ILA 101, Coaching Actuaries' new course for the Individual Life and Annuities FSA track, launches late September 2026. Written by Ling Ling Leoh, FSA, MAAA, it covers product design, assumptions, pricing, and valuation.
We're thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of ILA 101, our new course for candidates starting their journey through the Individual Life and Annuities track to the FSA designation.
ILA 101 lays your groundwork for ILA 201, CP 351, and into your career as a credentialed actuary. You will explore the full arc of how life and annuity products work, from design and pricing through valuation and risk management.
Authored by Ling Ling Leoh, FSA, MAAA, the ILA 101 course will be available in late September 2026. Below, read more about what you’ll learn and what makes this course unique.
Meet Your Course Author
Our ILA 101 course was written by Ling Ling Leoh, FSA, MAAA. Ling Ling brings nearly 20 years of experience across the life insurance industry, having worked in a broad range of actuarial functions including financial modeling, pricing, risk management, and actuarial transformation.
Her career spans both traditional and non-traditional roles, giving her a well-rounded perspective on how actuarial concepts connect to real-world business decisions. This perspective shows up throughout the course, connecting exam material to the work actuaries actually do. Ling Ling earned her degree in actuarial science from Drake University.
Ling Ling’s goal in writing this course is to help candidates uncover not just what to learn, but why it matters. She believes that helping you understand the "why" behind actuarial principles allows you to think critically, connect ideas across topics, and apply your knowledge with confidence and purpose.
Beyond the technical side, Ling Ling treasures the journey of becoming and being an actuary. She believes the exam process builds resilience, patience, and humility alongside technical strength.
What You'll Learn
ILA 101 is all about pricing and introduction to valuation and risk management. Through manuals by Ling Ling Leoh, you'll trace how life and annuity products move from the drawing board to the balance sheet. The curriculum focuses on three core areas.
1. Life and Annuity Products
You’ll start with the products themselves. Learn how common life insurance and annuity products are designed, what features define them, and how actuaries think about the risks built into each one. This is the lens through which you’ll view everything in this course.
2. Assumptions and Experience Studies
Assumptions sit at the heart of actuarial work, and knowing how to develop, challenge, and refine them is a skill that matters well beyond exam day. You'll explore how experience studies evaluate past results, close the gap between expected and actual, and drive better decisions in pricing and product management.
3. Pricing, Valuation, and Risk
The final piece brings it all together. You will study valuation and capital frameworks used in U.S., Canadian, and international regulatory contexts, alongside the risk mitigation strategies life insurers rely on.
By the end of this course, you'll see how pricing assumptions flow into valuation and how risk management shapes both.
Why Coaching Actuaries?
The FSA syllabus is broad, and momentum is easy to lose without a clear path forward. At Coaching Actuaries, we give you the tools to find your way through it. In the new ILA 101 course, you’ll find:
- Digestible lessons, so you always know what to study next
- Our Practice tool, so you can practice and self-grade as you go
- Mastery Score® to pinpoint your weaknesses and measure your readiness
- Concept Checkers that help you review key ideas
- Coach's Remarks that guide you through the tougher spots
- Discussion forums, where credentialed actuaries who understand upper-level exam material answer most questions within 2 business days.
In short, you’ll have the structure and support you need to make this first step count. Your FSA journey starts here, with our ILA 101 course.
Launching Soon!
ILA 101 launches our newest FSA practice area, Individual Life and Annuities, joining courses on Group and Health (GH 101, GH 201-U) and Investment (INV 101, INV 201) in this year's growing course lineup. In 2025, we also launched our new course on CP 351, focused on asset liability management.
Each new course extends the Coaching Actuaries approach that's helped thousands of students through their preliminary exams. Now, we’re bringing that approach to exams that shape an FSA career, meeting you with support at every stage of your journey.
ILA 101 will be available for purchase in late September 2026. We'll let you know as soon as it's live.