What is the SOA CFE 101 exam?
CFE 101 is the Enterprise Risk Management course in the SOA's Corporate Finance and ERM practice area. It covers the foundations of ERM and the internal and external environment a risk framework sits in, the identification, assessment and evaluation of risk, and how ERM is embedded into real decisions, risk responses and risk capital.
It carries more weight than its place in the sequence suggests, because it is also the ERM exam for the CERA credential. A candidate who completes most of the ASA requirements, passes CFE 101 and finishes the ERM module earns the Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst designation, which is recognised internationally through the CERA Global Association.
The assessment is three hours of written-answer questions worth fifty points, built around a case study supplied in the exam itself: a narrative and a spreadsheet of company financials that the questions work from. You cannot bring your own copy, so familiarity with the case beforehand matters.
Who sits it
- SOA candidates who have reached the Fellowship courses in the Corporate Finance and ERM practice area
- Anyone pursuing the CERA credential, for whom this is the required ERM exam
- Risk professionals in insurance moving from technical work into enterprise risk
Exam format at a glance
- Type
- A Fellowship-level course in the SOA's post-2025 flexible pathway, not a preliminary exam
- Assessment
- Three hours of written-answer questions worth 50 points; the SOA does not publish a fixed question count
- Case study
- Questions work from a case study supplied in the exam, comprising a narrative and a spreadsheet of company financials. You may not bring your own copy
- Sittings
- Three a year; the 2027 sittings are March, July and November
- Fee (USD)
- $1,150, the standard fee for every Fellowship technical course
- Pairs with
- CFE 201 Corporate Finance, to form the two-course sequence in this practice area
- Also earns
- The CERA credential, alongside most of the ASA requirements and the ERM module
- Recent pass rate
- 60.1% (July 2026) and 58.5% (March 2026)
Exam-body facts last checked September 2026. Fees, dates and formats change; confirm the current details with Society of Actuaries (SOA) before registering.
SOA CFE 101 pass rates by sitting
| Sitting | Pass rate |
|---|---|
| March 2026 | 58.5% |
| July 2026 | 60.1% |
The SOA publishes results for each Fellowship sitting. CFE 101 has run a little above CFE 201, its partner course, which was 53.4% in July 2026. Only the sittings since the new pathway began are shown, as earlier results belong to the retired track structure.
Syllabus and topic weights
The SOA publishes a syllabus with three sections but does not attach percentage weights to them, so none are shown. The counts below are our own content for each section.
1.Enterprise Risk Management Foundations18 lessons · 61 questions · 50 cards186150
- Fundamentals of ERM
- The Internal Environment
- The External Environment
2.Risk Analysis and Evaluation13 lessons · 97 questions · 35 cards139735
- Risk Identification
- Risk Assessment
3.Embedding ERM into Decision-Making11 lessons · 84 questions · 43 cards118443
- Making Decisions
- Responding to Risks
- Risk Capital
Lesson, question and flashcard counts are StudyOptima's content written so far for each topic. Expand a topic to see its subtopics.
How to prepare for SOA CFE 101
- 1
Get to know the case study before exam day. The questions all work from it, and candidates who meet the company's financials for the first time under exam conditions lose time they cannot recover.
- 2
Practise writing to the mark allocation. Fifty points across three hours means the examiners expect a specific depth per question, and over-writing on one answer is the classic way to run short.
- 3
If you are aiming at CERA, plan the ERM module alongside this. The credential needs both, plus most of the ASA requirements, and they are easier taken close together.
- 4
Cover all three sections. Embedding ERM into decision-making is the part candidates from a technical background tend to under-prepare, and it is where the case study bites hardest.
- 5
Remember the SOA removed the recommended order for Fellowship courses in 2025. You can take this one whenever it suits your practice area plan.
SOA CFE 101 on StudyOptima
We have written lessons and practice questions across all three CFE 101 sections, but they are not released yet, and they are written to teach the material rather than to imitate the written-answer exam format. Our Exam P and Exam FM material is live if you are still working through the preliminary exams, and our FRM Part 2 content covers enterprise and operational risk from a banking perspective that overlaps conceptually.
SOA CFE 101 FAQ
Is CFE 101 an exam or a course?
The SOA calls it a course in the pathway it introduced in late 2025, but it is assessed by a three-hour written-answer exam. The older name, an FSA track exam, no longer applies.
How does CFE 101 relate to the CERA credential?
It is the ERM exam CERA requires. Completing most of the ASA requirements, passing CFE 101 and finishing the ERM module earns the credential.
Do I need to take CFE 201 as well?
For Fellowship you need one complete 100 and 200 level sequence within a single practice area, so if Corporate Finance and ERM is your chosen sequence then yes, CFE 201 goes with it.
When will StudyOptima cover CFE 101?
Study lessons and a question bank exist across all three syllabus sections but are not released. Note that our questions are practice items for learning the material rather than replicas of the written-answer format. Email support@studyoptima.com to be told when it launches.