General description:
covers interest theory and introductory financial mathematics
Length: 3 hours; 35 Questions
Format: Computer-based
Seasons offered: Spring and Fall
Current locations:
Currently, the CBT (computer-based
tests) are offered in Gainesville (among many other places)
UF Prep Classes:
Theory of Interest (STA-4183) and/or
Finance (FIN-3403)*
*Theory of Interest should contain a majority of the material you will need for Exam FM/2 (except
for Derivatives), but it
is only offered odd Fall years. If you cannot take it before Exam
FM/2, then it is recommended that you try to at least take Finance to
get some background on the time value of money. Finance will not
prepare you for the exam like Theory of Interest, but it will at
least give you some type of reference point to help you begin studying.
Have you already taken an exam? Whether you
passed or not, other students would love to hear about your experience. It
is an intimidating process and the more you know about it, the better off you
are. Share your thoughts, feelings, experience, advice, and anything else
you have to say about the exams on this page. Just fill out
this form
and email to the
President (Emily.Tipton@yahoo.com) to get it
posted on here.
Theory of
Interest Edition 2 textbook (Kellison) - 8
Actex Exam FM
Study Material - 8
Did You Take a
Prep Class at
UF?
STA-4183 (Fall
2007)
How do you
think you did on the Exam? (10 being "aced it")
6, I think I
nailed everything but derivative markets, which I did not study at all.
But only 9 of the 30 questions were on derivatives
Alan's Notes on Exam:
Straightforward Financial Math except for derivative markets.
Except for derivative markets, of which the only things that came up
were puts and calls, If you can do time value of money and annuities and
a little math, It’s very passable.
What would I do differently?
Study derivative markets.
Name
Christine
Rating of
Study Materials
Class
Grad Student
Mathematics of Investment and Credit
textbook - 4 not so helpful to learn the material, problems not
indicative of exam questions
Derivatives Markets textbook - 6
helpful, but problems not the greatest
ASM FM 6th Edition - 10 This is
the best study manual for FM in my biased opinion, excellent
explanations and tons of questions
Old Actex FM DVD - 5 Useful but
didn't have a lot of the syllabus material since it was older
BPP Practice Tests - 7 Though I
only did 1 of the 2 exams, it was helpful, made me realize I forgot to
learn swaps and a few other derivative concepts
The Infinite Actuary Practice Tests
with video solutions - 10 EXCELLENT, the exam quality was great AND
the video solutions helped me learn different ways to solve the
questions. James Washer is excellent at explaining this material,
I didn't take his online seminar but I would recommend it since his 2
exams alone were very helpful.
Did You Take a
Prep Class at
UF?
FIN-3403
(Spring 2006) the helpful part was I learned bonds have semi-annual
coupons
How do you
think you did on the Exam? (10 being "aced it")
9 – The day before I thought I
hadn’t prepared well but during and after the exam I feel very strongly
about the exam. I’m 99% sure I passed. So overall I would recommend
the ASM study manual by Cherry and Gorvett and The Infinite Actuary or
at least their practice exams. They also had video solutions to the
Derivatives released practice questions which was helpful to have them
explained.
Christine's Notes on Exam:
I
thought it was very fair. Easier than the ASM and TIA practice tests,
which is good because I got a lot of practice with hard exam questions
and the exam seeming easier is always a plus in my opinion.
Another cool thing to
do is to look at the message boards actuarialoutpost.com and actuary.com
both have them. If you ever have questions on material or want to see
what people thought of prior exams this is an excellent source. Oh,
problems are definitely key to the exam. I completed probably about
400-500 questions in my 111 hours of studying and that really really
helped me. Also I made flash cards while reading Mathematics of
Investment and Credit and Derivatives Markets which were helpful when I
was waiting at places I could drill on the concepts. For FM it is
important to know the concepts. Especially with regards to methods of
risk management and how to transfer risk. There were several questions
that tested your general knowledge of reading Derivatives Markets.
Also know how to construct the different types of options and why you
would use them, that is pretty important.
What would I do differently?
