XP Actuarial for SDM

After a hiatus due to some family health issues, XP is back for SDM. Here is a critique of what we offer

Negatives

  • our study manual is not a “cut and paste” of the source material, but rather a combination of intuitive explanations and condensed summaries - so you will need most of the textbooks (but we can help you find them cheaply)
  • we offer only one product - a full online seminar, with manual, flash cards, questions, practice exams, and case study tools, and coaching on how to tackle this exam
  • for flash cards, we have pdf, ANKI, audio, and printable

Positives

  • we have had many sittings with pass rates in the 80’s and in Spring-2019 we even had a 92% pass rate (11 of our 12 students passed); in Fall-2022, XP students had a pass rate (61% - 14/23) more than twice that of non-XP students (23% - 6/26).
  • we did this by discovering that the exam was different from the rest of the Finance track and that students needed better explanations of the material & case study, much better understanding & coaching on how to answer SDM-style questions, and most importantly proper SDM-like questions to practice with

The cost ($1050) is far less than the price of PAK’s Online seminar, so I like to say that along with our pass rates, it makes us about 4X better :slight_smile:

We had many testimonials on the old Actuarial Outpost forum (RIP!), but many can be found here: https://xpactuarial.com/testimonials/#sdm

Here are a couple of examples of typical students who used XP for SDM:
“I truly believe your assistance and alternative approach to how to take this exam was the difference. After four previous 5’s on SDM, you can imagine how ecstatic I was upon seeing my candidate number on the ‘pass list’. And now, on my fifth attempt and first with XP, I just found out I got an 8!”
– Kelly Gamlin, SDM Student

“Just wanted to let you know that I passed! Really appreciated your study manual and the way you went about teaching the material. Full disclosure, I was nervous about switching from PAK since I had used it for the first two exams and felt comfortable with it, but I’m really glad I did. (It was your posts on the outpost talking about the pass rate and a couple of student testimonials that flipped me.) Glad I could contribute to keeping the pass rate high for you!”
– Greg B, SDM Student

Our Premium Pass Rate product is available now at the Actuarial Bookstore and Actex.
More info here: https://xpactuarial.com/exam-sdm/

Thanks,
Steve

The study material and online seminar are now up for 2022.

You can purchase it at the Actuarial Bookstore or Actex

We’re still about 4X as good as our competitor’s online seminar :slight_smile:

Steve

I just got a passing result today for the Fall 2021 sitting of SDM and Steve was the reason why! SDM is truly a different exam than CFE and ERM and XP does an amazing job preparing you. What really made it stand out for me is the practice exams and extra business dynamics questions - they were written specifically for the SDM case study, which is an easy way to get more familiar with the case study while also practicing the material! Plus, Steve gives you personalized written and video feedback over every answer you submit to him!

If you haven’t bought study materials yet, go with XP. Or even if you have, also go with XP because it’ll help in ways that other materials don’t!

Grant

I have passed SDM in fall 2021 sitting. This is my second attempt. I am sure that XP is the key that makes me pass SDM.

In my first attempt, I did not use XP, and I failed. I was curious because I thought SDM materials were easy then.

I use XP for my second attempt. Steve conducted a detailed analysis of my weakness based on the result of my first attempt. He gave me personalized advice on practice plans to tackle SDM. He also gave me a lot of feedback when I mailed my practice answer of past exam questions to him. His feedback is really helpful for me to answer what the questions ask.

XP’s application questions and practice exams are also amazing. They give me similar experience as the real exam questions such that I can have high quality practice for SDM.

If you determine to pass SDM, XP is your first choice.

Robert

XP is by far the best material I’ve used for any FSA exam. In addition to the personalized feedback on practice exams, Steve provided thoughtful answers to all of my questions throughout the study period so by exam day I was confident in my understanding of the syllabus material. I passed SDM on my first attempt and would highly recommend XP for anyone writing SDM.

Julia

I passed SDM in the Fall 2021 sitting and can confidently say that this was also the only FSA exam I felt truly prepared for. The XP-provided materials (sample questions, assignments, manual, case study summaries, etc.) were very well thought out. More importantly, Steve’s approach to teaching and the amount of time he spends supporting students to get them through the finish line is what really differentiates this product from the rest.

Boriana

Thanks for all the testimonials! We are back again for Fall 2022 to help students get SDM!

Check out our website and you can purchase our Premium Pass Rate package at the Actuarial Bookstore and Actex.

Steve

Hi all. I just got a pass on the SDM Spring 2022 exam. This took me by surprise because the last fellow exam I took (ERM) was in 2016, and I haven’t taken the CFE exam, and this is my first sitting of SDM. So my exam-taking skills were rusty at best. But a friend of mine who is now an FSA recommended me to sign up with XP Actuarial and I’m glad I did. So I would like to give a review of XP Actuarial here and I would certainly recommend XP to anyone who wants to sit the upcoming SDM exam.

