做过的题你都能拿分吗?
临近考试,小编相信大家都开始启用“题海”战术,疯狂刷题,可是你现在做过的题,你考场碰到都能做对吗?
同为备考党的我,小编只想说,如果只做过一遍,那怕是有点难。
我相信大家都是从题海战术里走出来的朋友们,其实刷题就是一个熟能生巧的事情,即使可能你对某个知识点不理解,但是同一个题型你做完3次后,就有一种闭着眼睛我都能认出你的熟悉感,剥掉题干的外壳,其实都是同一个套路。
那么到底哪些题目是有典型考法,哪些知识点是易错的点,哪些是协会的惯用套路,这就是大家考前需要拿个小本本记下来的事情。
看到这里,是不是大家都有一种蠢蠢欲动,要赶紧去做笔记的想法?
知道目前大家都在争分多秒学习,贴心的品职教研组的小哥哥、小姐姐们也是熬夜赶工(心疼一下),帮大家整理了CFA三个级别学科的错题本,希望在最后的时候能给大家起到助力的作用。
在接下来的几周里,我们会陆续发放三个级别的高频问答,希望对大家的备考有所帮助。今天三级放上道德的错题本,大家一起来看看这些题都会做吗?
精选问答1
题干
Carter works for Invest Today, a local asset managementfirm. A broker that provides Carter with proprietary research through client brokerage arrangements is offering a new trading service.
The broker is offering low-fee, execution-only trades to complement its traditional full-service, execution-and-researchtrades. To entice Carter and other asset managers to send additional businessits way, the broker will apply the commissions paid on the new service toward satisfying the brokerage commitment of the prior full-service arrangements.
Carter has always been satisfied with the execution provided on the full-service trades, and the new low-fee trades are comparable to the fees ofother brokers currently used for the accounts that prohibit soft dollar arrangements.
A. Carter can trade for his accounts that prohibit soft dollar arrangements under the new low-fee trading scheme.
B. Carter cannot use the new trading scheme because the commissions are prohibited by the soft dollar restrictions of the accounts.
C. Carter should trade only through the new low-fee scheme and should increase his trading volume to meet his required commission commitment.
答案解析
Answer A is correct. The question relates to StandardIII(A)—Loyalty, Prudence, and Care. Carter believes the broker offers effectiveexecution at a fee that is comparable with those of other brokers, so he is free to use the broker for all accounts.
Answer B is incorrect because the accountsthat prohibit soft dollar arrangements do not want to fund the purchase of researchby Carter. The new trading scheme does not incur additional commissions from clients,so it would not go against the prohibitions.
Answer C is incorrect because Carter should not incur unnecessary or excessive “churning” of the portfolios(excessive trading) for the purpose of meeting the brokerage commitments of soft dollar arrangements.
解题思路
这道题的题干大概是这样:
Carter是在一家资产管理公司工作。目前他的Broker给他的基金提供的是Research + execution的业务,也就是文中说的Full service业务,即:研究报告 + 执行交易。所以这里就存在一个Soft dollar:即除了Execution的费用,基金经理还额外用客户的交易佣金买了Research报告。
然后Broker又推出了新的业务就是只有交易(Execution-only),同时这种业务的费用更低。为了吸引Carter和其他客户能拉来更多资金,Broker就继续为Carter提供Full service(研究报告+交易),但是费用按新业务Execution-only更低的费用收取的。
然后题干说Carter本身就对Broker之前提供的Full-service的交易(Execution)很满意,同时和其他同类别Broker相比,这家Broker提供的交易价格是合理的。然后题目就问Carter能不能使用这个新业务。
结论是:Carter完全可以使用这个新业务,不仅可以像A选项说的那样给禁止Soft dollar的账户使用该业务,他还可以给他管理的所有账户都使用这个新业务。
因为首先他对之前Full-service的Execution很满意,Execution符合best-execution的要求。其次就是和同类别的Broker相比,这家的费用合理,符合Best-price要求。
同时,虽然Broker提供的仍是Full-service(研究报告+交易),但是Carter只付了Execution-only的钱,等于Research报告是免费的,所以不存在Soft-dollar。
这种情况下,即便是禁止使用Soft dollar的账户,也能使用该业务,因为不存在Soft-dollar.
