ICWIM - V5a - Sample Paper Final 1r
ICWIM - V5a - Sample Paper Final 1r
These 100 questions should be answered in two hours in the real exam, so make sure you time
yourself accurately.
Record your answer for each question by circling your selected answer.
When you have finished the test, you may check your answers against the Answer Sheet
at the back of this paper.
For those questions you answered incorrectly, the answer sheet will show you the
corresponding syllabus element, sub element and learning objective against which the
questions were written, so you can identify any syllabus areas where you may need to revise
further.
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
2 Which of the following transactions does the insider dealing legislation cover?
A Purchase of equities
B Purchase of gold bullion
C Purchase of commercial property
D Purchase of premium bonds
A A stockbroker dealing in a stock in which they have received price sensitive information
B A stockbroker fuelling rumours of outstanding results for a small oil company to its clients
C A private client buying outside normal market size with one broker and not telling their
usual stockbroker about it
D A private client telling their friends about a company that they think is going to be taken
over
5 A company's Market Value Added equates to the market assessment of the present value of
the company's future:
A dividend distributions
B economic value added
C capital costs
D gross profits
6 If the real annual returns of a UK equity investment are normally distributed around the mean
return of 8% with a standard deviation of 4.5% approximately two-thirds of the returns
recorded will be within what range?
7 Which of the following is likely to be the MOST important consideration when selecting the
most appropriate protection product for a client?
8 Which of the following types of investment incurs a liability for capital gains tax once sold?
A Classic car
B Government bonds
9 Which of the following implications will help to ensure financial advisers act in their clients'
best interest?
A Firms that give investment advice must address the potential for adviser remuneration to
distort consumer outcomes
B Investment firms will need to switch clients into products that have no trailing
commissions
C Firms that give investment advice must charge fees within a guidance range set by the FCA
D Investment firms will need to change their price lists to remove all percentage based fees
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
10 Which of the following is a limitation rather than an assumption of the Capital Asset Pricing
Model?
11 What are the possible implications for investment performance of investing in an ethical fund?
A The fund may be more volatile because of the increased exposure to smaller company
holdings
B Ethical funds invest primarily in large companies producing lower total returns
C There are no suitable benchmarks for the client to measure performance against
D Total returns are likely to be higher due to the increased level of diversification in ethical
funds
12 Jackie is a private client investor and you ascertain that her investment objective and risk
tolerance are capital growth and cautious. During the meeting she asks you for your thoughts
on the use of derivatives. You respond that, in your opinion, derivatives:
C can generate capital growth and are suitable where there is a low risk tolerance
D can be traded only on an execution only basis as firms cannot offer any advice or opinion
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
13 Which of the following gives the right, but not the obligation, to sell individual equity at a
specified date for a given price?
A Future
B Forward contract
C Put option
D Call option
C All product recommendations listed in the financial plan and the reasoning behind them
D Taxation implications for all the products listed in the financial plan
16 When considering the money supply, money is accurately described as anything that is
generally:
17 Which of the following Fitch ratings denotes the LOWEST level of risk for a bond?
A D
B BBB-
C C
D AAA
20 What inter-governmental body develops and promotes national and international policies to
combat money laundering and terrorist financing?
21 Global Depositary Receipts traded on the London Stock Exchange are settled in which
currency?
A Euros
B US Dollars
C Japanese Yen
D UK Sterling
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
22 Where the proposer and the life assured are different people under a life policy, the policy:
23 Which MAIN class of financial asset is normally considered to be the LEAST liquid?
A Equities
B Corporate bonds
C Government bonds
D Property
24 An investor allowed the principle of 'regret aversion' to influence his actions. This resulted in
him:
25 Which of the following rules applying to financial intermediaries is directly underpinned by the
principle of fiduciary responsibility?
A Commission disclosure
B Money laundering
C Professional indemnity
D Best execution
A tracking indices
B tracking an individual security
27 Two sets of data are positively correlated. If one set of data rises in value, what will happen to
the other set?
A Rises
B Falls
C No change
D Rises to begin with then falls
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
28 Why is a time weighted return (TWR) preferred to a money weighted return (MWR) when
evaluating performance?
