ISFA celebrates its 80th anniversary on June 4, 2010

Through Risk Management, contributing to financial stability, social balance and sustainable development

ISFA and the Lyon University Actuary Diploma were created on June 4 1930 by a bill passed by Gaston Doumergue, President of the French Republic at the time. Since 1998, ISFA has become a school of the University of Lyon, whose development is based on three major pillars: training to Risk Management, International partnerships and research in actuarial and financial sciences.

A teaching mission centered on Risk Management

As a specialist of the management of risks most economic actors are confronted with, the actuary is responsible for implementing mathematical models to help anticipate the uncertain evolution of the economic environment. The actuary's scope of activity has progressively extended to all branches of the insurance systems : organisation of pension schemes and contingency funds, fire and accident policies together with the various risks covered by the insurance companies. As a consequence of his interest in the large amount of funds collected by the insurance companies, the actuary has also become a specialist of quantitative finance.

In France, ISFA represents one of the major centres for the academic training of actuaries. The ISFA actuary has long been praised for the comprehensive approach of his qualification process which offers him a wide range of jobs requiring actuarial techniques. Nowadays, the ISFA school, besides the traditional actuarial studies, offers a PhD course in actuarial and financial science in addition to several Master's courses in Mathematical Engineering, all of them geared to Risk Management in the sectors of Insurance and Finance.

A training mission with an international scope

International development is a major project line for ISFA. With the support of DIAF (Diffusion International de l'Actuariat Français), ISFA opened a training centre in 2002 at Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), supplemented by a second centre which opened in 2007 in Hanoi. Since 2005, ISFA has delocalised an actuarial course in Beirut, cooperating with Saint Joseph University for the training of Lebanese actuaries together with the organisation of an examination centre in Bogota to recruit and train Columbian actuaries. The next stage will be an extension of the delocalisation process in Chile and Yaounde (Cameroon), where the candidates from the 14 member countries of the "Conférence Interafricaine des Marchés de l'Assurance" will take their exams. Since 2006, ISFA has also participated as a founding member to the proceedings of the "Enterprise Risk Management Institute, International" (ERMII), bringing together some ten leading universities in the world in the field of Risk Management.

A research mission unique in France

ISFA also carries out an ambitious research policy. ISFA academics actively participate in the development of actuarial techniques within the laboratory of Actuarial and Financial Science (SAF). The emphasis given on reseach in close link with the teaching activity is a key characteristic of ISFA and a major stake compared with the other French schools of actuarial studies. Associating applied Maths, Management and Economic sciences, the SAF laboratory is by essence pluridisciplinary. It is the sole French laboratory dedicated to research in Actuarial and Financial sciences. Its objectives are geared to answering a high social demand concerning the laying out of prudential rules in the banking and insurance world, the integration of new risks linked to longevity and environment and eventually the development of an "alternative finance" more concerned with the general balance of society.