multiple-choice questions; you may follow the instruction to use the corresponding keystrokes to complete the exercise so that you can practice the keystrokes. Exercise will be 30% of final grading.
Homework: We have 10 homework sets in total. Homework will be 30% of final grading.
Midterm: we will hold a 2-hour midterm with 10 questions in total. The midterm will be 20% of final grading.
Final Exam: we will hold a 2-hour final with 10 questions in total. The final exam will be 20% of final grading.
Online Practice SOA Exam FM: if you want to practice more questions, you take Exam FM mock test at http://q40542.questionwritertracker.com/N8BXPANM/
Grading Scale
The final score is calculated by adding Exercise portion (30%), Homework portion (30%), midterm portion (20%) and final exam (20%). The letter grade will be assigned by following score intervals.
A = 90 - 100%
A- = 87 - 89.99%
B+ = 83 - 86.99%
B = 79 - 82.99%
B- = 75 -78.99%
C+ = 71 -74.99%
C = 67 - 70.99%
C- = 63 - 66.99%
D+ = 59 - 62.99%
D = 55 - 58.99%
F = 0 - 54.99%
Exam Policy
Students who enroll in this course will have to take the midterm and the final exam within the scheduled exam time frame. During each proctored exam, students must follow proctoring rules and requirements set by the instructor for the course.
Please arrive 15 minutes early. You will not be admitted to the exam more than 30 minutes late.
Attendance and other class policies
Attendance: you must attend the course regularly to complete the assign course work in pointed period.
Special Accommodation: The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to providing an equal educational opportunity for all students. If you have a documented physical, psychological, or learning disability on file with Disability Services (DS), you may be eligible for reasonable academic accommodations to help you succeed in this course. If you have a documented disability that requires an accommodation, please notify me within the first two weeks of the semester so that we may make appropriate arrangements.
Makeup Policy: For homework, you may work independent or with your group members together, you devote the homework as early as possible. Therefore, there is no extension or make-up for homework unless a student has a special accommodation.
For the midterm and the final exam, unless there is an unpredicted reason, you should provide me an official document at least two week early to request a make-up exam.
Contingency plan
Before the semester, please test the technology that we use. If you have a difficulty to access the Moodle, please contact UMass OIT support https://www.umass.edu/it/support.
Help
The best way to get help is to send me an email at lian@math.umass.edu to schedule an appointment during my office hours, then I will tell you my zoom id, we meet through zoom.
Drops, Withdrawals, and Incompletes
The last day to drop with no record, or to submit a Pass/Fail option, is Wednesday, Sep. 8. If you intend to drop, please do so as soon as possible; others may be waiting to enroll in the section. The last day to drop with a W is Thursday, Oct. 28.
An Incomplete is possible only if: (1) you had a compelling personal reason, e.g., serious illness; (2) your work has clearly been passing; and (3) there is a good chance you'll complete the course with a passing grade within the allotted time. Thus, failing work is no reason in itself for an Incomplete.
Academic Honesty Statement
Since the integrity of the academic enterprise of any institution of higher education requires honesty in scholarship and research, academic honesty is required of all students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in all programs of the University. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and facilitating dishonesty. Appropriate sanctions may be imposed on any student who has committed an act of academic dishonesty. Instructors should take reasonable steps to address academic misconduct. Any person who has reason to believe that a student has committed academic dishonesty should bring such information to the attention of the appropriate course instructor as soon as possible. Instances of academic dishonesty not related to a specific course should be brought to the attention of the appropriate department Head or Chair. Since students are expected to be familiar with this policy and the commonly accepted standards of academic integrity, ignorance of such standards is not normally sufficient evidence of lack of intent (http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/codeofconduct/acadhonesty/).
Reimburse your Exam FM expense
The department will reimburse the full fee for any of the first three exams that are successfully passed. For detailed information, you may look over the following page.
https://www.math.umass.edu/undergraduate/actuarial-science#Exam%20Fund