Study Manuals vs. Recommended Course Readings

[coolznyc]

I searched the forum, but i didn't find a clear answer. Are the study manuals made by Actex, ASM, BPP, etc suppose to replace the course readings suggested by the SOA/CAS from the following text:

A) Mathematics of Investment and Credit, by Broverman,

B) Financial Mathematics: A Practical Guide for Actuaries and
other Business Professionals, by BPP

C) Mathematical Interest Theory, by Daniel, J.W.

Only BPP's manual is mentioned in the learning objectives syllabus, so would that make a better choice to buy? I read some other threads of people indicating that it has a good review/outline of the material, but the questions are not hard enough. Is that true? Are you guys referring to the questions in the buy alone text for $90, or or you talking about the Study Program which includes additional practice questions?

I've read pretty good reviews about ASM, perhaps the authors can answer this but, is the manual enough or is it required that we have to read the recommended texts too to do well?

I also get the impression that McDonald's Derivative Markets should be purchased.

[Elk]

Well, I've used a variety of material. If I had to do it over again, I would purchase the ASM manual, the Ruckman and Francis text, and the McDonald text. Ruckman and Francis text and the McDonald text are Option B on the SOA recommend reading list.

The ASM manual is great. I still have the 1st edition of Vol. 2 which covers Derivative Markets. I believe, though, he has since published a later edition. The 1st edition questions may not be hard enough, but he does explain the material very well. After using the ASM manual, I found that it was further beneficial to read the McDonald text to understand Derivatives.

Ruckman and Francis is the newer text on interest theory. I honestly haven't seen it but it sounds straight forward and practical. I already have the other texts, so at this point I don't plan to use it unless a coworker purchases it.

[coolznyc]

Thanks for your input. I'll get McDonald's text. For the manuals, I was considering only buying the ASM manual. From the sample pages I've seen, it seems to give a good review. The BPP book sound good, but i don't know if its worth $90 dollars without any practice exams, the ASM manual is already $150. Hopefully other people can provide some other inputs. Thanks in advance.

[Harold Cherry]

I've read pretty good reviews about ASM, perhaps the authors can answer this but, is the manual enough or is it required that we have to read the recommended texts too to do well?

I also get the impression that McDonald's Derivative Markets should be purchased.

The ASM manual was written to be a stand-alone study guide, and our feedback from students is that you can successfully study for the exam without buying any textbooks. However, please note that the McDonald textbook on derivatives is used for later exams as well, especially Exam MFE (which is identical to CAS Exam 3F). For this reason, it may be a good idea to buy the McDonald book.

Since the edition that Elk mentioned that he used was published, there have been two more editions. The current edition is the 7th, with all of the material appearing in one volume. As compared to Elk's edition, 50 additional end-of-section problems on derivatives have been added, two more original full-length practice exams have been added (for a total of 5), the sections on derivatives have been edited for greater clarity, and the authors are offering to answer e-mail questions on the manual within a reasonable time frame that we receive from original purchasers of the 7th edition.

You can get additional information about the FM/2 manual and all of the other ASM manuals by visiting our website at www.studymanuals.com

[Elk]

Just to add to Harold Cherry's comments above, all questions I have posted on this site regarding the ASM manual have been answered personally by him in a timely manner.