Any Retakers?

[LouiseF]

Hi Guys,

Any of you out there retaking CA1? April will be my (very depressing) fourth attempt. I FB'd the first time followed by two lovely FA's. At least performance seems to be improving!

I applied for exam counselling, but as I live in Ireland rather than a face-to-face discussion, all I got was a report telling me what I'd written and how it wasn't enough.

The main thrust of the report was that I wasn't generating enough ideas for each question. So the help I want is - how do I generate more ideas? I've loads of lists to remember, so if you've any other suggestions...

Thanks
LouiseF

 

[bystander]

I'm more of a believer in looking at the high level of the question and doing a spider diagram. Then I look at the different legs and think whether it's relevant to the scenario presented.

This way you don't need to learn to many lists

Eg (Not in diagram form but.....)

Key concern : ASSETS
legs: marketability
liquidity
security
valuation methods
quantity
expenses
expertise
tax
matching - nature
- term
- currency
price per unit/divisibility
diversification
return - income
- capital
restrictions - regulatory
- self imposed

Hope you catch my drift.

If you get some marking, hopefully you'll get feedback there too.

 

[Rose]

In addition to any lists you use to generate ideas (including Bystander's) I think it helps to do some role playing when you read a question. Identify the key stakeholder's in any given situation and think about the issues that are of interest to them. This helps to generate ideas that probably wouldn't otherwise occur to you.

I recall from reading some of your previous posts that you have already passed your STs. Therefore you are obviuosly doing something right! Perhaps it is just the exhaustion of the two papers in one day.

Anyway, all the best for April.

 

[TheArtfulDodger]

The CA1 exam is very exhausting. I passed it last April and despite having a good lunch in between the 2 papers, my energy levels were really flagging about half an hour into the afternoon paper! Think it was just adrenalin that kept me going.

Spider diagrams, lists, and 'role playing' were very useful in helping to generate good ideas - I used all these approaches in the exam. I also found that, in some questions, considering the actuarial control cycle and negating the question (e.g. if it just asks for advantages, thinking about disadvantages) helped generate further ideas as well.