Opinions on SOA exam IFM study materials
SOA Exam IFM Personal Guide
From Part 1 of this exam IFM post, I touched on the two most important textbooks used in the exam IFM: the ASM SOA exam IFM study manual and the coaching actuary.
Of course, there are other reading textbooks that deserve reference, such as ACTEX textbooks and TIA reference books. However, I did not use these textbooks in this exam, so I cannot give my reference here.
In addition to these important references, there are other free websites worth learning about exam IFMs for all actuarial candidates.
The following are all my personal opinions, not my method, just opinions. Readers can also search and view opinions from elsewhere before making their own comparisons.
ASM SOA exam IFM study materials
This ASM textbook contains 31 chapters, 11 practice exams and their answers, and some old exams.
In all chapters, the first 13 chapters belong to corporate finance and the last 18 chapters belong to the financial model . Like the previous ASM reading textbooks, each chapter has examples and there are so many exercises we should do.
TThe contents of the corporate finance chapter include calculation of statistics / probabilities such as mean, variance, and correlation, as well as cost of capital and capital asset pricing model CAPM.
The content of the Financial Models chapter includes the application of knowledge of financial instruments (futures, options, securities portfolios) and a description of the model structure (including hedging, strategy and probabilities).
The first two actuarial exams used ASM reading material to complete the exams with fairly good results (both exams are level 9). So when I bought the reference material, I didn't check the evaluation of this textbook very carefully, but since this was the only textbook I could buy at the university, I had no other choice.
First list the disadvantages of this reading textbook, then list the points worth recommending.
To be honest, this reading textbook is controversial on various actuarial pages and forums on the Internet. Many people think that the textbook is a little different from the actual exam, not because there is a problem with the content of the textbook.
I agree with this statement, but I don't think this statement is completely correct. The main reason many people quit the exam in this manual is in the corporate finance chapter.
First of all, the first few chapters of corporate finance aren't too many problems, but there are signs of problems starting with the CAPM in Chapter 6. The content of these chapters on cost of capital and capital structure from CAPM is too raw to understand. The content is explained, but I personally feel that it is not enough. There is a lot of confusion, especially for some people who do not understand this knowledge or have new contacts.
Secondly, in these chapters, some related questions are very difficult and the explanation of the answers stops because they are more or less related. When I read it for the first time, I am confused and it takes time to digest the contents.
Third, I'm using the first printed version of the textbook, so the text in the text:
For the physical version, you can download the error fixes or record these fixes directly in the manual
If you're learning with OneNote in the PDF version, you can use the Snipping Tool to fix the error depending on the number of pages and cover the wrong part.
The following are some of the advantages / advantages of ASM textbooks.
Fourth, the distribution of all practice exam content is slightly different from the actual exam. Before entering the practice exam, the author reminded me of the allocation ratio of corporate finance and financial model in the exam . In the actual test, the two are almost half.
First of all, the rationale for the financial model and its demonstrations, exercises, and explanations of the answers are all considered complete and very detailed. If you can understand the contents of the textbook in this regard, you can basically deal with most of the questions in the actual exam.
The difficulty of exercises and mock exams can be more difficult than the actual actuarial exam. It can be difficult to learn at first, and it takes a long time to digest ambiguous content. However, if you can come and go several times and have a deep understanding, the problems in the office are not basically the same.
You seem to be training 6 meter high jumps many times, are you afraid of 3 meter high jumps?
In summary, even if you have a limited selection of textbooks, we recommend the ASM SOA Exam IFM textbooks. If you find yourself having a lot of problems with your corporate finance textbook, try the syllabus on the official SOA website. Among them, Berk and DeMarzo's Corporate Finance books are excellent, with sufficient content and clear explanations.
Actuary Guidance
The CA textbook can be divided into two additional opening and summarized essences in addition to the 11 main chapters, for a total of 13 chapters.
Each chapter contains content notes, exercise questions, and the most important video material. I started using this CA for reviews a month or two before the exam.
Simply put, the coaching actuary materials are very familiar, not difficult to learn, and I think some professionals will take you to class.
Its advantages are in two aspects: the convenience of content notes and video materials. It doesn't matter when and where you want to see it, but make sure you have an internet connection.
If you want to study before the exam or on the light rail, take a heavy reading textbook and walk around.
If you ask me the shortcomings, the total duration of the video is quite long. People who are in class, work, or busy will end watching these videos unless they can speed up (2x to 4x) to end or skip watching (no suggestions). It will take a long time. ).
The above share is my personal opinion on the two IFM materials for the exam. If you have any questions, please ask in the message area below or send a private message on the Contact Us page.
I want you all the ability to pass their SOA exam.
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