XP Actuarial vs competition

  • I never used PAK’s SDM package so I’m not the best person to give an apple-to-apple comparison.
  • However, I did use PAK for the ERM in 2016, the manual was good and detailed, and it did help me pass in the first sitting. But in general, I feel my learning process is more interactive with XP (i.e. Steve). Steve would constantly reach out to you, and set a deadline for you to submit the first practice, give written/video feedback, then second practice, and so on.

What I liked about XP’s SDM package

  • Detailed, personalized, and quick feedback on sample writing, mock exam, business dynamics assignment. I appreciated how Steve provided us specific feedback that we could improve on. E.g. sometimes I wrote answers that didn’t incorporate enough specific facts from the case study and/or the question stem, Steve would point out to you exactly that.
  • The videos for each study note / textbook chapter (included in the XP Actuarial’s $1,050 standard package) really saved me a lot of time because they give you the big concept and highlight the key points you absolutely need to know for each lesson. For me I like to learn the big picture first then fill in the necessary details later. So I watched these videos first, then later went to the manual/study notes to fill in the details/examples (and many times skipped parts I concluded from the videos that they weren’t super critical)
  • The case study was a big part of the SDM exam. I liked how the study materials for each lesson (video, manual) keep pointing out how the materials could be applied to the case study. This way, you get to both practice applying the concepts AND automatically memorizing key facts from the case study.
  • Lots of practice on Business Dynamics (BD). This was a difficult learning objective and there aren’t a lot of past exam questions so extra BD questions/assignment from XP were valuable.

What I didn’t like about XP’s SDM package

  • The manual was intended to be a guide (with Steve’s comments on how to apply the concepts) rather than a complete summary. So if you’re looking for a comprehensive summary, XP manual will not serve your purpose.
  • XP application questions are released at 5-6 weeks before exam. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but I personally like to do questions as I go through each chapter. So it’s something for those signing up to the course to be mindful of.

PS. I’m not sponsored by XP nor by any insurance company. I paid for the course myself and it was worth it.

I just passed SDM using Steve’s course and thought I’d add my plug for it as well.

I used PAK for CFE and XP for SDM and passed both exams on the first attempt. While PAK did the job for CFE, it felt closer to an info-dump in comparison to SDM, where I felt Steve was careful to structure the learning process to maximize each student’s possibility of success. He took pains to highlight past student pain points and provide personalized feedback, and his Business Dynamics assignment gave me the experience and feedback I needed to properly learn that difficult portion of the syllabus.

The biggest benefit of the course for me may have been the audio flash cards. I could listen while running errands or eating a meal, and I found them invaluable, particularly for last-minute cramming after falling very behind in my studies. They were what I needed when my brain was too fried to do any more reading.

So yep, my vote’s for XP. Steve’s your guy, and he’ll be with you through the whole process. Good luck with your exam prep!

Hey everyone! Just passed SDM at the April 2022 sitting - on my 3rd attempt.

When I didn’t pass this enigma of an exam on my 2nd attempt last year, I was super deflated. I didn’t know what else needed to change in my prep. At that point, I reached out to a colleague who had passed the exam, for ANY possible pointers/advice. And she only had one: get XPActuarial.

I was skeptical. I had only heard about PAK until then, and this was new. But I decided to take a leap of faith because ‘If you want different results, do not do the same things.’

So here’s what I appreciated most amongst the gamut of things Steve Scoles at XP offered: individual focus, rigorous practice, quality mock questions (emphasis on quality. Because SO much thought goes into them), case study insight, and feedback on my attempts at the mock papers.

Above all, he helped me get into the right mindset. This proved to be instrumental because I had an exam experience from hell. For starters, I was running a high fever on D-day. Then at the prometric center, the computer refused to load the SOA exam. As the clock ticked away, the admin was having no luck with getting it to work, and they told me that if it doesn’t work in the next 3 hours, I’d have to reschedule(!). Thankfully, they resolved it after 2 hours and 10 minutes of tinkering. And then it was go-time. I really think that what got me through that nightmare was my confidence bolstered by all the prep Steve provided; it really helped me navigate all the curveballs the universe was throwing at me.

And for all the future SDM exam takers out there, this one is a toughie but it can be conquered. Keep faith, you got this!

Hi

Just got a pass on SDM!
XP materials and Steve helped me a lot during the preparation of this exam.
Steve provided feedbacks and helped me improve my weaknesses. I strongly recommend XP materials for this exam!

Hi Pri, congrats on passing! I totally understand how you felt on the exam day (minus the fever, poor thing!) - On my exam day, Prometric was running late and had difficulty loading up the SOA exam. Wasn’t as late as yours - only about an hour. But the uncertainty of it surely did get on my nerves.

Thanks Natt!
Congratulations on your pass as well, way to get back in the game after the long hiatus! So glad you didn’t let the Prometric hiccup get in your way either.
Good luck with CFE!

