Hi admin, Are the 400 series papers a good way to exercise for the exam, or is the difference in the change of syllabus too huge?
Hi, I think it deends on the particular SA exam. Some pensions and life papers will have common threads that were valid before 2005 (the 400 series papers) and are still valid. Many of the questions however will be out of date and have been superceded by new thinking and new ways of doing things. SA5 didnt exist before 2005, so that one is a special case. SA6 has changed a lot in recent years. Before 2005, the exam stuck to a number of topics that were linked to the core reading. In addition, the method of managing assets has changed - ALM is now firmly entrenched (it wasnt back in the day). Asset management is now about matching liabilities and managing balance sheet risk. Modern SA6 papers ask on anything, including politics and economics, and the style of the question is very different. SO I would say that, apart from a handful of older questions, many or most of the 400 series questions are no longer relevant to this subject.
So what's the best way to prepare before doing the post 2005 paper? Could it be advisable say to do a lot of external reading, understand the work and the approach to solving the problem. I think I work in an environment that cultivates thinking from first principles, with some of the problems really complex that may help. But apart from that, I don't work in Investments I do ALM, Solvency 2 but not a lot of assets exposure.
