OK folks … this section is giving a REAL headache … can’t seem to some concepts. I’ve got all the basics down, when when it comes to TB and the tax stuff, I’m just having a hard time remembering that when it comes time to do questions. I seem to understand what’s going one when reading this, but then it’s like in one ear, how the other … very frustrating. Anyone else having problems with these? I clearly don’t want to spend a lot of time here as there is tons of stuff that I need to review.
I have to agree, this section is a total PITA. I blame my lack understanding here partly on Tim’s lame overview in the online course because usually watching that first and then reading really helps cement the concepts for me… at this point in the game I think I will try to get down what I can so that I can get the easier questions and then come back to some of the tougher stuff if I have time. I don’t know how I’ll possibly get through the 400 questions in q-bank - all of this for 5-10%???
I’m w/ you on that. there are a lot of Qs in qbank but limited time. Work is also going to be a bit hectic for me the next week or so, so will not be able to do as much at work. How much of qbank have you done?
75%, I only have PM, quant, and alternative assets left. Luckily the easier ones fly by fast…
Ohhh, you’re doing well. I’m at almost 50%. I think I’m going to have to get off this site a bit (not that I participate a lot) to focus on reviewing and strengthening my weak areas …
No matter what you do in PM, history has proved it time and again, that we are all going to be royally jacked in PM each year, every year. They have fixed set of curveballs for every year. 2007 - TB Model 2008 - Efficient Frontier and instability 2009 - ??
Exactly. Pick up the easy q’s and move onto something we have hope of mastering…
so we gotto pick our battles and perhaps PM is not one of them. Understand the big picture and move on.
Aimee got it right on the dot. Your not going to get every question right. Just get whatever you can get right and guess on the others.
I am expecting 2 vignettes from PM this time just because of it’s volume. They will reduce vignettes in equity/FSA from 4 to 3.
A. Holmes mentioned PM as one of the smaller sections he felt schweser did a good job of covering relative to how it would be tested. This is not to say he felt there where weaknesses in the study text but that some sections (ie econ) are harder to cover than others. This is to say that I think points wise I would be more likly to go back to review PM before a section like Econ. … just some thoughts generally.
I was there for that and honestly I thought his advice there was a little strange. Even people who were really well prepared the last two years got rocked by that section. He also seemed to be personally leaning toward quant-heavy topics which I think reflects his personal preference more than anything else. I don’t know how you can honestly say anyone is better off concentrating on PM with it’s history of wacky curveballs and the fact that it’s twice as much material as other 5%-ish areas like alternative investments, econ, or even quant. That’s just my take, though… everyone should probably stick to what they’re comfortable with.
Aimee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was there for that and honestly I thought his > advice there was a little strange. Even people who > were really well prepared the last two years got > rocked by that section. He also seemed to be > personally leaning toward quant-heavy topics which > I think reflects his personal preference more than > anything else. I don’t know how you can honestly > say anyone is better off concentrating on PM with > it’s history of wacky curveballs and the fact that > it’s twice as much material as other 5%-ish areas > like alternative investments, econ, or even quant. > That’s just my take, though… everyone should > probably stick to what they’re comfortable with. Agreed. I ditched the last class, since Tim just sucks at teaching. I decided to reread the schweser PM, and do the end of chapter questions. Hopefully doing this will allow me to nab the easy Q’s and move on.
I’ve been reading PM in CFAI, in its entirety. It’s helped a _lot_
Is it a beast to read? I might actually consider doing that if its not too bad, my confidence on the PM section is pretty low at the moment…
TheAliMan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’ve been reading PM in CFAI, in its entirety. > It’s helped a _lot_ I started doing this, but put it to rest since it was taking so much time… I’m just not convinced the ROI is worth the read at this point.
If you are having trouble here - which is understandable - I’d say just let it go. Economics, Quants and PM have a huge amount of content for relatively few item sets. As long as you know the basics and have done done a decent amount of practise questions you’ll be ok. You can afford to get 50-70 on Econ, Quants and PM as long as you are nailing Equity, Ethics and Financial Reporting.
I’d be careful about taking that approach with too many sections, however. It still takes a good amount of studying to make it into the 50-70% range and there’s only so many places you can “let go” before its going to hurt you… I would say no more than 2 or 3 sections. I seriously struggle with derivatives, quant, and now PM - thats probably close to 20% of the test, which is more than I’m comfortable with. I’ll cover my bases for these three so that I can go at least 3/6 but at some point I will probably have to suck it up and figure out at least one of these sections well enough to pass it. Also, I’m finding that some sections you think are intimidating aren’t so bad once you get used to them, so at least give it an honest try - you never know, it might end up being an area you’re pretty good at if you give it a chance.
Aimee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is it a beast to read? I might actually consider > doing that if its not too bad, my confidence on > the PM section is pretty low at the moment… It is a beast, but I think PM is so conceptual that you can’t cut it down like Schweser does. Are there any specific parts you have trouble with?
^^ I’m having problems applying TB and the tax chapter. I understand the big picture when I read but am having difficulties applying that to a problem. I have no problems with Markowitz, CML/CAL, SML, etc … or even ICAPM … no problems there. The only thing I need to keep in mind is how to calculate FCRP so then that can be applied to the formula and the sensitivity to that currency. Remember that the sensitivity to the local currency will by Y(LC) - 1.