Level 3 exam (AM) – some observations

First thing I’ll say is that I’m not sure there’s anything unexpected here, but for anyone wondering here’s what the AM exam session by question “category” looks like between 2010 and 2014.  It rightly could be argued that many questions presented in the exams fit into more than one category, but these have been sorted by the CFA Institute’s own categorisation methods (i.e., per the schedule provided on the first page of the exams).

It would be good to know how the 2015 exam was distributed to see whether there is a pattern – i.e., whether topic weightings alternate – but then again I’m sure the Institute would take measures to prevent patterns developing….

It would seem that “Portfolio Management – Individual” and “Portfolio Management – Institutional” have been fairly consistent at ~20% of the AM exam each, with “Individual/Behavioural” adding ~9.5%… so roughly 50% for those 3 core topics.  

The good old staples of “Equity”, “Economics” and “Fixed Income”, plus “Monitor/Rebalance/Execution” bring in a further 35% or so, though individually they fluctuate by a fair margin over the years.

Also seems there may have been some change in the categorisation of subject matter — arguably derivatives and risk management could, at least to a  significant extent, be used interchangeably.