CFA CFA Level 3 Level 3 exam (AM) – some observations

Level 3 exam (AM) – some observations

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    • Avatar of mitch895mitch895
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        First thing I’ll say is that I’m not sure there’s anything unexpected here, but for anyone wondering here’s what the AM exam session by question “category” looks like between 2010 and 2014.  It rightly could be argued that many questions presented in the exams fit into more than one category, but these have been sorted by the CFA Institute’s own categorisation methods (i.e., per the schedule provided on the first page of the exams).

        It would be good to know how the 2015 exam was distributed to see whether there is a pattern – i.e., whether topic weightings alternate – but then again I’m sure the Institute would take measures to prevent patterns developing….

        It would seem that “Portfolio Management – Individual” and “Portfolio Management – Institutional” have been fairly consistent at ~20% of the AM exam each, with “Individual/Behavioural” adding ~9.5%… so roughly 50% for those 3 core topics.  

        The good old staples of “Equity”, “Economics” and “Fixed Income”, plus “Monitor/Rebalance/Execution” bring in a further 35% or so, though individually they fluctuate by a fair margin over the years.

        Also seems there may have been some change in the categorisation of subject matter — arguably derivatives and risk management could, at least to a  significant extent, be used interchangeably.

      • Avatar of ArbitrageurArbitrageur
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          Great analysis, thanks! It’s definitely all about the IPS. Looks like other topics have a fair degree of volatility…

        • Avatar of hairyfairyhairyfairy
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            Great analysis – did you do this @mitch895?

          • Avatar of mitch895mitch895
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              Yeah. 

              Not sure how much use it is, but for me it reinforces the importance of getting PM Individual & Institutional (+behavioural) properly squared away. 

              Ensuring I can fully (and quickly) articulate answers to questions within these topics (IPS etc) will be my personal focus in the lead-up to the exam.  My handwriting is dreadful so being able to keep things concise will, I hope, help me (and the person marking my answers).

            • Avatar of mitch895mitch895
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                @Arbitrageur I actually performed a more detailed analysis of the “type” of questions which produced some interesting results.  

                Basically there are only 5 or 6 areas which appear consistently (comprising ~15% of AM exam points) while the rest is scattered across the rest of the course material in no particularly logical or consistent manner.  I even looked to trends/cycles; sure enough those building the exams were clever enough not to leave anything reliable there to work off.  

                Now we are counting down 60 days to exam it’s time to crank up the study and (hopefully) kick some arse <span>:smile:</span>

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