总结下:Best execution,and best price符合选Dealer的要求,同时,新业务的Research是免费的,不存在Soft dollar,所以A选项说可以给禁止Soft dollar的账户使用该业务是正确的。
易错点分析
有同学看到A选项说,可以给禁止Soft dollar的账户使用该新业务时,不太敢选。因为明明从题目中的表述来看,Dealer除了提供交易Execution,确实还提供了Research服务。那么这个Research就是Soft dollar了。
注意,Soft dollar一定是用交易佣金购买的,因为这个新业务只收取了Execution的费用,且该业务的收费在同行、同类业务中也是合理的。所以客户并没有为Research支付任何费用。虽然Dealer提供了Research,但是为免费的,所以不属于Soft dollar。
精选问答2
问题
Stafford is a portfolio manager for a specialized real estate mutual fund. Her firm clearly describes in the fund’s prospectus its soft dollar policies. Stafford decides that entering the CFA Program will enhance her investment decision-making skill and decides to use the fund’s softdollar account to pay the registration and exam fees for the CFA Program. Whichof the following statements is most likely correct?
A. Stafford did not violate the Code and Standards because the prospectus informed investors of the fund’s soft dollar policies.
B. Stafford violated the Code and Standards because improving her investment skills is not a reasonable use of the soft dollaraccount.
C. Stafford violated the Code and Standards because theCFA Program does not meet the definition of research allowed to be purchasedwith brokerage commissions.
答案解析
Answer C is correct.
According to StandardIII(A)—Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, the CFA Program would be considered a personal or firm expense and should not be paid for with the fund’s brokerage commissions.
Soft dollar accounts should be used only to purchase research services that directly assist the investment manager in the investment decision-making process,not to assist the management of the firm or to further education.
Thus, answer A is incorrect. Answer B is incorrect because the reasonableness of how the money is used is not an issue; the issue is that educational expense is notresearch.
解题思路
他这道题是考到的Soft dollar的使用。
因为基金经理是可以选择Broker来执行交易的,而不同的Broker收取的费用不同,一些可能提供的业务比较多,比如除了提供Execution外,还可能提供研究报告等服务,所以有些Broker收费比较贵,有些比较便宜。
基金经理支付给Broker的Commission,是从客户账户里出的,所以如果基金经理买了比较贵的Broker获得了额外的服务(如研究报告、数据终端、电脑终端等),那这些服务实际上是用客户资金购买的,属于客户的,只能服务该客户,这种额外支付Commission来买的服务就是Soft dollar。
Soft dollar只能用于能够直接帮助客户投资决策的事项。比例,研究报告、数据终端、电脑等。原则是:从谁的账户里出的,就只能服务于谁,且是直接帮助投资决策。
基金公司的管理支出、员工的培训(考CFA等),不能直接帮助客户的投资决策,所以不能从Soft dollar里出。
B选项其实干扰项,他是说Improving investment skill不是一个合理的、使用Soft dollar的方式。首先,员工Improve skills的费用,与客户的直接投资决策无关,就不能从Soft dollar里出,不存在合理与不合理的情况。
C选项说的就比较明白,报CFA考试,就不属于Soft dollar里可以购买的项目。
易错点分析
一些同学反应很难在B/C中选出正确的。这点其实可以把Soft dollar就认为是能直接帮助投资决策的事项。不属于这个定义的,都不能使用Soft dollar,不存在合不合理的情况。
精选问答3
问题
During a round of golf, Rodriguez, chief financial officer of Mega Retail, mentions to Hart, a local investment adviser and long-time personal friend, that Mega is having an exceptional sales quarter.
Rodriguez expects the results to be almost 10% above the current estimates. The next day, Hart initiates the purchase of a large stake in the local exchange-traded retail fund for her personal account.
A. Hart violated the Code and Standards by investing inthe exchange-traded fund that included Mega Retail.
B. Hart did not violate the Code and Standards because she did not invest directly in securities of Mega Retail.
C. Rodriguez did not violate the Code and Standards because the comments made to Hart were not intended to solicit an investment in Mega Retail.
答案解析
Answer A is correct. Hart’s decision to invest in theretail fund appears directly correlated with Rodriguez’s statement about thesuccessful quarter of Mega Retail and thus violates Standard II(A)—MaterialNonpublic Information.
