I’ve noticed this in a number of chapters so far, but in the Series 65 textbook Municipal Securities section, there are 2 questions that are not addressed at all in the chapter but tested on the quiz:
- That municipal securities are tax free for residents. I double and triple checked and the only mention of taxes in the chapter comes from the repayment of GO bonds from property taxes
- That a liquidity risk exists for municipal securities. This can be deducted based on the fact that municipal securities are normally traded by residents (due in part to the tax benefits not mentioned…) but is not explicitly stated.
If a chapter does not cover a topic it should not be included in the quiz, and if it’s relevant it should be included in the textbook. This is a huge oversight which makes me distrust the entire validity of the exam because of it’s inconsistencies when it comes to key, testable points.
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Hi @abusyhippie - thanks for pointing this out.
I checked that chapter and could only identify one question, although the one question included the two concepts you mentioned. This question has been removed from that chapter quiz. We cover taxation and liquidity risk as it relates to municipal securities later in the fixed income unit.
All questions in our chapter quizzes should cover material learned in that chapter or previous chapters. If you encounter another quiz question that tests concepts you haven’t learned yet, please let us know and we’ll fix it quickly. We maintain over 4,000 practice and exam questions in our Series 65 program and want to make sure each is assigned to the proper chapter or unit.
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Awesome thanks Brandon! I don’t remember what the other ones were that showed up early but I’ll keep a look out going forward.
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Just checked that quiz’s answers and see that it has 7 questions, although this one is still in there and is asking about liquidity risk but isn’t mentioned in the chapter explicitly. Based on your criteria I believe it should also be removed or that the information regarding liquidity risk should be added to the chapter
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Just removed the question. Thanks for pointing it out!
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I found another misleading/unclear question. In the very first quiz when it asks the liquidation priority, it assumes that the reader knows that the mortgage bondholder is a secured creditor, when that is not explicitly stated until a later section.
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Thanks for pointing that out. However, we will keep that question in place. There’s a method our madness with this question. While we haven’t explicitly discussed mortgage bonds, there’s enough information in the answer set to perform a process of elimination (of at least one or two answers). You will likely encounter questions on the actual exam that will include products you haven’t learned that isn’t on NASAA’s outline. Oftentimes, the test writers do this to scare test takers. The key - stick with what you know and eliminate what you can.
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Ok thanks Brandon, how about this question that uses the term “capitalization” even though the section (2.3.3) it covers does not define that term (nor does any other section preceding it)
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I just removed that question. Thanks for pointing that out!
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