Alternative Ways to Study (Relative to multiple time non-passers of FM)

[ml692787]

I just found out I have not passed the FM exam, and this is the 3rd time that my candidate number has not been listed (first sitting I got a 2, 2nd sitting I got a 5). I was not as surprised this sitting as compared to last sitting that I did not pass (Nov '07) because I spent the majority of my time studying for Exam P which did pay off with a pass on the first try . Here are the methods I have used over my three sittings for exam FM: I've Read through the entire Mathematics of Investments and Credit text by Broverman through taking a theory of interest class at my college, I've purchased and have completed 90% of the problems in the 6th edition of Cherry's ASM manual, I've used Guo's online study manual, and have read through the derivatives markets book for the relative chapters on the sylabus, as well as completing the practice problems released through the SOA and older exams which aren't as helpful because current exams have increased in difficulty. My question is what are alternative ways to study for this exam, what are the best online video seminars, or online courses, or even different manuals to look over, or websites etc... I'm really leaning towards doing an online course but I don't know which one would prepare me best under the condidtion that I have a good knowledge of the material, but not good enough to pass. I'm going to be a senior in college and unfortunately they will not allow me to take finance classes in the business school because surprise im not a business major which I find to be ridiculous, so I've only had one financial economics class which covered no material on the FM sylabus, and a theory of interest class which was a little outdated (I go to SUNY Albany, which really has an outdated actuary program with exceptions to a couple of classes). Sorry for such a long post, Thank you and much appreciated to whoever took the time to read through.

[sean t]

Do you have a strong Math (particularly calculus) background? I have a Masters in Applied Math and found most of the concepts in the FM syllabus to be applicatioins of basic (1st or 2nd semester) calculus. I did not approach the exam (or any exams) from the standpoint of "oh I've got to memorize all these formulas!" I read through the material and try to understand what general category each item falls under e.g. perpetuities are infinite series. Then I can derive any "formulas" that are not obvious, and that helps me to remember. Also, you will realize that you only need to know about 5 or 6 "formulas" for FM. I can categorize the material for FM (the interest theory part) as follows:
1. annuities-
these are nothing but series (i.e. CAl. II or III). you only need to know 3 "formulas" (annuity immediate, increasing, and decreasing) and the appropriate relations e.g. a_n*(1+i)^n= s_n
2. bonds and loan amortization-
I spent most of my time understanding the growth rate of Principal vs. Interest here. With a little Algebra you can understand the relations of all the equations in the manuals that can be overwhelming. I worked to understand the relations of all the equations and approach these particular problems in multiple ways (e.g. prospective vs. retrospective). Then I can roll into the exam with 1 or 2 "formulas" and the understanding to alter one of my "formulas" in the appropriate way for a given problem.
3. Duration/Immunization
This is all basic derivative calculus. e.g. Approximating change in price for a change in interest, use a taylor polynomial (the manuals present the linear and quadratic taylor approximations).

There are some other misc. items I am forgetting, but this is most of the material

[Peter123]

Hi, I find it very surprising that you completed 90% of problems in ASM and did the Broverman's text, and still didn't make it. I am sorry.
The only study method i used is do the ASM manual. I skipped over few sections like continuous annuities. I did problems only until 1998, and skipped any problems before that. I went over all the problems atlest 3 times(some of them 4th time). I studied for about 6 months (since Jan.). Thats about it. I didnt write any tests. I hope you pass next time. Good luck
Pet

[binky_4me]

i used actex's e-workbook for exam fm. that helped me with margin problems and it covered some topics that weren't necessarily on the exam but the knowledge helped with other topics that were. i used the same actex study manual i bought for the may 2007 sitting to study for the 2nd, 3rd, and finally 4th times. i just kept going over the problems over and over. and even though the 2005 posted exams on soa don't cover the dm stuff, they are representative of the original stuff and for that purpose they're still worth practicing to make sure you do know that stuff backwards and forwards. that's all i concentrated on this last time and i finally passed.

[ml692787]

Do you have a strong Math (particularly calculus) background? I have a Masters in Applied Math and found most of the concepts in the FM syllabus to be applicatioins of basic (1st or 2nd semester) calculus. I did not approach the exam (or any exams) from the standpoint of "oh I've got to memorize all these formulas!" I read through the material and try to understand what general category each item falls under e.g. perpetuities are infinite series. Then I can derive any "formulas" that are not obvious, and that helps me to remember. Also, you will realize that you only need to know about 5 or 6 "formulas" for FM. I can categorize the material for FM (the interest theory part) as follows:
1. annuities-
these are nothing but series (i.e. CAl. II or III). you only need to know 3 "formulas" (annuity immediate, increasing, and decreasing) and the appropriate relations e.g. a_n*(1+i)^n= s_n
2. bonds and loan amortization-
I spent most of my time understanding the growth rate of Principal vs. Interest here. With a little Algebra you can understand the relations of all the equations in the manuals that can be overwhelming. I worked to understand the relations of all the equations and approach these particular problems in multiple ways (e.g. prospective vs. retrospective). Then I can roll into the exam with 1 or 2 "formulas" and the understanding to alter one of my "formulas" in the appropriate way for a given problem.
3. Duration/Immunization
This is all basic derivative calculus. e.g. Approximating change in price for a change in interest, use a taylor polynomial (the manuals present the linear and quadratic taylor approximations).

There are some other misc. items I am forgetting, but this is most of the material

thanks for the responses, this is a very intuitive way to go about looking at the material for the exam. I know for a fact I've studied all of the material with that attitude of "I need to know, and memorize each formula", but with most of these formulas I didn't take the time to derive them and get to a simpler concept I was capable of understanding and molding to the questions typically asked on the exam. I do have a good math background, I did very well in calc II and III and realize that a lot of this material is basic math, with each successive topic being built upon these simple topics (for example what you said with annuities). I know that I'll be going into the next sitting trying to change up my study habits in terms of not memorizing every formula but really understanding the underlying idea behind the topics being tested on, and the inter-relations between topics. For the P exam I had no formulas memorized and was able to get the material from the perspective that you mentioned, but I guess that was because P is fully math which I'm also more comfortable with. Thanks for the advice!

[ml692787]

i used actex's e-workbook for exam fm. that helped me with margin problems and it covered some topics that weren't necessarily on the exam but the knowledge helped with other topics that were. i used the same actex study manual i bought for the may 2007 sitting to study for the 2nd, 3rd, and finally 4th times. i just kept going over the problems over and over. and even though the 2005 posted exams on soa don't cover the dm stuff, they are representative of the original stuff and for that purpose they're still worth practicing to make sure you do know that stuff backwards and forwards. that's all i concentrated on this last time and i finally passed.

congrats on passing!! perseverance did pay off which gives me hope for future sittings. I'll definitely take a look at the study materials you have mentioned, thanks for the post!