When I discover an error in my Survivor’s Guide to CFA Institute Command Words or in one of my mock exams, (or a candidate discovers one and tells me about it), I’ll post an erratum here and make the correction immediately. Therefore, if you see an erratum here, the error may not appear in your copy; I may have corrected it before you downloaded your copy. If your copy has an error listed here, please download a new copy; that error will have been corrected.
Survivor’s Guide to CFA Institute Command Words
Under the command word Conclude, the second sentence of the second paragraph should begin, “When that occurs, you will get no marks if you circle the incorrect conclusion . . . .”
2020 Level III Morning Session Mock Exam #1
Question 2: In Exhibit 3, the price of the 30-year EUR bond should be EUR 1,688.06, not EUR 1,774.06. In Exhibit 5, the price of the 30-year EUR bond should be EUR 1,678.01, not EUR 1,762.68.
Question 2-A: The calculations for the coupon return are incorrect, leading to the incorrect holding period return. The correct holding period return should be EUR 26,650 (or EUR 26,881 without rounding), not EUR 33,240 (or EUR 33,184 without rounding). Download the latest answers to see the full calculations.
Question 2-B: The calculations for the coupon return are incorrect, leading to incorrect holding period returns. The correct holding period returns should be −0.18% for the EUR bond and −0.37% for the CAD bond, not −0.16% for the EUR bond and −0.36% for the CAD bond. Download the latest answers to see the full calculations.
Question 3-i: In the full guideline answers, the last paragraph on the first page should read, in part, “To decrease the modified duration from 5.7 years to 4.5 years (on the new fixed income allocation of TJS 600,000,000 (= 30% × TJS 2,000,000,000))”, not “To decrease the modified duration from 5.7 years to 4.5 years (on the new fixed income allocation of TJS 600,000,000 (= 30% × TJS 200,000,000))”.
Question 4-A: Just before Exhibit 1, this sentence should be added: “Neither convertible bond is available for borrowing.” The full guideline answer has a note that addresses this sentence.
Question 5-B: The value of the Cruzes’ total capital is IDR 1,800,000,000, not IDR 2,100,000,000. The amount they can donate is IDR 747,267,500, not IDR 897,267,500. Download the latest answers to see the full calculation.
Question 6-B: The answer template is missing the directive “(Circle one)“.
Question 7-A: In the short answers, the answer should read “PAB 7,208,670“, not “PAB 6,347,790“
Question 10-A: The first part of the question should read, “Calculate each of the following components of the market-adjusted implementation shortfall (in basis points)“, instead of, “Calculate each of the following components of the market-adjusted implementation shortfall (in basis points) attributable to the realized profit/loss“
Question 10-A: The value to be calculated in part i. should read, “trading cost (realized profit/loss)“, not merely “realized profit/loss“
Question 10-A: The full guideline answer has been expanded to illustrate the implementation shortfall (IS) notation in the current curriculum as well as the IS notation from previous years’ curricula (with which some candidates are more familiar). The calculations remain the same, as do the final answers.
2020 Level III Morning Session Mock Exam #2
Question 1-B: The question should read, “Describe one characteristic of the tactical allocation’s overall performance that is better than that of the policy allocation and one characteristic of the tactical allocation’s overall performance that is worse than that of the policy allocation. Show your calculations, if applicable.”
Question 4-Bi: The net amount paid is KHR 822,825,000, not KHR 939,200,000. Download the latest answers to see the full calculation.
Question 5-A: Item iii should read, “expected price change from investor’s expected change in yield and yield spread”
Question 10: The first paragraph should have this sentence added at the end: “Nguyên Mạnh uses the Brinson model for return attribution.”
Question 10-B: The last paragraph on p. 45 should have this sentence at the end:
“He notes that the weighted average coupons for short-term, mid-term, and long-term bonds in the portfolio are 1.95%, 2.53%, and 3.87%, respectively.“
In the full guideline answer for question 10-Bii, the first sentence should read:
“Benchmark returns were not only positive in each duration bucket for both government bonds and corporate bonds, they were greater than the respective coupon rates of 1.95%, 2.53%, and 3.87%:“
In the short answer for question 10-Bii, the first bullet point should read:
“Benchmark return in each duration bucket higher than coupon rate for government, corporate bonds“
2020 Level III Morning Session Mock Exam #3
Question 3-A: The template has been changed to one more appropriate given the form of the question.
Question 4-B: The duration of bond B should be 6.29 years, not 6.18 years.
Question 4-B: In the answers, the justification for selecting portfolio C should have the convexity of portfolio B as 36.217 years2, not 36.086 years2.
Question 7: In the full guideline answer, I added an alternative way to calculate the number of contracts required.
2020 Level III Morning Session Mock Exam #4
Question 1-B: The full guideline answer should read, in part, EXRQXS = 431 bps = 4.31%, not EXRQXS = 264 bps = 4.31%.
Question 5-A: The expected Geordinian equity return given a degree of integration of 0.45 should be 7.54%, not 8.42%. The actual degree of integration should be 0.23, not 0.41. Download the latest answers to see the full calculation.
Question 5-B: The last row in Exhibit 2 should read, “Target nominal short-term interest rate”. The question should read, “Determine the nominal neutral short-term interest rate for the Roshambovia central bank using the Taylor rule and the data in Exhibit 2. Show your calculations.”
Question 7: The last sentence in the second paragraph of the vignette should read, in part, “. . . it will begin to spend down the assets (roughly) linearly for another 10 years“, not “20 years“.
Question 7-A: The first part of the full guideline answer should read, “The Foundation’s return objective is to exceed their annual spending requirement by 2.5%, while maintaining the real value of the portfolio’s assets.”, not “The Foundation’s return objective is to meet their annual spending goal, while growing the real value of the portfolio’s assets by 2.5% per year.” The first part of the short answer should read, “Exceed annual spending requirement by 2.5%, maintain portfolio’s real value“, not “Meet annual spending goal, grow portfolio’s real value by 2.5%“.