2023 Exam 7 Progress Thread

I’m going to start slowly studying for this soon. Last one for FCAS!
What is everyone planning to use for studying?

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Alright, I ended up delaying my studying until now, but I’m going to try and start again now. I think I’m going to start with Mack 94 and Meyers based on some difficulty comments I read in last year’s thread.

Do people suggest reading the source material for this exam, or is it enough to just read one of the study guides instead?

I’d say it’s helpful to read the source material as well. For calculation-heavy papers like Mack 1994 and Hurlimann, it’s not as critical. For papers that are good sources of essay problems, I would definitely also read the source material. Exam writers will base essay problems on the wording in the source material and reading it can give you an edge. Brehm and Marshall are good examples of that.

The syllabus learning objectives and knowledge statements can give a good idea of whether calculation or essay problems are more likely for a paper.

Also, I have a syllabus reading list you might find helpful that shows which papers are more difficult/easy or calculation/essay focused:

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Thanks, that syllabus summary along with difficulty and whether the paper is math or essay question based is extremely helpful! Hopefully the syllabus doesn’t change much for the 2023 exam.

Getting rid of the Patrik paper

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Thanks!

Kinda sad I think for exam writers, Patrik was an easy paper, and shows up surprising often in exams for an easy mark. It’s like the low hanging fruit for us to pick almost.

Damn, I liked the Patrik paper. One of the few practical focused papers on the syllabus. Hopefully the new Friedland study note is up to snuff. Still no idea why shit papers like Marshall still remains.

Friedland wrote the exam 5 reserving text, and I thought that was high quality, so hopefully the new reinsurance paper will be as well (also assuming that it’s going to be a bit more quantitative than Patrik considering how packed the exam 5 text was with examples).

Edit: I take it back, the new paper is almost entirely text lol

Just an update, the CAS posted the 2023 Exam 7 Syllabus. It has a link to the Friedland paper.

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Trying to decide if I should get the CF/RF combo and pay a bunch out of pocket (company doesn’t cover the full amount), or do CF and RF separately and only pay a little out of pocket (both combined only go slightly over my budget). Anyone have any thoughts?

Dang, I haven’t read the new Friedland paper, but I felt like Patrik was a good opportunity to get ahead on time and points. I was comfortable with Cape Cod and can bang out the numerical question pretty quickly. And I memorized an acronym for the other type of Patrik question (name x of the 7 challenges associated with reinsurance reserving).

It looks like CF and RF have merged, are those the manuals that everyone uses or are there other options out there?

I’m planning to use CF and RF. I read through some of last year’s exam 7 thread and it sounded like people weren’t thrilled with TIA for this one

I’m finally in for this. Agree CF/RF seems to be the go-to. I’ve deferred this one the last 2 years with kid stuff happening so am sitting for the first time despite having registered twice before.

hey, a quick question - I’m trying to find study kit ‘23, but can’t see it in the store - does anyone know if it was released and when will it be available? Thank you and see you at the exam!

They almost never come out until closer to the exam. Around 8 weeks out I think.

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In case someone is slow on the uptake like me; instead of memorizing the least squares formula (Brosius) use: =LINEST(Y values, X values, True, False) and excel will give you your a and b values

If anyone has any excel tips to make our lives easier on the exam please share :pleading_face:

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Great tip, thanks! Do you even need to include the True, False arguments? I got the correct values by just entering the y and x values.