Hello, anyone got any thoughts on this exam ? My initial thought was that it was fairly straightforward, nothing too tricky. But that doesn't make for an easy exam - not sure how you can demonstrate 'higher level' skills and application of knowledge when there's just straightforward points to be made. Also, if you happened to have read that Urwin et al. paper on Investment Manager selection you could have got 25 marks for being able to remember some fairly basic stuff on behavioural finance that should belong in an ST5 paper. So my guess is that 60 people took the exam, about 20 people knew the behavioural finance stuff and they'll be the ones that pass. Not enough depth on the other 2 questions to distinguish people.
Behavioural issues Have your comments been affected by "overconfidence" in your ability to predict the ourcome ?!? I agree that the pass list will be weighted towards those who have completed ST5 recently (and would have revised the big behavioural qustions that popped up there in recent papers) and those who took the time to read the Urwin paper (which is in the core reading rather than the further reading list, and which has always appeared first on the list of important further reading in the ActEd FAQ doc for SA6). But there are other tricky bits to this paper, particularly dredging up enough point in parts (iii) (iv) and (v) for Q2. This would have required quite a bit of role play to come up with 29 marks worth of material. Anyone else who sat this exam have an opinion??
Do I win a prize for the closest prediction on the pass rate (19/58) ? shame I couldn't predict what the questions were going to be. The pass rate for SA5 looked reasonable - may try that one next time round instead...
September 06 exam Hi, I sat this and didn't pass (that's why I am here!). I was surprised at question 1 being centred on behaviorial issues, and since I did 305 sometime ago, did not have enough points to put down. I did read the Urwin paper, but guess that the points did not stick with me, I was more interested in the sections relating to evaluating the manager. I did not think that question 2 was that bad, and there was scope to be a bit "creative". I think I simply lost out on Question 1 for the last 5 marks or less. I have gone for a tutorial and also exam counselling for the April Sa6 and so am a bit stuck for ideas for this time's resit. I am spending time doing the ST5 questions for practice. I am also considering ordering the Y assignments for 2007, but would like to ask if it is a set of brand new questions, or are they the same as the 2006 with a few tweaks? Any other tips in passing this exam would be most welcomed!
got the mock thanks muppet. I decided to go for a brand new CMP for SA6 to start things afresh and also got the mock for 2007 out. Have got marking vouchers too. I have had all my past Y and X assignments marked so no point in repeating those questions. I get the feeling that the questions in the bank aren't of the standard in the exam. Was hoping that with 3 SA6 behind us, acted would have updated the style of their questions. anyway, will see what the mock looks like!
Q&a I agree that the SA6 Q&A bank questions are not of the standard of the exam. Most of the early questions are designed as shorter questions that probe specific areas of the notes, or parts of earlier courses that you may have forgotten. The longer question(s) at the end of each bank will be equal to the exam qustions in length, however, they are generally based on the core reading material. The exam on the other hand frequently tackles areas of actuarial work that are not covered in any core reading. They may be areas of ongoing research, or areas discussed at Staple Inn. Such topics are hard to predict with any certainty. I dont think the Q&A bank can ever stray too far from the core reading. So in summary, even the longer questions in the Q&A will be more core reading based tham anything in the exams. The mocks on the other hand will be of exam standard, and even stay from the core reading. Hope this helps.