Rodriguez’s information would be considered material becauseit would influence the share price of Mega Retail and probably influence theprice of the entire exchange-traded retail fund. Thus, answer B is incorrect.
Answer C is also incorrect because Rodriguez sharedinformation that was both material and nonpublic. Company officers regularlyhave such knowledge about their firms, which is not a violation. The sharing ofsuch information, however, even in a conversation between friends, does violateStandard II(A).
解题思路
从这道题的题干描述来看,Rodriguez透露的信息就是Material non-public information属于内幕信息。首先Rodriguez肯定违反了StandardII(A)—Material Nonpublic Information,因为他拥有内幕信息,应该避免向外界透露内部信息。
第二就是Hart在得知了内部信息之后,第二天就给自己的个人账户里购买了exchange-traded retail fund。虽然Hart没有直接购买与内幕信息相关的股票,但购买了与其相关的ETF。所以也是利用了内幕信息进行了交易。
易错点分析
有同学问到,Hart没有直接购买股票,而是买了ETF,如果ETF里面这家公司的占比很小,或者是这家公司股票对ETF的影响非常小,这样也算违反内幕信息交易吗?
答案是:这里关注重点不是占比,而是购买动机。
首先Retail ETF和这家Mega Retail是相关的,所以Mega Retail表现好,则Retail ETF可能会表现好,存在一定的联系,具体有多大联系、有多大影响也不知道,题干没说就不考虑额外的信息,只是知道他们之间存在联系。
Hart听到该内幕消息之后,第二天,就立即为他自己的账户买了Retail ETF。所以他购买该ETF的原因的是这条内幕消息。所以购买动机源自于该内幕信息。
如果题干有描述,Hart利用了经济数据,做了详实可靠的分析,发现Retail行业整体表现较好,所以买了Retail ETF,这样的话,购买动机不是内幕信息,是基于公开市场信息,那么这样是可以的。
精选问答4
问题
From time to time, PIA receives initial public offering(IPO) allocations from FTI. Danko allocates these IPOs to those discretionary accounts that normally participate in IPOs.
If the IPO is oversubscribed, he excludeshis wife’s discretionary non-fee-paying account so that he is not accused ofbias when allocating the oversubscribed IPOs.
Does Danko violate theCFA Institute Standards when he allocates oversubscribed IPO issues?
A. No.
B. Yes, because heshould allocate the oversubscribed IPOs across all discretionary accounts.
C. Yes, because he should treat his wife’s account thesame as other discretionary accounts and include it in theoversubscribed IPO allocations.
答案解析
A is correct. When an issue is oversubscribed, allocationscannot be made to accounts where members and candidates have beneficial interest; client orders must be filled first.
解题思路
这个是超额认购的IPO(Oversubscribed IPO)。
在道德准则Standard III(B) Fair Dealing里,如果出现超额认购的项目,自己的账户是不能参加的,只能给客户分。
这里自己的账户是指:自己是直接受益人的账户。一般妻子的账户视同为自己的账户,因为自己可以直接受益。而其他直系亲属,如父母,兄弟姐妹的账户,一般视同为普通客户的账户,因为一般情况下默认自己不能从他们的账户中受益。除非题目有明确表示,自己可以从他们的账户中受益。
所以出现Oversubscribed IPO,不能给自己的账户买,也不能给妻子的账户买,但是父母,兄弟姐妹由于默认是普通客户(不是直接受益人),所以可以给他们的账户买,除非题目有直接说明父母,兄弟姐妹的账户自己是直接受益人。
易错点分析
有同学问到,妻子的账户是discretionary non-fee-paying account,因为是不收费账户,所以不给妻子配IPO不违反道德准确。其实这样思考是错误的,无论妻子的账户是不是收费账户,都不能参与Oversubscribed IPO,因为自己是直接受益人。
判别Oversubscribed IPO分配原则就是:判断自己是不是直接受益人,一般是默认妻子和自己利益直接相关,除非题目有特别说明。
另外,如果是正常的普通客户,一个是Non-fee paying,一个是Fee-paying,只要两个人都申请了参与IPO,也要按照公司制定的分配原则进行分配(Fairly分配)。
在这里由于出现了Discretionary account,所以对Discretionary和Non-Discretionary做一下区分:
Discretionary和Non-Discretionary是形容基金账户的。
Discretionary是指账户的投资决策由基金经理全权负责,投资决策完全由基金经理完成,所以这种账户的投资收益真实地反映了基金经理的水平。
而Non-Discretionary是指基金账户投资决策只能由客户决定,基金经理充当Advisor的职责,有点像投资顾问的感觉。所以这种账户的投资收益,不能真实反映基金经理的水平。而这里的Discretionary/Non-Discretionary主要指投资决策是否由基金经理自己决定。
精选问答5
题干
Jason Locke, CFA, has recently been hired as the ChiefInvestment Officer of the Escarpment Regional Government Employees’ Pension Fund (the Fund). Currently, he is conducting evaluations of all external managersemployed by the Fund to ensure that they are providing the highest possiblereturns for their mandates, while complying with all applicable laws andregulations.
