Previous subjects - ST9?

Discussion in 'SA6' started by Edwin, Oct 14, 2014.

  1. Edwin

    Edwin Member

    In the notes no mention is made of ST9 as one of the previous subjects, however when preparing for my ST9 exam i took a look at SA6 past papers and i remember a question that had the ST9 Core reading on TRORS and CDS as an exam answer. I started to wonder, then went back to my ST9 preparation....

    Now did the examiners paste the ST9 core reading, or did the ST9 Core reading leverage off the exam solution?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 16, 2014
  2. Colin McKee

    Colin McKee ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    Sometimes the examiners are the same people that add core reading for the staff actuaries. It is possible that the one person is both an SA6 examiner and an ST9 core reading writer. Generally I dont think that ST9 is a requirement in order to sit SA6. I certainly havent seen many examples of what you refer to here. (PS which question on which paper are you referring to exactly?? So that I can investigate further)
     
  3. Edwin

    Edwin Member

    September 2013 q 1.
     
  4. Colin McKee

    Colin McKee ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    I will be honest and say that I didnt know that the answer was actually core reading in another subject (!!?) The material on Total return swaps (TRORS) was fairly general I thought, and should have been expected from a student that had sat ST5 (which is definitely a required subject). I certainly realised that the solution had been cut and paste from somewhere, because it wasnt a specific solution to the specific scenario set out in the question. It also contained CDSs which I cant really imagine being used to manage duration risk. This does happen from time to time in SA6 - the examiner will paste in a bit of info on the sort of area that he expects students to discuss, but not tailor it to the precise question that has been asked. What the examiner was probably looking for was a description about how to use a total return swap to sell the return on a long term government or corporate bond in return for LIBOR in order to reduce the duration of the asset portfolio down to cash. Thanks for pointing out where this material comes from - I am wiser now.
     

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