ACCG352 Portfoliom Mgmt - What to expect? (1 Viewer)

[akiva]

Hey has anyone done this unit before?

If so, how was the final exam?

Our final is only weeks 7 - 13 and covers portfolio management with futures, options, structured products and general portfolio calculations.

The problem I'm having is that every single tute question requires Excel (heavy number crunching).... Impossible to do in a 2 hour final so I have no idea what to expect.

So what kind of questions did they ask in the past?

Thanks!!

 

[Luke!]

I ran into this problem when I did ACCG352. The exam was approaching and I'd done none of the Excel work. Essentially, you need to do the Excel work and understand the concepts behind it. Also, familiarise yourself with the active versus passive management debate and know the pros and cons of both portfolio management styles.

As for difficulty, I found the final exam easier than the midsemester. I can't remember any of the specifics of the final exam, I did it a year ago.

 

[akiva]

Cheers for that Luke!

 

[jellybelly08]

I ran into this problem when I did ACCG352. The exam was approaching and I'd done none of the Excel work. Essentially, you need to do the Excel work and understand the concepts behind it. Also, familiarise yourself with the active versus passive management debate and know the pros and cons of both portfolio management styles.

As for difficulty, I found the final exam easier than the midsemester. I can't remember any of the specifics of the final exam, I did it a year ago.

Was your final also on the options/futures part of the course taught by Geoff Loudon? Cause the active vs passive stuff was in Ryle Perra's section which we got tested on in the mid-sem.

 

[akiva]

Luke's referred to the excel work so think (hope!!!) he's referring to Geoff's section.. But Luke, could you please clarify?

Cheers!

 

[robbo_145]

doesn't seem to be a whole lot in this subject is there? only 5 lectures to test us on =/

 

[akiva]

Yeah, but I have no idea what to expect... .at least with the midsem you could predict what q's would get asked because they'd be based on tutes... Most of the excel calcs for this part of the course for the tutes couldn't really be done in the exam. Geoff mentioned 'conceptual' questions. Whatever those are.

 

[robbo_145]

yeah. i'd say he could give us excel output though like in the solutions to the first tut and ask those sort of questions perhaps. maybe a question on each reading or something.. who knows

 

[Luke!]

Sorry, I forgot the active/passive management stuff was all in Ryle's lectures.

If you know the textbook content and you understand basic delta hedging and Black-Scholes pricing, et cetera, you should be fine.

With the Excel stuff, as I said, it's not the Excel work itself, it's more the conceptual ideas behind it that you'll be examined on.

If you're pressed for time, I'd focus on the textbook content. Read the material and try to apply it to any lecture examples or tutorial questions you've encountered.

 

[akiva]

It's all over... I've got to say this had to be one of the hardest exams so far at uni. I am literally praying for a pass. Worst thing is, even now if someone asked me what the best way to study for this is, I wouldn't have a clue.

 

[jellybelly08]

lol, well that was a waste of a semester. I agree akiva that was a VERY tough and long exam! I had so man blanks it isn't funny. Luckily i'm sitting on 42/60 so I should be able to get 8% from 120marks lol

 

[akiva]

Totally agree about the waste of semester.

I'm on 41 but I think the requirement is that you have to get a minimum of 40 out of 80 possible for the two exams. So far I have 24 so need another 16 for this one....

 

[Luke!]

It's a difficult unit and the scaling will reflect that difficulty, so hopefully you'll all pass comfortably.

 

[Mathmatics85]

What sort of questions did they ask in the final? I wanna do 352 over 353 because I only need to study 5 weeks whereas 353 I'm tested on from week 1 to 13.

Is the final very much tutorial based? or assignment based?