Certification Programs
Members of the IAVFA may apply for certification as a Corporate Finance Valuator (CFV), Quantitative Finance Valuator (QFV), Financial and Economic Modelist (FEM), Market Risk Actuary (MRA), Credit Risk Actuary (CRA), Operational Risk Actuary (ORA), Investment Risk Actuary (IRA), Life Risk Actuary (LRA), or Pensions Risk Actuary (PRA). IAVFA's designations serve to advise other professionals, prospective clients, and the community at large that the certified has satisfied IAVFA’s rigorous standards of professionalism, expertise, objectivity, and integrity in the fields of valuation (CFV, QFV or FEM) and financial actuarial science (MRA, CRA, ORA, IRA, LRA or PRA).
IAVFA reserves the exclusive right to determine the eligibility of its members to become certified. Only members who are qualified and have obtained one of the designations may use the appropriate appellation following their name. The Association reserves the right to terminate a member’s Certified status if it is determined the member no longer meets the requirements of professional competence, Standards of Professional Practice, or ethical behavior as established by IAVFA. Certification of members is a paramount objective of IAVFA and therefore it encourages its members to pursue its designations.
Corporate Finance Valuator (CFV) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). CFV is a qualification for corporate finance valuation professionals, particularly those who are involved in valuing businesses and intangible assets to provide expert analysis relating to litigation, tax planning, M&A's and business transactions. Certified CFVs perform a broad variety of functions related to corporate finance valuation within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Corporate finance valuations includes: Business Valuation of Corporations, Business Valuation of Sectors, Local and Multinational, Valuations of Intangible Assets, PPA – Purchase Price Allocation, Impairment (Goodwill and other Intangible Assets Valuation), Fair Value Embedded Options & Real Options, ESOP including 409A, Splitting Equity Components and Complicated Equity or Liabilities Instruments (PWERM / CCM / OPM), Damage Quantification, Valuations of Contingent Liabilities, Guarantees and Loans, Determining fair value and "At arm's length" prices for inter-company and international transfer Prices, Valuations for Merger Ratios, and Independent Expertise for Litigation Purposes.
CFV- Qualifications for the Designation
Quantitative Finance Valuator (QFV) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). QFV is a qualification for quantitative finance valuation professionals, particularly those who are involved in determining the current fair values of financial asset and liabilities to provide expert analysis for financial statement reporting and for audit, statutory, regulatory, legal, tax and M&A purposes. Certified QFVs perform a broad variety of functions related to quantitative finance valuation within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Quantitative finance valuations includes: Consulting and Conducting Hedge Effectiveness Tests, Fair Value of Embedded Derivatives, Valuations and Risk Analysis used for 2nd Galai Report (VaR, Sensitivity), Valuations and Risk Analysis for IFRS 7 & IFRS 9, Financial and Inflation Related Models (IAS 39, AG7, AG8), Convertible Bond Valuations, Financial Options and Complex Derivative Positions, Credit Risk Analysis.
QFV- Qualifications for the Designation
Financial and Economic Modelist (FEM) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). FEM is a qualification for financial and economic modeling professionals, particularly those who are involved in financial and economic modeling in Excel for valuation, risk management, investment management and project finance. Certified FEMs use sophisticated tools to build complex financial projections for business performance, investment, projects, etc. Their extensive comprehensive, wide scale knowledge in accounting, statistics, finance, economics, securities and financial instrument analysis, and portfolio management provides them with the necessary tools to implement an in depth understanding of the uncertainties, variables and scenarios needed to be factored into their forecasts and also for building complex financial and economic models. Certified FEMs perform a broad variety of functions related to financial and economic modeling within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Financial and economic modeling includes: Building and using sophisticated tools for financial planning and forecasting, Building and using sophisticated tools for business valuation, Building and using sophisticated tools for portfolio management, Building and using sophisticated tools for pricing options and futures contracts, Building and using sophisticated tools for fixed income portfolio management, Building and using sophisticated tools for estimating and modeling the term structure of interest rates and yield curve approximation, Building and using sophisticated tools for creating complex economic models (including PPP and BOT), and Modeling and Consulting for Control Premium, Minority interest, Nuisance Value and Discount for Lack of Marketability.
FEM- Qualifications for the Designation
Market Risk Actuary (MRA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). MRA is a qualification for market risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential market risk. Certified MRAs perform a broad variety of functions related to market risk actuarial science within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Market risk actuarial science includes: Fixed income securities (Risk-neutral pricing and Term structure models), Mortgages and mortgage-backed securities (Structure, markets, and valuation), VaR and other risk measures [VaR mapping, Backtesting VaR, Expected shortfall (ES) and other coherent risk measures, Parametric and non-parametric methods of estimation, Modeling dependence: correlations and copulas, and Extreme value theory (EVT)], Volatility: smiles and term structures, Regulation and the Basel Accords (Minimum capital requirements, Methods for market risk, Stress testing, Revisions to the Basel II Accord, The Basel III framework and Comparing Basel II/III to Solvency II).
