Principal Components Analysis

Free SOA Exam SRM (Statistics for Risk Modeling) lesson in Unsupervised Learning Techniques. 19 min read, ~2,913 words.

Principal components are linear combinations of the original predictors that capture maximum variance, each uncorrelated with earlier components. The first PC is the direction of greatest data variation; the second PC is the highest-variance direction orthogonal to it. Loadings are the coefficients (unit-norm eigenvectors of the covariance or correlation matrix)...

Read the full lesson, free →
Worked examples and practice. Free with a free account, no card.

What this lesson covers

Learning objectives

Browse all free Exam SRM lessons or jump into free Exam SRM practice questions.