OK I’ve talked to a alot of previous candidates who took the lvl2 exam last year. They all said “or at least most of them” that they’ve failed PM. I’m curious to know what was so difficult about the PM section last year… ?!
PM as portfolio management? or afternoon section?
Everybody studies from Schweser and they got the whole vignette on Treynor Black Model …nobody had idea on how to answer those tricky questions and that is why most of the people got less than 50% in PM
will this year -as far as schweser claim- the PM section has been revised thoroughly in schweser notes.
If not PM then something else…they do it every year and last year for L1 they did it for Econ
they did it for L1? Those questions aren’t structured the same way as Level 2. I didn’t take the June exam but I didn’t have any surprises at all during the Dec. level 1 exam - and I didn’t read the CFAI text at all.
And for the record, the PM section is WAY different this year than last. There’s 3 distinct topics you could get tested on.
caspian Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And for the record, the PM section is WAY > different this year than last. There’s 3 distinct > topics you could get tested on. different easier or harder!
WAY WAY WAY more substance, I’ll say that.
I don’t want to put words in caspian’s mouth, but I think he is saying that since there is more substance that the chance of a more obscure topic like TB showing up are diminished.
Last year had a whole vignette, 6 questions, on TB: Incorporating analyst forecasting and then the weightings within an actively managed portfolio (based on the results of the previous question): short/long? big/small? I think there was also something on an negative alpha… for the record I didn’t have a CLUE when I saw this on the exam, it wasn’t until the Stalla lecture on it this year that I realized what the question was about.
mwvt9 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t want to put words in caspian’s mouth, but > I think he is saying that since there is more > substance that the chance of a more obscure topic > like TB showing up are diminished. i’d say know TB AND look for the next obscure subject (those later chapters in FSA are pretty general have little nuggets hidden within).
"for the record I didn’t have a CLUE when I saw this on the exam, " Saying I didnt have a clue would be an understatement. I mean, I literally…you might as well have asked me to split the atom. I had no idea how to answer the questions (I was pissed as hell). “i’d say know TB AND look for the next obscure subject (those later chapters in FSA are pretty general have little nuggets hidden within).” Well listen; you have to know ALL the obscure subjects. If last year’s test taught me anything, thats it. There’s nothing you can skip or not know at least a little bit about because if it gets tested, you’re done. At the same time, you could easily get another entire vignette on TB. Last year I just figured the PM question would be Markowitz related and while I believe this year will be Markowitz related again, it could be anything.
so we have a BSM, Black and TB…
besides Caspian, who here is repeating? my confidence is waning.
I am repeating and here were my marks last June: Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Derivatives 36 - * - - Economics 18 * - - - Equity Analysis 72 - - * - Ethical & Professional Stnds. 36 - * - - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - * - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - * - General Portfolio Management 36 * - - - Quantitative Analysis 18 - - * I consider PM my strongest topic so you can see why I consider that I failed largely due to the TB question. I also got completely owned by econ where there was nothing on FX at all, two stupid bits on economic growth theories.
Riot you are scaring the sh*t out of me now. That score looks excellent, can’t believe you failed with that.
Yeah well I didn’t like it either…
“I also got completely owned by econ where there was nothing on FX at all, two stupid bits on economic growth theories.” I failed econ also for the same reason. It wasnt even on the growth theories. It seemed so abstract and unrelated to anthing I had studied. Both sections were awful
Richard Smulkock, a consultant on economic growth, is working in an African Country. He is asked to help improve the economy. What is the most likely suggestion that will help the country prosper? A. Encourage Savings B. Lower Taxes C. Invest in Education D. Gov’t Subsidized Research and Development. That was pretty much the econ section last year…pick the most correct out of 4 correct answers.