Hi all. How are people splitting their time prepping for AM vs. PM? I have done 4 of the CFA AM past papers available through Kaplan so far as people have consistently recommended significant exam practice for the morning (doing questions under timed exam conditions etc.) but wondered what others were doing for PM prep and what proportion of their revision time is being dedicated to it? Thanks!
I do 50/50
As a re-taker, I would recommend spending more time on the AM portion. The PM portion is not really any different than what you saw in Level 2. If you know the material, then you are good to go. If anything, focus on any topic you scored low on (say <70%).
If you want more PM practice, do the question bank/online topic tests on the CFAI website as well as the 2 provided PM mocks. There are older mocks out there if you want to, just google those. Though I’ve found that a decent amount of old PM material is being recycled into the q-bank/topic tests so seems like we’re kinda covered there anyways…
The AM portion throws people I think in part because it is just different than the multiple choice we’ve been given to date. Overall, I am of the impression that what most people have issue on is the AM portion when it comes to scoring.
They can do well/kill it in the PM but then flub the AM and not pass as a result. This is what happened to me and a co-worker of mine last year. Both did >=70 in PM and then did <50 in AM.
Go and find some older AM exams (just google it) and do another 3-4 if you have the time. Also, be sure to go hard on yourself from a scoring perspective, especially when it comes to partial credit.
Hope that helps, good luck.
Ditto for me as well >=70 in PM and then did <50 in AM.
I couldn’t agree more - be as hard as you can when grading yourself. Being generous to yourself doesn’t mean the graders will be.
You’re learning the material through the excessive amount of AM mocks that you should be doing. I think I did the CFA online exam which was multiple choice based, but that’s it really.
In the end I was probably 95% of time spend on AM, and 5% spent on PM practise.You will have a heck of a time finishing the AM portion if you dedicate 50% of your time to practising multiple choice (in my opinion). I was done the PM portion with almost 1.5 hours to spare, and just barely finished the AM section in the allotted time.
To each their own though, best of luck!
Thanks all, have been pursuing a similar strategy of focussing on the AMs but could probably be harsher on the grading so will continue on that path.
You have the PM technique down from level 1 and 2. In last years PM exam I had a full hour of time left. AM I had 5 mins to review.
I done a few practice PMs but focus was 80% AM.
Do a mean variance optimization to figure out optimal allocation between AM/PM. Use Black-litterman approach and compare allocation.
I’d suggest a 51.25% / 48.75% split.
Just cuz.
Ah classic discretionary allocation
I don’t need no stinkin’ constraints!
