Valuations and risks

[nyaman]

I am having a bit of a difficulty in answering valuation and risks questions can you please assist me in this area on how generally to tackle the questions and specific areas to hit so that I can be able to come up with a full answer that can score well in an exam.

 

[Helen Evans]

Hi Nyaman

As the questions on these topics (valuations in particular) cover a broad area, could you give a couple of egs of questions you've found difficult to structure and I'll look to post some help.

thanks

 

[nyaman]

Hi Nyaman

As the questions on these topics (valuations in particular) cover a broad area, could you give a couple of egs of questions you've found difficult to structure and I'll look to post some help.

thanks

Particularly the question in april 2010 qsn 2 and usually the last questions in the paper with alot of marks on offer. Idea generation is proving to be difficult.

 

[Helen Evans]

This April 2010 question contains a lot of detail about the situation. This would be my starting point for constructing the answer, ie underscore all the key phrases in the question and look to explore around them to identify the risks that arise and how to mitigate these risks. Then when structuring my answer I would use these phrases from the question as my sub-headings, eg appointment from within the company", "retire at any time", "50% total earnings", "earnings in last year". Once I've exhausted these routes, and if the marks on offer in the question merit it, I would top up my answer with some general risks associated with offering the scheme.

More generally when answering these longer, more open-ended questions, my strategy would be:
- a light read of the question to understand its direction
- check where the question sits in the Course, eg what chapter being tested, is there a particular bit of Core Reading that is covered by the question? Have I seen a similar question before? In what ways if any is this question different?
- have a very careful read of the instruction sentence, make sure I pick up on the instruction word and understand exactly what I am being asked to do
- a detailed read of the question, underscoring the key phrases, looking to mindmap around these phrases to help generate ideas
- have a check of what I haven't been told, eg do I know the scheme's funding level, maturity, .... are these issues relevant to your answer? If so make a note to potentially cover.
- look to construct my answer, often there will be a section covering general themes and a range of other sections covering issues specific to the particular question (similar to my comments at start re the April 2010 qn).
- if short of ideas just check that you have covered practical issues and external issues (such as regulation and competitor schemes). Also in some questions it can be worth viewing a problem from different stakeholders' perspectives, eg State, employer, members and trustees ... doesn't always work but sometimes very useful.

 

[nyaman]

This April 2010 question contains a lot of detail about the situation. This would be my starting point for constructing the answer, ie underscore all the key phrases in the question and look to explore around them to identify the risks that arise and how to mitigate these risks. Then when structuring my answer I would use these phrases from the question as my sub-headings, eg appointment from within the company", "retire at any time", "50% total earnings", "earnings in last year". Once I've exhausted these routes, and if the marks on offer in the question merit it, I would top up my answer with some general risks associated with offering the scheme.

More generally when answering these longer, more open-ended questions, my strategy would be:
- a light read of the question to understand its direction
- check where the question sits in the Course, eg what chapter being tested, is there a particular bit of Core Reading that is covered by the question? Have I seen a similar question before? In what ways if any is this question different?
- have a very careful read of the instruction sentence, make sure I pick up on the instruction word and understand exactly what I am being asked to do
- a detailed read of the question, underscoring the key phrases, looking to mindmap around these phrases to help generate ideas
- have a check of what I haven't been told, eg do I know the scheme's funding level, maturity, .... are these issues relevant to your answer? If so make a note to potentially cover.
- look to construct my answer, often there will be a section covering general themes and a range of other sections covering issues specific to the particular question (similar to my comments at start re the April 2010 qn).
- if short of ideas just check that you have covered practical issues and external issues (such as regulation and competitor schemes). Also in some questions it can be worth viewing a problem from different stakeholders' perspectives, eg State, employer, members and trustees ... doesn't always work but sometimes very useful.

Thanks.