Locke is evaluating the activity of Niagara Growth Managers (NGM),a local money manager allocated 10 percent of the Fund’s assets. He realizes that any reduction in the allocation to this local manager will be met withconsiderable political pressure. The investment policy statement (IPS) forNGM’s portion of the Fund’s assets states that NGM is to actively manage anequity portfolio of local small-cap, high-tech companies.
Upon his review of NGM’s activity, Locke is concernedabout two items that he would like explained. At a meeting with NGM’s portfoliomanager, Emma Black, CFA, Locke asks her to comment on each item:
Commodities Positions
Locke: “Overthe last year, several large positions in commodities have been taken by the Fund’sportfolio. This is inconsistent with the IPS.”
Black: “Commoditieshave significantly outperformed high-tech equities recently. I added commoditiesto larger clients’ portfolios on a temporary basis. Clients were not informed becausethe positions will be sold once market sentiment shifts. I have not managed commoditiesbefore, but I am getting good returns.”
Locke: “I am uncomfortable with these investments in thisportfolio.”
With respect to thecommodities positions, which of the following actions best describes Black’s violationof the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct? Black violated CFAInstitute Standards by:
A. buying an asset classin which she has no prior management experience.
B. buying assets thatare inconsistent with the portfolio’s Investment Policy Statement.
C. failing to notify theclient that she would temporarily deviate from the client’s Investment Policy Statement
答案解析
B is correct. Under no circumstances should a manager take investment action that is inconsistent withthe client’s IPS.
解题思路
这道题,基金经理管理的是一个Separate account,是一个专门账户,有其IPS,并且IPS明确地规定了只能投在local small-cap, high-tech companies的股票。然后为了获得暂时的高收益,基金经理投资了IPS以外的Commodities,这点是违反了Standard III(C) Suitability。因为Commodities没有出现在IPS规定的标的里,哪怕是短暂地偏离也不行。
易错点分析
有同学问到,为什么C选项不对?如果提前告知客户,且得到同意是不是就可以偏离IPS了?
回答是不存在提前告知客户这种操作。
投资一定要按照IPS里的规定进行,如果认为有其他的投资比较适合客户,例如本题认为Commodities有机会,且适合客户,应该先和客户一起修改IPS,再做投资。这样就不违背原则了。因为既然认为现在某个投资适合客户,而以前IPS里面不让买,那就说明IPS已经不合适了,需要先改,再投资。不存在告知客户获得同意偏离IPS的情况。
另外需要注意的是:
如果是专门管理某个个体的账户,是专门账户(Separate account),如本题,IPS是依据这个个体状况编制的,投资是一定按照IPS的要求进行,一定不能偏离IPS。
这种情况下客户只有一个:就是这个个体。所以是专门账户
如果管理的是一个基金,如公募基金(Mutual fund),基金的投资标的由Mandate框定,如果基金经理想要偏离Mandate,先要向外界公布,投资者可以选择是否还继续投资这个基金,公布之后,基金经理可以偏离Mandate。
这种情况下客户是广大散户、基金份额的购买者。基金经理不需要为每一名投资者写IPS,只需要按照基金的Mandate执行投资即可。
所以在偏离IPS或者Mandate时,有以上这点小区别。