Exam Feedback November 2022 Part 2 Exam Feedback

[Nicole Seaman]

We hope that everyone did well on the FRM Part 2 exam! We would love to hear any feedback that you have about the exam. How did the exam go? Did you encounter unexpected questions? Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide!

 

[stevoDE]

Didn’t enjoy it at all. Probably only around 15 calculation based q’s (a fair few on less common topics), so many extremely tough conceptual q’s. I was definitely less prepared than normal but I still put in a fair amount of work and it felt like even if I had put in another 100hrs, it would still have been brutal. Let’s just say they tested A LOT of topics that weren’t covered in the focus review videos. I felt similar coming out the part I exam in that I really wasn’t sure if I’d passed (got 1,2,1,2 in the end) but at least for that one I could say I was pretty confident I answered ~25 calculation based q’s so I felt more hopeful. Easily the toughest exam I’ve done including CFA Level II. Not to be underestimated.

 

[FRM2_Nov22]

I thought the test wasn't representative. Too many main topics were ignored. What's the point of testing Basil 2,5 and ignoring the basil 3 and basil 3 reforms?

 

[buihuunam95]

I can recall there are questions about model risk, QQ-plot, CVAs, the Ho-Lee model, three lines of defense, portfolio management, risk contribution, VaR mapping, and the comparison of reference interest rates.

The test focused on the dynamic nature of the concepts, models, and formulas, but not the quantitative edge itself. I think GARP expects candidates to understand the ideas precisely rather than knowing how to apply the formula only. e.g: there is only 1 short qualitative question about the Merton model (which I spent weeks practicing carefully ). There is a duplicate question about ML&FT which I remember answering in the May 2022 exam.
One question can be simultaneously relevant to many topics. They even used some specific conceptual names to mislead you into irrelevant topics. Like they gave a data set about VaR and other risk measures, but they actually asked about opRisk.

The quantitative part of the exam is aligned with the practice questions in BT's notes. Some questions are almost the same (conceptually and same testing structure) as the practice quiz. However, there are only around 20s/80 quantitative questions in the test.
The quantitative questions are more practical than theoretical. You can make educated guesses in some cases.

The most common structure I encountered in the test is "XYZ is a <position> in an <institution> + who is going to give a presentation about the <topic>(or a specific situation). What is the most appropriate suggestion/recommendation/point that XYZ can make about the <concept>".

Overall, the questions are better written than May 2022 and less redundant. But I think the pass rate is gonna be considerably low (30-45%, or even 2x%)
In addition, the computer-based format seems to be much less formal than the paper-based test. I was likely the only one taking the FRM exam at my site, in a small room with at least 2 security cameras among guys who took the AWS cloud exam. The 30-min early rule is not even enforced. I was 45-min early, and an employee at the exam site told me to come back 15-min before the test.

Too bad that It is my last chance to sit for part 2. I will have to take part 1 again if I miss this turn. So let's hope!

 

[Yveresh]

This was a very difficult exam - the tested topics were more or less as expected, but you had to know the material inside out since many questions didn't just test how well you memorized formulas/concepts but rather went a level deeper to test how well you understood them on a conceptual level, how they apply in real life, and how they are connected. I felt like many questions targeted material "on the fringes" so to speak - small details that were easy to skip during the readings and that weren't necessarily covered extensively by review videos. Thinking through each question logically, you could often narrow down to two choices. Here are some topics that came up in my exam (from what I can remember a week later):
- GEV vs POT distribution
- Operational resiliency
- Cyber risk / framework
- LIBOR vs SOFR/SONIA
- Climate risk drivers
- Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model
- Calculating interest rate using model 1
- Unexpected Loss / Risk Contribution
- Market Risk VaR calculation
- Duration gap
- Securitization - calculating cash flow into the Equity tranche
- Portfolio composition (SML, HML)

There were some very voluminous quantitative questions - which would have taken too long to get through - I had to skip them in the interest of time. However, most quantitative questions were straight forward if you knew the formula.

Not sure if I passed or failed - I was relatively confident with maybe about 20 questions, around 10 questions were a blind guess, and the rest - I could narrow down to two choices and again, had to guess.

 

[theKid]

Very very difficult exam. Very tricky, but everything in the questions was in the learning objectives somewhere. Seems like I got a different exam to the 2 replies posted above me. The break down was 15-20 quantitative + 60-65 qualitative. The quantitative questions was very easy. Just have to memorize all of the formulas and it's either a you know it or you don't know it.

The rest of the exam seemed like a 'what would you do' if you were a portfolio/risk manager sort of exam.. picking the 'best' option... Honestly, if I had 1 extra month to study for the exam I would get the same result... similarly, if I took the exam 1 month early, I would also get the same result. If I was to fail and re-take the exam in May 2022 I would probs get the same result haha.

Within the 60-65 qual questions, I think I could narrow it down to 2 options for 50 of the questions... yes... 50 (!!) 2 answers seemed blatantly wrong - either completely off topic, WAY off, or non common sense. I honestly don't know the best way to 'pick' the best option aside from reading the 100000 word GARP textbook. But then again, you can miss a line and not get the answer correct. Truth be told, I think work experience is the best way to prep for the exams since you intuitively know what is 'right' or 'wrong'.

But, in all fairness, this exam is more applicable to real-work scenarios as opposed to churning out the numbers blindlessly. Hoping I get on the right side of picking the 50/50 option. @buihuunam95 's post perfectly explained how 80% of the questions were structured. Although I think the pass rate would still be 50-60%.