A TWR only requires portfolio values at the start and end of the investment period along
with dates and size of each cash flow
B TWR eliminates the timing effect of cash flows into and out of the fund
C TWR measures the fund growth resulting from both the underlying performance of the
portfolio and the size and timing of cash flows into and out of the fund
D TWR calculates the risk adjusted return per unit of risk
29 A client arranged for a wealth management firm to look after his investments on a non-
discretionary basis. This means that the firm:
30 Four bond portfolios each hold a variety of stock. Which one of them is BEST described as
operating a barbell strategy?
A Portfolio A, which consists solely of bills maturing in one year plus bonds maturing in 25
and 30 years
B Portfolio B, which consists solely of bills maturing in six months plus bonds maturing in 5,
10, 15 and 20 years
C To ensure that all cash balances are reconciled against the actual bank
D To ensure the portfolio still meets the client's objectives and is positioned correctly given
the market conditions
32 What differentiates Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP)?
A The trustee
B The registrar
C The manager
D The depositary
36 Which of the following would MOST likely be found in a formal written report presenting
recommendations to a client?
37 Where funds are to be set aside to provide for the future financial maintenance of a disabled
child, this can normally be achieved through the establishment of a legal document called a:
A codicil
B trust
C grant of representation
D power of attorney
38 One of the core functions of the financial services sector is to facilitate the bringing together
of:
39 What lump sum must someone aged 35 invest today given an assumed annual growth rate of
7% if they are to accrue a lump sum of £450,000 at the age of 65?
A £14,018
B £59,115
C £64,285
D £420,560
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
40 Firms that specialise in looking after the assets of pension funds and fund managers are
normally known as:
A trustees
B registrars
C underwriters
D custodians
41 The excess return of a portfolio or security above that of the risk adjusted benchmark is known
as:
A alpha
B beta
C duration
D premium
42 The demand curve for a particular product will be horizontal where the supplying firm operates
in:
43 The annual return of a portfolio in each of the last six years has been 8.2%, 3.6%, 5.1%, 2.1%,
9.4% and 4.7%. What is the arithmetic mean return?
A 4.2%
B 4.9%
C 5.5%
D 5.8%
44 An investment manager believes that markets are inefficient and that he can obtain abnormal
returns after transaction charges. Which investment style is he most likely to adopt?
A Passive
B Indexation
C Active
D Satellite
45 A company's p/e ratio recently changed from 12 to 15. This normally indicates that:
A Sentiment
B Supply and demand
48 An individual has been advised to invest in some shares by a friend. He wants to make sure
that he invests in companies which do not have a volatile share price. To achieve this he should
select shares which have a beta factor of:
A 1
B 1.25
C 1.5
D 1.75
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
49 In a two-stock portfolio which of the following correlations would normally offer the greatest
level of diversification?
A 0.8
B 0.6
C -0.4
D -0.7
51 Based on the principles of Modern Portfolio theory, an equity fund will operate on the
'efficient frontier' if:
A the cash is paid two calendar days after the stock is delivered
B the cash is paid two business days after the stock is delivered
C settlement takes place two calendar days after the trade date
D settlement takes place two business days after the trade date
53 Bond portfolio X exclusively contains relatively long-dated stock whereas Bond portfolio Y
operates a laddering strategy. This means that Bond X is likely to:
C be deferred indefinitely
D be subject to a different accounting period
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
56 In technical analysis, the term, 'primary movement' refers to which of the following?
57 When recommending an investment product to a client, what material information MUST the
adviser disclose in order to satisfy the fiduciary relationship that exists between the two
parties?
59 A consumer purchases a designated investment and the firm provides the consumer with
detailed cancellation rights over the telephone, immediately after the purchase. How has the
firm contravened the rules?
60 The difference between a nominal rate of return and a real rate of return relates solely to the
effects of:
A taxation
B charges
C inflation
D compounding
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
61 Who controls the assets of a trust and looks after the property for the person or persons who
will ultimately benefit from it?
A Benefactors
B Beneficiaries
C Creditors
D Trustees
62 Which is the MOST important reason for an adviser to conduct regular reviews of a client's
circumstances and arrangements?
64 John is worried that he will be unable to work due to a heart attack. Which of the following
would enable him to claim if he had a severe heart attack?
