What is the SOA Exam FM exam?
Exam FM (Financial Mathematics) is a Society of Actuaries preliminary exam, accepted by the Casualty Actuarial Society as Exam 2. It covers the time value of money and its applications: valuing annuities and general cash-flow streams, amortising loans, pricing bonds, measuring interest-rate sensitivity with duration and convexity, and immunising a portfolio of assets against liabilities.
Like Exam P it is computer-based multiple choice, but the questions are more formulaic. Most can be solved with a small number of standard annuity and bond relationships plus careful use of the financial calculator. The challenge is precision: interest-rate conventions, timing of payments and rounding all matter.
Employers usually look for Exams P and FM together, and many degree programmes schedule them in consecutive years. Passing both is the typical starting point for an actuarial internship or a first analyst role.
Who sits it
- Undergraduates in actuarial science, finance, mathematics or economics
- Candidates who have passed Exam P and want to complete the standard entry pair
- Finance professionals who want a rigorous grounding in interest theory
Exam format at a glance
- Questions
- 30 multiple-choice
- Duration
- 2.5 hours
- Delivery
- Computer-based at Prometric test centres
- Exam windows
- Six sittings a year: February, April, June, August, October and December
- Fee (USD)
- $275 per attempt
- Passing standard
- Pass mark set per exam form by statistical equating; results are reported on a 0–10 scale with 6 a pass, and an unofficial pass/fail is shown at the end of the exam
- Recent pass rate
- About 46% (June 2026 sitting)
- Prerequisites
- None; single-variable calculus is assumed
Exam-body facts last checked September 2026. Fees, dates and formats change; confirm the current details with Society of Actuaries (SOA) before registering.
SOA Exam FM pass rates by sitting
| Sitting | Pass rate |
|---|---|
| June 2026 | 46.0% |
| April 2026 | 48.8% |
| February 2026 | 45.9% |
| December 2025 | 43.5% |
| October 2025 | 42.0% |
| August 2025 | 45.2% |
| June 2025 | 46.5% |
| April 2025 | 47.8% |
| February 2025 | 42.9% |
| December 2024 | 47.4% |
The SOA publishes the percentage passing for every sitting. Exam FM has run in the mid-forties for several years, close to Exam P; the unusually high rates in 2020 reflect the disrupted sittings of that year. The August 2026 result had not been published when this page was last updated.
Syllabus and topic weights
Weights from the SOA's 2026 Exam FM syllabus.
1.Time Value of Money5–15% · 9 lessons · 57 questions · 47 cards5–15%95747
- Time Value of Money: Definitions
- Solving for Unknown Time Value of Money Variables
- Interest and Discount Rate Conversions
- The Equation of Value
2.Annuities / Cash Flows with Non-Contingent Payments20–30% · 8 lessons · 119 questions · 26 cards20–30%811926
- Annuity Definitions
- Annuity and Non-Level Cash Flow Calculations
3.Loans15–25% · 6 lessons · 81 questions · 25 cards15–25%68125
- Loan Terminology
- Loan Calculations and Refinancing
4.Bonds15–25% · 9 lessons · 86 questions · 36 cards15–25%98636
- Bond Terminology
- Bond Price, Yield, and Amortization Calculations
- Callable Bond Pricing
5.General Cash Flows, Portfolios, and Asset Liability Management20–30% · 10 lessons · 118 questions · 44 cards20–30%1011844
- Yield Curves, Duration, Convexity, and Immunization: Definitions
- Duration, Convexity, and Yield Curve Calculations
- Portfolio Immunization and Cash Flow Matching
Lesson, question and flashcard counts are StudyOptima's published content for each topic. Expand a topic to see its subtopics.
How to prepare for SOA Exam FM
- 1
Master the annuity notation early. Nearly every question reduces to some combination of level, increasing, deferred or continuous annuities, and being able to write the right expression in seconds is most of the battle.
- 2
Learn the BA II Plus time-value-of-money and cash-flow worksheets thoroughly. Loans, bonds and internal rate of return questions are far quicker on the calculator than by formula.
- 3
Bonds and loans together are 30–50% of the exam. Practise amortisation schedules, book values, callable bonds and the different yield conventions until they are routine.
- 4
Do not neglect the last topic. Duration, convexity and immunisation questions are shorter to learn than they look and are worth up to 30%.
- 5
Time your practice. Two and a half hours for 30 questions is five minutes each, and a handful of long questions per paper will need more.
Study for SOA Exam FM on StudyOptima
42 study lessons
Condensed notes for every topic, organised by learning objective, with read-progress tracking.
461 practice questions
Exam-style questions with worked explanations, timed mocks, and re-drills of what you got wrong.
178 flashcards
Spaced-repetition review of the definitions and formulas the exam keeps coming back to.
Plans and pricing
Paid plans for SOA Exam FM are not on sale yet. Create a free account to read the free lessons and answer a daily allowance of practice questions, and we will let you know when full access opens.
Create a free accountSOA Exam FM FAQ
Was Exam FM's syllabus recently revised?
Yes. The SOA reorganised the syllabus for sittings from October 2022, removing derivatives and consolidating the remaining material into five topics. Our content follows the current five-topic structure.
How long should I study for Exam FM?
Most candidates with a calculus background report 150–250 hours over three to four months. Those who have already passed Exam P often need less.
Is Exam FM easier than Exam P?
Recent pass rates for the two exams are similar, in the mid-40s percent, but FM questions are more formulaic. Candidates who are careful with detail tend to find FM the more approachable of the two.
What does StudyOptima offer for Exam FM?
Study lessons for all five syllabus topics, a formula reference, flashcards, and a practice-question bank of more than 450 questions with step-by-step solutions.