how to pass exam 6?

[slk]

Hi:

can those who have passed exam 6 share your past techniques and the study guide you used in order to pass exam 6?

thanks

[bermi]

Hi:

can those who have passed exam 6 share your past techniques and the study guide you used in order to pass exam 6?

thanks

Avi, even though you haven't passed exam 6 (yet!), maybe you can share your views on the way that you are planning your study for this exam. Obviously, post any general advice, but I'd like to know:

1. Where did you begin your study (in terms of the syllabus of course!)?
2. What's the split of time you think you will spend between ALL10, web notes, the yellow binder and possibly books?
3. How much have you done thus far?
4. Is ALL10 enough to learn the material or is it wiser to read the corresponding material before the summary chapters in ALL10?

That's some of what I'd like to know. Others, please share your thoughts.

[Loki]

I passed part 6 on the first try. Here is what I did:

1. Read all of the papers and hightlight important text. If you don't understand something, don't move on ... read for understanding. I actually think it saves a bunch of time to read the syllabus material rather than reading a summary of the material (in a study manual) ... it'll be much easier to understand if you read the original. This is not as painful as it may seem. This took about 60 hours, if I recall correctly. I did this from June til middle of August.

2. One paper/chapter at a time, make note cards from you highlights and do LOTS of old exam problems. I used CSM for the questions (never used the outline in CSM ... also never used ALL10, so I can't comment). Don't move on to another paper/chapter until you have it mastered. Highlight questions you get wrong on the first look through so you know what to concentrate on the next go through. This takes about 100-150 hours. I did this from mid August through the end of Sept.

3. Repeat old exam problems and review cards until you have it down. Basically, this was the entire month of October.

Good luck with it!

[GefilteFish144]

4. Is ALL10 enough to learn the material or is it wiser to read the corresponding material before the summary chapters in ALL10?

For most of the material I'd say you should read the corresponding material. The exception would be the IASA chapters, which are dull and so painfully detailed that you might as well move right on to the summary.

[Basso]

I passed part 6, but it was not my first upper level exam, and I work in reserving. My technique is somewhat different than Loki's but there are also many similarities. Note: This method didn't work well for part 7 as pass 1 ended up taking over 300 hours so I never really got to the culmination section. I got the pleasure of taking part 7 many times

My general technique: Read an article once. Review the ALL10 outline. Read the article again and make notecards on important items. (My notecards are numerous and cover both list & calculation/exhibits. I use them rather than making an outline). Go through the notecards (memorize), then do the problems associated with the article. Go to the next article. I group related articles together so I can build off of them or compare/contrast more easily. This first pass generally takes me 150-200 hours and represents the bulk of my study time. At the end of this pass, I understand the principles and concepts, but I have not memorized the details. If I have difficulty understanding certain sections, I determine how much time I think it will take to understand it, and how much value that understanding might have on the exam. If I think it is low-value, I skip it.

After this first pass, I ditch the actual articles in favor of my notecards (which contain all the information I’ve deemed relevant) and a study manual with questions. I NEVER allow myself to do a problem with notes in front of me. If I have problems answering questions, I refer to the notecards to make sure it is a topic I’ve covered, and if not, I go back to the text and add notecards. Generally this isn’t a problem since I tend to notecard everything.

For someone with no background in reserving or reinsurance, this could be a rough exam to get your arms around.

For reserving: I suggest starting with Weiser because it gives you a broad overview, but don’t worry if you feel that its over your head. Go through the rest of the reserving papers and then come back to Weiser and it will make more sense. I highly recommend the All10 materials as aids to the reserving papers since it helps point out the similarities of the various methods. Without that aid to point out all the similarities, it seems like there are many more methods than there really are. For seminars, any seminar with Bob Scott teaching the reserving section is worth the cost. The key information in the reserving section is: 1. Compute the various methods. 2. Identify the advantages/Disadvantages of each method. & 3. Given a situation (usually with respect to inflation or changing levels of reserve adequacy), choose between methods x & y or recommend a method. Do the ALAE/ULAE stuff after you understand the basics of the other methods, and then do the WC HDD policy stuff and other misc. reserving articles.

For Reinsurance/Accounting:
I find it helped to have a basic understanding of accounting before doing reinsurance, and then have a basic understanding of reinsurance before trying to learn the reinsurance accounting. So, start with the CPCU texts on both topics. Clark is probably the biggest point-getter on the reinsurance side, but much of what is in Clark is also in the CPCU materials. Make sure that before you try to do any of the reinsurance pricing/reserving from Clark that you have gone through the basic reserving techniques. Some of the hardest conceptual concepts on the exam deal with the different types of reinsurance. Understand why someone would want a facultative vs a treaty policy. Key things to know: 1. Which policies inure to the benefit of another. 2. Given that the insurance company has x characteristics, which reinsurance policy should it pursue. 3. Know this cold: The surplus benefit from Quota-Share Reinsurance. There _WILL_ be a question on it. 4. Understand the GAAP/SAP accounting treatments for the various types of reinsurance (the broader part of point 3).

The accounting is not very heavily tested and despite the IASA managing to write 15 pages on Written premium, the basic accounting on this exam is straightforward, and it will be very helpful for you to understand it when you get to part 7.

Now to your questions


1. Where did you begin your study (in terms of the syllabus of course!)?
General reserving, general accounting, Misc reserving, general reins, reins pricing/reserving, reins accounting in that order.

2. What's the split of time you think you will spend between ALL10, web notes, the yellow binder and possibly books? Addressed above.


3. How much have you done thus far?
I started studying for part 6 in mid-july, and my total study time was about 375 hours

4. Is ALL10 enough to learn the material or is it wiser to read the corresponding material before the summary chapters in ALL10?

I cannot stress this enough. NEVER TRUST A STUDY MANUAL. I have used all10 on several exams and think they have a high-quality product that is very useful. However, on numerous occasions I have found errors or omissions of topics that I thought were important (some of which were tested). Definitely use the study aid, as it helps bring things together, but remember that it is an aid, not a self-contained textbook.

Good luck on the exam.

[bermi]

Thank you for your attention to detail in this post DB. This is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I had a feeling that the manuals would not be as useful for the upper exams as they where for 1-4. Your method of reading the article, reading the chapter in the manual, then reading the article and making notes may be time consuming, but I am certain that this method is very efficient in terms of learning the material.

I no doubt will have more questions to come, so please keep your eyes peeled. I thank you once again for your advice. PEACE!!

[GefilteFish144]

Well said, Dog Boy! Tough to study this stuff without a general strategy. Back when I first took Exam 6 3 years ago NEAS sent a 10-week study schedule right after I signed up for the seminar. Now this stuff doesn't come till much later, which means it would only be useful when taking the exam a second time around....