Short Answer Format

So I have not been able to track it down on the CFAI website, but I thought I saw somewhere that it was acceptable to write in point form on the exam. Can this be confirmed?

Yes, it’s fine, short succint points are fine and will save time like: Ability to take risk: Above Average -Long time horizon -Significant asset base ($5 million+) -Limited expenses

Can you do thay when they ask for IPS risk objective? Or are they expecting full sentences like would be written in an actual IPS?

jamespucyk Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, it’s fine, short succint points are fine and > will save time like: > > Ability to take risk: > > Above Average > -Long time horizon > -Significant asset base ($5 million+) > -Limited expenses if this is allowed, we can save a lot of time then… anyone could confirm this is ok? anyone charter holders scored high AM with this format?

Looks like points are fine. See the below section taken from the CFAI website: Tips for Taking the Level III Essay Exams The Level III essay exam is given in the morning session and has a maximum score of 180 points. The essay exam typically has 12–15 questions, and questions may have multiple parts. The points for each question and each question part are given in the exam. The following are some general tips for Level III candidates on the essay exam: The published guideline answers on past essay exams are more complete and better written than actual exam answers that receive full credit. Answers are graded only on content. They are not graded for language and style. Use short phrases and bullet points to save time, but be sure your meaning is clear. Handwriting is rarely so poor that the answer cannot be graded. Points are awarded for direct answers to a question. No points are awarded for general knowledge that is not responsive to the question. Do not spend too much time writing an answer. This is particularly tempting when you know the topic well. Formulate a direct response to the command words, and use the amount of time allotted. No one has ever received a perfect score on any level of the CFA exam. Even though it is not by design, you should expect to encounter questions that you will not be able to answer correctly. There is a great deal of material to master, and exam questions are challenging. Standard setters (at Levels I and II) and the Board of Governors (at all three levels) take account of exam difficulty in setting Minimum Passing Scores. Find out more about how the MPS is established (PDF). The following are common reasons that graders give for poor candidate performance on the essay portion of the Level III: Not responsive to command word list (list, define, etc.) Answered a question they wish they had been asked instead of the question that was asked. No work shown on a calculation question and the answer is incorrect. Hedged on questions that asked for a recommendation and justification (recommended A, but justified B). Neglected to answer part of the question (especially if a several part question). Note that you can still answer part E, even if you do not know the answer to part D. Content area experts spent too much time on their area of expertise, leaving too little time for weak areas.

Even for the ‘formulate’ the return objective, which I tend to want to answer in paragraph form, I think you can do bullets and just say: CU Endowment requires a return that will enable them to: - maintain the purchasing power of the portfolio - meet 5% of the opperating budget with an annual distribution (4.00%) - pay management fees (0.65%) - grow that distribution at the rate of inflation (3.25%) - therefore total required return is (1.04*1.0325*1.0065) = 8.08%

For one of the Schweser classes they mentioned something about if the section has 4 points allocated they will go through the first 4 bullets and then stop. Of your first four if one of them is incorrect they will not go the fifth bullet and give you the full marks. Maybe that is the only disadv of using bullets.