Should’ve spent a little more time on
swaps, cost of carry, and a couple other later topics. I wasn’t tested
but I hear some of that stuff was on the other exam forms.
Name
Corey
Rating of
Study Materials
Class
Junior
Derivatives
Markets textbook - 8
BPP Study
Program (lectures, textbook, practice exams, Q&A book) - 8
Did You Take a
Prep Class at
UF?
STA-4183 (Fall
2007)
How do you
think you did on the Exam? (10 being "aced it")
7
Corey's Notes on Exam:
Wasn’t too bad,
but more derivatives material than expected.
What would I do differently?
Started studying earlier.
Name
Emily
Rating of
Study Materials
Class
Senior
Theory of Interest (Kellison) textbook
- 5 I don't think it's too good for your only textbook, but it was a
good supplement. It's also the book we are using for STA-4183, but
I didn't use it too much to prepare for the exam.
Derivatives Markets textbook - 10
If you want to understand the derivatives material, this book is a must!
A forewarning though, there are NO solutions in this book (not even just
the number answer without explanation). You must buy a solutions
manual for it.
A Deeper Understanding, Faster
Calculation-- Exam FM Shortcuts and Insights (Guo) - 9 This book
gives full solutions to every syllabus-related problem in the
Derivatives Markets book. There is also a section in this book
that goes over every syllabus-related section of the Derivatives
book...that was very helpful! I did not get much out of the
earlier section of the book that goes over the old material...it was
very hard to follow. There are a lot of grammar mistakes, but I
liked the Derivative explanations.
BPP Lectures and textbook - 9 The
textbook is great for the old material and the lectures are really
helpful to watch after reading the Derivatives Markets book.
BPP Practice Tests - 10 From what
I remember, the actual exam was very similar to these practice tests
Did You Take a
Prep Class at
UF?
STA-4183 (Fall 2007)
FIN-3403
(Spring 2007) - taught me how to use a financial calculator
How do you
think you did on the Exam? (10 being "aced it")
7- I would
be really surprised if I didn't pass...but I guess you never really know
until the results are released
Emily's Notes on Exam:
This was my second
time taking it and I feel really good about it this time. Last
time, I didn't have a good understanding of Derivatives and I didn't
have a lot of the concepts down...I was hoping to be able to just solve
problems, but FM is not like that. The derivative questions were
not too in depth. I knew how to do a lot more than what was asked
of me on the test. The way I learned that material was to read
Derivatives Markets, talk about the material with my study partner, read
Guo's explanation of the section, watch the BPP lecture on that
material, and repeat as necessary. I also had to make note cards
for the new material. That was my biggest struggle...I had a good
understanding of the old material, but I was nervous about the new
stuff. About a week before the exam, it all clicked and I became
the Derivatives master!!...or something. ;O)
What would I do differently?
I always wish I would've studied earlier and smarter. In
retrospect, you always see how you should have taught yourself the
material. I am really happy with how I studied this time
though...no regrets. I had a big advantage because I knew what to
expect. If you go to actuary.com and read the posts about the
exam, the biggest complaint is that it was not what they expected and
that it was very conceptual...just a warning to you.
FIN-3403
(Spring 2007) taught me how to use a financial calculator and basic time
value of money concepts
How do you
think you did on the Exam? (10 being "aced it")
5...I feel
like I knew enough to pass, but it was not what I expected
Emily's Notes on Exam:
FM/2 is not like P/1. P/1 was very
computational (which I like), FM was more conceptual. It still had
almost all computational problems, but they weren't the 7 step
ultra-confusing P/1-type problems. You needed to think more about
the concept of what you were solving to solve it. I made a lot of
stupid mistakes that I shouldn't have. I do not think this exam
was as difficult as P/1...it just wasn't what I expected. As for
the new material, I studied all of the ways to solve "new material"
problems, but the questions for the new material ended up being solely
conceptual/definitional.
What would I do differently?
Learned the concepts of the new material more, instead of just
concentrating on solving the problems . I would have taken more
time reading each problem during the test instead of rushing through it
and missing some important small details.
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