I did the FASEA Financial Adviser exam on Sunday (I didn't want to take a day off work). I can't say anything detailed about the contents of the exam as that would be 'misconduct' (we were basically sworn to secrecy). The exam was 3-1/4 hours long, but it was possible to get the 70Qs done within the time limit (I actually finished about 12 mins early and decided to leave before the final 10 min 'lock in' period), so there wasn't really much time pressure. Most of the questions were related to 1 page 'case study' descriptions, very similar to the practice exam Qs provided by FASEA. A few other Qs were just a multiple choice of table of T/F values to fill in relating to one key definition or series of statements. The short answer questions were OK, but it was sometimes hard to work out exactly which two key points they were expecting to be included in the response. The exam format was all described in the instructions provided to candidates when you registered for the exam, so nothing 'secret' about that.
Overall I *think* I passed (requires a minimum of 65%) the exam, but if I didn't then I will need to do a LOT more reading before sitting the exam again - the bits I was uncertain about were either things I haven't done yet for my initial registration (eg. taxation advice) or were related to how the AFSL compliance team would handle breaches by one of their authorised reps (as a rep I'm more concerned with knowing what I need to do to be compliant with the rules, not what the actions/penalties would apply when the rules are breached). This seemed more appropriate to AFLS management or compliance staff, not particularly relevant to 'front line' financial planners.
The fact that the exam was 'open book' in terms of having access to pdfs of the relevant Acts was really quite unhelpful - if you didn't know the answer to a particular question, there was no way you'd have enough time to review the relevant Act to find the answer. The few times I tried looking up a relevant key phrase to simply double check on an answer I had no luck finding the relevant passage out of the thousands of pages of legislation! If you knew exactly which section of an Act to look up, you'd probably already know the answer!
Anyhow, fingers crossed that I passed the exam, as its not something that I want to have to do again (or pay another $500+ for the privilege!). Time to get on studying for my next Masters degree subject (investment analysis), and finishing off the couple of 'specialist' modules (SMSFs and Margin Lending) that I've almost completed. Then I need to get stuck into doing the Advanced DFP course I enrolled in last December (and haven't started yet)...
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