 

[Abhinav yadav]

Some questions which I remember -
1. Repo calculation( which party is more vulnerable if one bank is not allowing to roll over the repo..as per me answer is hedge fund), 2. Decision tree question with OAS of CMT swap, 3) Calculate Economic capital (given pd, lgd, K etc)..plz tell if anyone of you done it correctly, i didn't consider capital multiplier in the calculation 4) cyber risk (which bank was more vulnerable during COVID. payment bank or community bank, etc..i picked community bank but it might be payment bank 5) finding distance to default and assign rating based on the score, 6) calculate z score (LDA), 7) find hurdle rate, 8) effect on RAROC by changing its components (economic capital, income, expense etc), 9) friction between investor and rating agency..i chose model error as the answer, 10) calculate interest rate after 2 month in top node in HO-Lee model 11) survivorship bias questions 12) Liquidity risk trend, seasonal component question 13) portfolio manager numerical question 14) investing style theory question 15) 2 questions from volatility smiles on FX and equity options 16) ES numerical given the sample and re sampling values ( i took the average of all 5 samples ..it could be average of 4 losses or 5)..17) calculate incremental var of including platinum asset in the silver asset..18) mixed question if Market risk stressed var, Credit risk var given default rate..as per me i got the answer as per market risk stressed var only..19) impact of asset and liability values on net worth given Duration of asset and liability 20) liquidity var numerical 21)weighted cost of capital given break even cost, 22) climate risk question ( i chose catastrophic bond as answer)..23) one Cyber risk question 24) 2 questions from Libor/sofr..25) calculate lognornal var( direct formulae based)..26) illiquid asset question, 27) 2 numerical on BCVA, CVA (couldn't do them)..28) calculate shares to senior, and equity tranche..29) calculate collateral required given the values of MtM exposure, threshold etc..30) impact of inflation, market stress on long term/ short term bond etc..31) Hedge ration given Beta, alpha, dv01..32) peak over threshold, 33) FRTB question,..plz provide the answers if you remember

 

[Abhinav yadav]

Exam was very conceptual..cut off score would be on lower side considering the toughness of exam...everyone is saying that exam was tough

 

[Manisangsu]

a bit late to write , but below is my view.
I found the exam difficult. I was reasonably prepared and had put enough practice coverage across BT and another renowned provider. I had also gone through all mock exams available including the GARP one.
Now about the exam.
Firstly, not more than 20% quantitative questions. But some of them were quiet difficult. Despite my wide range of practice, i was left blanked out in at least couple of them off. Interestingly the harder ones were all at the beginning of the paper
For the qualitative ones - very nuanced. As many takers had mentioned it's almost a 50/50 with many questions .
I don't complain though as the exam felt fair and the difficulty level that i would expect from a professional exam of rigor.
For me the bottom-line is that there is no shortcut here.

 

[FRMPART2]

When the results will be declared

 

[RNafr8813]

It has been published less than a couple of hours ago whether you have passed or failed, but not the percentile results (I think they will publish it in the next few hours)

 

[theKid]

It has been published less than a couple of hours ago whether you have passed or failed, but not the percentile results (I think they will publish it in the next few hours)

How do you check if you pass/failed? I see a blue tick on the FRM L2 progress chart and for my work exp to be submitted but i dont think thats an indicator that I passed? i remember seeing this discussion on the may 2021 P2 thread? might be wrong though

 

[PhanhNG93]

How do you check if you pass/failed? I see a blue tick on the FRM L2 progress chart and for my work exp to be submitted but i dont think thats an indicator that I passed? i remember seeing this discussion on the may 2021 P2 thread? might be wrong though

yes, I remembered, too, because I took part 2 in May 2021. That time I failed, and my screen did not change until the quartiles were released while others already saw the submission requirement in advance.
But not sure how it will be this time.

 

[stevoDE]

How do you check if you pass/failed? I see a blue tick on the FRM L2 progress chart and for my work exp to be submitted but i dont think thats an indicator that I passed? i remember seeing this discussion on the may 2021 P2 thread? might be wrong though

I see the same. Monumental f*ck up (excuse my language) by GAARP if this is telling people the wrong information prior to results emails being sent.

 

[theKid]

its out passed w/ 4/1/2/2/1/4 . lets go!

 

[RNafr8813]

How do you check if you pass/failed? I see a blue tick on the FRM L2 progress chart and for my work exp to be submitted but i dont think thats an indicator that I passed? i remember seeing this discussion on the may 2021 P2 thread? might be wrong though

That actually means you had already passed, it would have no sense if they let you submit your professional career if you had failed. Happy to hear you passed! Me too! 211411

 

[duynhat29]

I can see the result was out in GARP platform but has not notified yet by email. I passed with 221312. Congrats to whom passed as well.

 

[stevoDE]

I see the same. Monumental f*ck up (excuse my language) by GAARP if this is telling people the wrong information prior to results emails being sent.

That all felt a bit weird but thankfully I passed (must’ve been tight which I knew it would be!) as well with 223143. Thanks to BT & David for all his help on here. Happy NY!

 

[Manisangsu]

Passed 122121.
Thank you BT team

 

[mt1327]

I passed May Part I with 1, 1, 1, 1 and November Part II with 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1. Couldn’t have done it without BT! Thank you