Retab Success Story

CFA Level III Portfolio Management
#1

Hello,

In 2013, a friend of mine wrote and failed level 3 in band 10. In January of 2014, as he was starting to prep for another go at it, he received notice from the CFAI that they re-evaluated a question on the test and as a result he was one of 100 or so candidates in band 10 that were being upgraded to PASS. The CFAI didn’t offer any more details but he didn’t really care BECAUSE HE PASSED.

I have obviously been skeptical of his story because you don’t really hear stories like this. The CFAI is a black box, retabs are futile, and what they say goes.

Then as I sat down for the Level 3 2015, I had a nervous discussion with the guy sitting next too me. He told me a tail, without me prompting him with the above story. He told me he had a friend that failed Band 10 in 2013. This friend was not happy with it. And when this friend saw the AM answers, he found an error. He wrote the CFAI to plead his case. The CFAI agreed that there was in fact an error and gave him credit for getting the question correct. The credit was enough to push the friend from level 10 to a PASS. The question he challenged, was the AM question in the 2013 exam regarding CPPI, Buy-and-hold, and Constant Proportion. You know the question, it gives credit for both CPPI and Buy-and-Hold. If your like me, while quizzing yourself, you probably thought it was strange there were 2 correct answers for that question.

I’ve heard this story from two different, unrelated sources. Is the story B.S., maybe. I am not asking anyone to believe it. But, while you are reviewing the 2015 A.M. answers while preparing for the 2016 L3, if you think you find an error in the CFAIs answers, writing a letter and pleading your case to the CFAI isn’t the worst idea.

Cheers

#2

i think this one is true. nathan from Nyssa said the same in the class

#3

there is no question in 2013 AM relating to Portfolio trading & execution…that specific question appeared in 2012…

story might be true but dates are wrong…

#4

Good story, OP.

Agree with HG29JP, this question’s in 2012 (#3)

@irs312 - Nathan from NYSSA says a lot of stuff, but I’d believe him on this.

After reviewing this one, I remember thinking two solutions were odd as well… Off hand, I remember only a couple places where more than one answer was acceptable (and really that’s a hedge because recall is vague here).

It might be helpful to identify and note other AM question sets that have more than one solution. So far, 2012 AM session question #3.

Then refocus on learning the material.

#5

Quick scan:

2011

#3-A: accept geometric or arithmetic mean (although geometric is more appropriate here)

#3-B: reasons supporting both increases or decreases in risk tolerances

2012

#3-C: buy and hold or CPPI rebalancing strategies are acceptable

2013

Didn’t see any

2014

#1-C: 4 ways to solve

#1-E: 2 ways to solve