C Mortgage Protection
D Accident, Sickness & Unemployment cover
66 Which of the following is NOT counted as part of the Current Account Balance?
67 Paulo is a non-resident investor. How is he likely to benefit from a double taxation treaty?
68 When conducting investment business for a private customer, what must a firm do?
69 Where an investment fund established in the UK satisfies the UCITS directive and is sold in
another EU country, what is the position regarding local taxes and local marketing laws?
71 The running yield of a corporate bond is determined by calculating the coupon as a percentage
of the:
A market price
B issue price
C gross dividend
D nominal value
72 Which of the following would provide the lowest level of risk for risk averse investors with
short term horizons?
73 In which country can shareholders be assured that listed companies will comply with the OECD
Principles for Corporate Governance?
A France
B Germany
C UK
D USA
74 An investor has a requirement for an 8% return and is considering choosing Stock X to satisfy
this need. Based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model, if the beta value of this stock is
recalibrated from 1.2 to 1.3, this would:
75 The Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives (UCITS) cover
investment funds established in which location(s)?
A 70%
B 80%
C 90%
D 100%
A It enables clients to invest wholly in one of the MAIN asset classes to maximise returns
B It reduces the investor's risk by investing across a range of asset classes, sectors and
individual stocks
C It provides a benchmark for a client to assess how well his investments have performed
D It enables investors to pool their investments with others and reduce the risk of direct
investment in shares
78 One of the fundamental aims of a traditional hedge fund is to minimise which type of
investment-related risk?
A Inflation risk
B Issuer risk
C Market risk
D Liquidity risk
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
79 Which of the following is a factor that must be considered when constructing a portfolio?
A Commodity derivatives
B Equity options
C Gold
D Residential property
81 What is the impact on cash deposits of the time value of money in the current economic
environment?
C The present value of the deposit will increase proportionally in line with inflation
D The present value of the deposit will be maintained as long as interest is compounded
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
82 Using Modern Portfolio Theory to create a two stock portfolio, which of the following is TRUE?
A The lower the correlation of stock returns, the greater the portfolio's diversification
B The higher the correlation of stock returns, the greater the portfolio's diversification
C The higher the correlation of stock returns, the lower the level of total risk associated with
any given level of expected return
D The lower the correlation of stock returns, the higher the level of total risk associated with
any given level of expected return
A Orders from buyers and sellers are automatically matched and executed
B Market makers prioritise orders according to transaction size
A On the spot market, currencies are not quoted in terms of each other, unlike the forward
market
B On the spot market, the base currency is always GBP, unlike on the forward market
C Forward contracts are settled on a pre-determined future date, 3 or more business days
after the deal date
D They do not differ. On both markets the delivery date is 2 days after the deal date
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
85 If clients approach a firm knowing exactly which product they wish to purchase, and ask the
firm simply to arrange the purchase, this type of transaction is normally described as:
A best advice
B instruction processing
C nominal dealing
D execution only
86 Where the mining costs of a particular metal increase to 105% of that metal's current price,
this indicates that:
87 When giving financial advice on the subject of protection, it is important to quantify a client's
assets to:
88 In order to determine how 'efficient' the market is, financial service regulators will normally
consider the extent to which:
C a contract to sell
D a contract to buy
90 A private equity fund is MOST likely to use a structure similar to that of which of the following?
A Investment Trust
B Limited Partnership
C OEIC
D SICAV
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
91 A client in the UK was granted lasting power of attorney in relation to his elderly mother. Why
did this facility fail to provide him with control over her financial affairs after she was deemed
to have lost her mental capacity?
A She was over retirement age when her poor state of mind was first diagnosed
B He was her adopted son
92 John is taking out a life insurance policy on Mary, his wife, and one for himself. Which of the
following statements is TRUE once the policy is in force?
C it is unregulated
D spot market transactions settle on a T + 3 basis
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
95 Which of the following types of organisation is MOST likely to arrange finance for a company
wanting to float on the stock market?
A Insurance companies
B Investment banks
C Custodians
D Bancassurers
96 Which of the following does a passive investment manager principally invest in?
A Equities
B An index
C Fixed income
D Other institutional funds
International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management
97 If $2,200 is invested for four years with interest at the rate of 6% p.a., compounded half-yearly,
what will be the value at the end of this period?
A $2,696.55
B $2,777.45
C $2,786.89
D $2,860.77
99 The relationship between an adviser and a client means that the adviser has a duty to:
100 The regulations state that Money Laundering Reporting Officers appointed by financial services
firms must: