Academy of Life Underwriting

Exam preparation and administration:the examination group of the Academy of Life Underwriting (alu) prepares and administers four examinations to assess the knowledge and experience of Life insurance underwriters, and other interested professionals, compared to the established alu curriculum. The alu101, alu201, alu202, and alu301 exams are created by a team of more than thirty volunteers, all professional Life underwriters or company medical directors, in a well-established process that takes more than six months to complete. Each team member writes questions based upon assigned textbook chapters. The questions are reviewed and improved in small group discussion, and then assembled into four exams. Alu volunteers who write questions are schooled in the art of writing valid exam questions by an educational consultant. New alu examinations are created each year. All four examinations are administered annually in april and exam alu101 is also administered again in october. Students take the examinations virtually on their own desktop or laptop computers. The exams are supervised by screen sharing and video recording via the student's computer camera. Once completed, the recordings are reviewed by professional proctors. Finally, the exams are scored according to alu specifications and students are informed of the exam results by email. In fiscal year 2022/2023 exams were held on april 11, 2023 there were 883 students registered; for the exam held on october 8, 2022 there were 184 registered students. Fees to sit for the exams range from $225 - $375 per exam. These activities occupy approximately 35% of the activities of the Academy of Life Underwriting. Curriculum development and textbook production:the alu curriculum that is the basis for the certification program for the Life Underwriting profession was developed and is maintained by the alu curriculum group. Members of the curriculum group are all volunteers and professional Life insurance underwriters or insurance company medical directors. As Life insurance Underwriting is a dynamic profession, the alu curriculum group must continually review the medical and legal environment for the Life insurance industry, the information available to a Life underwriter to facilitate the Underwriting process, and the changing nature of the Life insurance underwriter's professional responsibilities and accountabilities. As key factors in the Life underwriter's profession change, the alu curriculum group updates the alu Life Underwriting curriculum accordingly. Based upon the alu curriculum, the curriculum group updates and publishes four textbooks covering basic, intermediate medical, intermediate non-medical and advanced topics in Life insurance Underwriting. Textbook chapters are written by professional Life underwriters, company medical directors, and medical professionals. To keep pace with an evolving industry, the textbooks are updated at least every two years. Together with a commercial anatomy & physiology (a&p) textbook, these four textbooks cover the alu curriculum in detail and are the study materials used by students to prepare for the examinations. Alu textbooks are sold through amazon. In 2022/23 the digital version cost $9.99 and the print version cost $20. The a&p textbook is available from the distributor and multiple retail outlets at a cost of approximately $45. These activities occupy approximately 20% of the activities of the Academy of Life Underwriting. Credentialing and recognition of student accomplishment:alu recognizes students who meet the alu certification requirements by conferring a certificate or diploma, and professional designations. Alu believes that successful and proficient Life insurance underwriters must work closely with actuaries, attorneys, administrative and sales professionals, as well as company management. To that end, requirements for an alu certificate or diploma include successful completion of the alu examinations along with completing several outside educational courses offered by the Life office management association and the american college of financial services. Students, who pass all alu examinations and all outside educational course requirements, are awarded the designation, fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (falu) and diploma. An intermediate diploma, associate, Academy of Life Underwriting (aalu) is also awarded after completion of alu 101, alu 201, alu 202 and several outside educational courses. A level one certificate is awarded after completion of alu 101 and several outside courses. Through june 30, 2023, 2,861 students have earned their falu designation. These activities occupy approximately 10% of the activities of the Academy of Life Underwriting.

Continuing education each year, the Underwriting development and continuing education group of the Academy of Life Underwriting, creates and offers several opportunities for Life insurance underwriters and other interested parties, to study and discuss specific emerging and established topics important to their professions. The group is comprised of professional Life underwriters. The Underwriting development group creates and administers online webinars approximately six to seven times each year. These one-hour seminars include presentations on timely Underwriting topics by industry experts, in which participants can question the experts in moderated sessions over the internet. The group presented six online webinars on medical and non-medical Underwriting topics and continued to offer a series of self-study for individuals to learn ekg interpretation. Webinars are offered to Underwriting companies by annual subscription and to individuals by individual registration. Subscription fees range from $125 - $750 per year. Individuals pay $125 and company subscriptions are based on the number of underwriters in the company. The forum group organizes an annual Academy of Life Underwriting forum. This is a two-day meeting intended for chief underwriters or a designated associate. The attendance is limited to leaders in the Underwriting field to facilitate discussion. The challenges and future trends in Underwriting are discussed to other timely topics. In 2023 the meeting returned to an-in person format following the pandemic years. The attendance fee in 2023 was: $250. Sponsorships were made available for between $200 and $500. These activities occupy approximately 10% of the activities of the Academy of Life Underwriting.

On the risk: the journal of the Academy of Life Underwriting on the risk: the journal of the Academy of Life Underwriting (otr) is a professional journal published quarterly by alu. The on the risk editorial team, together with a group of editors and managers, secures timely, in-depth articles written by practitioners in the Underwriting community. Otr is distributed to members of the association of home office underwriters (ahou) and canadian institute of underwriters (ciu) as a benefit of membership, and direct subscriptions may be purchased. On the risk reaches approximately 1,900 subscribers with each issue. The journal contributes to the professional and continuing education needs of the ahou, the ciu, and the world- wide professional Underwriting readership. On the risk supports the mission of the Academy of Life Underwriting by providing continuing education and public recognition to Life insurance underwriters, and the members of ahou and ciu, by encouraging underwriters to obtain the associate, Academy of Life Underwriting (aalu) and fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (falu) designations, and by promoting Academy of Life Underwriting programs. For individual subscribers digital versions cost $35 annually and print versions cost $40 annually. Ahou and ciu pay $35 for print versions discounted due to quantity. These activities occupy approximately 25% of the activities of the Academy of Life Underwriting.