Here is a very practical exam-oriented question that S2000 can approve of:
Is it necessary to repeat the question statement in the answer? For example:
Question: State the return objective of the investor.
Answer 1: 6%
Answer 2: the return objective of the investor is 6%.
A2 is more readable to me, but also significantly more time consuming than A1. Which one would the graders accept?
Similarly:
do we need to explain the notation in a numerical problem when it will be obvious from the context? For example, given a table of allocations, proportions, active returns, active risks like this:
passive - 25% - 0 - 0
enhanced - 25% - 1.5% - 5%
manager A - 10% - 3% - 20%
manager B - 15% - 5% - 10%
calculate the active return of the portfolio.
Answer 1:
Rp = active return of the portfolio = sum of wi Ri where
wi = proportion of each allocation
Ri = active return of each allocation, therefore
Rp = 25% * 0 + 25% * 1.5% + … = blah.
Answer 2:
Rp = (sigma) wi Ri = 25% * 0 + 25% * 1.5% + … = blah.
(Without explaining what Rp, wi and Ri stand for.)