I would 100% recommend this course to anyone sitting SDM.

This beast of an exam requires you to apply the course material to the case study, and phrase your answers in a way that would provide sufficient detail within the time limit. Steve was able to help me achieve this and was always quick to respond to any question, and provided timely feedback on how I answered past questions, and suggested improvements in how I should respond to questions in the exam.

Hey SDM students – XP Actuarial is again offering our Premium Pass Rate package for 2023. The package is now ready for purchase at Actex or the Actuarial Bookstore.

One thing to note is we now offer ANKI flash cards as part of our full seminar package with an instructor solely dedicated to your success on the SDM exam - everything is included for $1050.

You can check out a small sample of our testimonials here and at www.xpactuarial.com. Note that all of those testimonials are from people who have used PAK and XP so you can get an honest comparison from those.

We exist because for SDM, you are now up against the very best students as almost all students writing SDM have passed 2 exams whereas for CFEFD and ERM, most students you were competing against had never passed a written exam. So the historical pass rate for students writing SDM was about 30% the first time - i.e. ~70% fail even though they have passed two written exams already! For the last 5 years, XP has developed a program to help students have a much higher chance of passing this exam and our students have had many sittings with pass rates far above non-XP students.

Good luck on SDM!

Steve
steve.scoles@xpactuarial.com
I help students pass SDM

Hi all,

I have to give a huge shoutout to Steve and XP Actuarial as I just received pass results for the SDM Fall 2022 exam on my first attempt.

For anyone considering XP or PAK, I used PAK for CFE and XP for SDM. PAK has a much more copy and paste feel from the source material with minimal extra detail and tends to be pretty dry. XP Actuarial uses a tailored blend of working through the source material, a comprehensive but streamlined manual/outline, and then quite a few sets of practice problems and deep dives into tougher content. I highly recommend the XP course which prepared me for SDM much better than almost any other prep course I’ve used over all the other exams. Steve was highly responsive to questions even on small items and really understands the SDM exam structure. I may not have realized it to start but as you progress you begin to see how this exam is much different than any of the others in the way questions are asked/answered.

If you want to pass this exam on the first attempt, Steve and XP are the way to go! Good luck to you all!

Jack

Hello all,
Just passed after my 3rd attempt (1st using PAK and 2nd & 3rd using XP)
I strongly recommend using XP, I could notice the following points how XP differenciates well

  • SDM is clearly a different exam requiring different skills and XP exactly focuses on this in addition of the contents
  • Steve is a great teacher, his feedback is very very valuable via emails, personalized videos, his support can be clearly felt and feels good for the candidate, he is 100% devoted to the SDM candidates
    You should not hesitate.

Hi everyone, I would highly recommend using XP for SDM. Just found out I passed the October 2022 SDM sitting on my first attempt, and I attribute much of this success to the help I got from XP and Steve. Note that I used PAK for ERM and CFE, but this exam was different and I believe it very much helped to have supplementary practice questions/practice exams/coaching from XP. Some ways that XP is extremely beneficial: 1) it includes tons of Application Questions on every single reading, many of which have never been tested before because they are newer to the syllabus 2) it really simplifies two of the five objectives which I thought were more technical and challenging 3) it condenses the material to what’s important, which is really helpful if you’re like me and struggle with study time management 4) Steve posts a really helpful video a bit before the exam that helped me so much with basic mental preparation (sounds corny, but I found myself legitimately applying the guidance from this video throughout the 5 hour exam).

Hi all,

If you are looking for the right study materials to pass Exam SDM, look no further than XP. I just found out I passed the October 2022 sitting on my first try, and I couldn’t be more thankful that I decided to use XP to help me study. I have used other study materials for other exams in the past, and XP was by far the best in meeting all of my needs as a student. The study materials are NOT just a copy of the source material. They go much further than this and they expand on and help you remember the key points you need to know for the exam. The practice questions are real, thoughtful questions that have been developed, rather than just copies of questions already seen in the text with different numbers plugged in. The notecards and other helpful materials will help you refine your knowledge int he final weeks to help you peak for the exam.

On top of all of that, Steve cares about each one of his students and truly helps as much as he can to get everyone to pass. He gives personalized feedback and valuable insights to help you improve your answers. SDM is a tough exam, and very little separates a passing score from a non-passing score. XP will help you get those extra points to push you over the edge, and I highly recommend that you use it rather than other study materials. Good luck!

I just passed SDM in the fall 2022 sitting on my first attempt and highly recommend it. I used TIA for ERM and then skipped straight to SDM and that was purely because someone recommended XP so strongly to me. Absolutely the best possible resource, this is a very unique exam but the study manual + videos + practice questions + Steve’s personal feedback was exactly the formula for success. I think the biggest value add was both the personal feedback from Steve AND the practice exams. Especially the exams, they are applicable to the case study and very, very thoughtful to test on topics that haven’t yet been tested, etc. XP is the way to go for this exam!