MRA- Qualifications for the Designation
Credit Risk Actuary (CRA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). CRA is a qualification for credit risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential credit risk. Certified CRAs perform a broad variety of functions related to credit risk actuarial science within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Credit risk actuarial science includes: Subprime mortgages and securitization, Counterparty risk [Mitigation techniques, Credit exposure profiles, Collateralization and netting effects, and Pricing credit value adjustments (CVA)], Credit derivatives (Types and uses, Mechanics and structure, Valuation, and Spread curves), Structured finance and securitization (The structuring and securitization process, Agency problems and moral hazard in the securitization process, Tranching, subordination, and support), Default risk (Quantitative methodologies and Estimating defaults and recoveries from market prices and spreads), Expected and unexpected losses, Credit VaR, Regulation and the Basel Accords (Minimum capital requirements, Methods for credit risk, Stress testing, Revisions to the Basel II Accord, The Basel III framework and Comparing Basel II/III to Solvency II).
CRA- Qualifications for the Designation
Operational Risk Actuary (ORA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). ORA is a qualification for operational risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential operational risk, liquidity risk, and model risk as well as integrated risks. Certified ORAs perform a broad variety of functions related to operational, liquidity, model and integrated risk measurement within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Operational risk actuarial science includes: Calculating and applying risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC), Understanding, managing, and mitigating liquidity risk, Understanding and managing model risk, Evaluating the performance of risk management systems, Validating VaR models, Enterprise risk management (ERM), Economic capital, Operational loss data (Frequency and severity distributions, Modeling and fitting distributions, Data sufficiency and Extrapolating beyond the data), Failure mechanics of dealer banks, Risk appetite frameworks, Regulation and the Basel Accords (Minimum capital requirements, Methods for operational risk, Liquidity risk management, Stress testing, Revisions to the Basel II Accord, The Basel III framework and Comparing Basel II/III to Solvency II).
ORA- Qualifications for the Designation
Investment Risk Actuary (IRA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). IRA is a qualification for investment risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential investment risk. Certified IRAs perform a broad variety of functions related to investment risk measurement within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Investment risk actuarial science includes: Portfolio construction, Portfolio-based performance analysis, Tests of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Portfolio and component VaR, Risk budgeting, Risk monitoring and performance measurement, Hedge funds (Hedge fund strategies, Due diligence and fraud detection Liquidity, and Risk management of hedge funds), Private equity, and Regulation (Supervision Model regulation for ETFs companies and Trading Platform regulation for Forex companies).
IRA- Qualifications for the Designation
Life Risk Actuary (LRA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). LRA is a qualification for life risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential life risk. Certified LRAs perform a broad variety of functions related to investment risk measurement within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Life risk actuarial science includes: Introduction to Israel's Life Insurance Market and Common Types of Contracts, Survival Functions and Life Tables (The Normal Mortality Table, The Selective Mortality Table, and Mortality Table which represents an exposure to variable risks), Life Annuities (Fixed Life Annuities, Changing Life Annuities, and Deferred and Temporary Life Annuities), Introduction to Existing Life Insurance Contracts and Their Pricing (Pure Endowment Insurance, Term Life Insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Endowment Insurance, and Additional Life insurance Contracts with incline and decline premiums), Economic Approach to Pricing Life Insurance Contracts (Utility Function Revised- Risk Aversion, Risk Neutral, etc. Measures of Risk Aversion, Determining Insurance Premiums by Using the Utility Function from the perspective of both the customer and the firm), and Calculation of Reserves in the Life Insurance Portfolio of an Insurance Company (Retrospective Reserve, Prospective Reserve and Zillmer Reserve).
LRA- Qualifications for the Designation
Pensions Risk Actuary (PRA) is a unique professional designation offered by the Israel Association of Valuators and Financial Actuaries (IAVFA). PRA is a qualification for pensions risk actuarial science professionals, particularly those who are involved in mapping, modeling, measuring, and managing potential pensions risk. Certified PRAs perform a broad variety of functions related to investment risk measurement within commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, financial consulting firms, investment advisory and portfolio management companies, as well as in private and public companies, government ministries, regulatory bodies and statutory authorities. Pensions risk actuarial science includes: Introduction to Israel's Pension Insurance Market and Common Types of Contracts (Introduction, basic concepts, pension funds, senior employees insurance, supportive insurance, and loss of working capacity), The Second Pension Tier in Israel (The Basic Pension, Comprehensive Pension, The budget Pension, Senior Employees Insurance, and Advantages and Disadvantages of a Comprehensive Pension and Senior Employees Insurance), Building Pension-Actuarial Reduction Tables (Actives Table, Fund Planholders Table, Married Table, Wage Growth Table, Disability Rates Table, and Contribution), Calculation of the Pension Portions, and the Rights of the Fund Members (Method for calculating the Determining salary: 3 years Method, Average Method, Portion Method, Calculation of the new portions in the pension funds and the rights of the fund members), Pension Pricing Principles- Calculating the Rights of the Fund Members (Past and Future) (The Pricing Principles, Surviving Relatives Pension, Old Age Pension, Widow Pension, and Disability Pension using the Averages Method and the Monthly Balance Method), and Methods for Preparing Actuarial Balance Sheets of Pension Fund.
PRA- Qualifications for the Designation
Policy on Confidentiality and Document Retention
All members designated by IAVFA are published in our web site; information provided there is made available to the public. All other information in our files pertaining to a member of IAVFA, other than whether or not someone is a member of the Association, is held in strict confidence, and only under court order will it be released to outside parties.
