The Level III pass rate

Mara Halvorsen, CFA, is a private wealth adviser at Brookhollow Wealth Partners, a registered investment adviser. Each of her clients has a written investment policy statement (IPS) that she reviews with the client at least once a year. Halvorsen has discretionary authority over all of the accounts described below.

Walter Dunmore, aged 71, is a retired school administrator. His IPS, signed six months ago, describes his risk tolerance as below average, his main objective as stable income to supplement his pension, and his liquidity needs as moderate. His $1.2 million portfolio holds investment-grade bonds and dividend-paying equities. After reading about the strong recent returns of the Pallister Frontier Opportunities Fund, a leveraged fund that invests in frontier-market equities, Halvorsen moves 30% of Dunmore's portfolio into the fund. Dunmore did not ask for the change, and Halvorsen does not discuss it with him before or after the trade.

Grace Okafor, aged 45, has an IPS that describes her risk tolerance as above average and her time horizon as more than 20 years. Okafor calls Halvorsen and asks her to buy $20,000 of shares in a small biotechnology company that a friend recommended. The purchase would be about 2% of Okafor's $1.0 million portfolio. Halvorsen tells Okafor that she has not researched the company and that the stock is more speculative than anything else in the portfolio. Okafor still wants the shares. Halvorsen buys them, records in the account file that the trade was requested by the client against her advice, and sends Okafor a written confirmation that says the same.

Dunmore's daughter, Claire, calls the office. She has no authority over her father's account, and she is not named in any document the firm holds. Claire says she is worried about her father's finances and asks for the account's value and holdings. Halvorsen, who has met Claire at a family event, tells her the account value and its five largest holdings. Dunmore has never given permission for his information to be shared with his family.

Halvorsen is also preparing a presentation for a prospective client. She manages 40 accounts with the same balanced mandate. She selects the three accounts with the highest returns over the past five years and shows their average annual return on a slide titled "Typical results for our balanced clients." The slide does not say how the accounts were chosen or how many balanced accounts she manages.

Mara Halvorsen, CFA, is a private wealth adviser at Brookhollow Wealth Partners, a registered investment adviser. Each of her clients has a written investment policy statement (IPS) that she reviews with the client at least once a year. Halvorsen has discretionary authority over all of the accounts described below.

Walter Dunmore, aged 71, is a retired school administrator. His IPS, signed six months ago, describes his risk tolerance as below average, his main objective as stable income to supplement his pension, and his liquidity needs as moderate. His $1.2 million portfolio holds investment-grade bonds and dividend-paying equities. After reading about the strong recent returns of the Pallister Frontier Opportunities Fund, a leveraged fund that invests in frontier-market equities, Halvorsen moves 30% of Dunmore's portfolio into the fund. Dunmore did not ask for the change, and Halvorsen does not discuss it with him before or after the trade.

Grace Okafor, aged 45, has an IPS that describes her risk tolerance as above average and her time horizon as more than 20 years. Okafor calls Halvorsen and asks her to buy $20,000 of shares in a small biotechnology company that a friend recommended. The purchase would be about 2% of Okafor's $1.0 million portfolio. Halvorsen tells Okafor that she has not researched the company and that the stock is more speculative than anything else in the portfolio. Okafor still wants the shares. Halvorsen buys them, records in the account file that the trade was requested by the client against her advice, and sends Okafor a written confirmation that says the same.

Dunmore's daughter, Claire, calls the office. She has no authority over her father's account, and she is not named in any document the firm holds. Claire says she is worried about her father's finances and asks for the account's value and holdings. Halvorsen, who has met Claire at a family event, tells her the account value and its five largest holdings. Dunmore has never given permission for his information to be shared with his family.

Halvorsen is also preparing a presentation for a prospective client. She manages 40 accounts with the same balanced mandate. She selects the three accounts with the highest returns over the past five years and shows their average annual return on a slide titled "Typical results for our balanced clients." The slide does not say how the accounts were chosen or how many balanced accounts she manages.

Mara Halvorsen, CFA, is a private wealth adviser at Brookhollow Wealth Partners, a registered investment adviser. Each of her clients has a written investment policy statement (IPS) that she reviews with the client at least once a year. Halvorsen has discretionary authority over all of the accounts described below.

Walter Dunmore, aged 71, is a retired school administrator. His IPS, signed six months ago, describes his risk tolerance as below average, his main objective as stable income to supplement his pension, and his liquidity needs as moderate. His $1.2 million portfolio holds investment-grade bonds and dividend-paying equities. After reading about the strong recent returns of the Pallister Frontier Opportunities Fund, a leveraged fund that invests in frontier-market equities, Halvorsen moves 30% of Dunmore's portfolio into the fund. Dunmore did not ask for the change, and Halvorsen does not discuss it with him before or after the trade.

Grace Okafor, aged 45, has an IPS that describes her risk tolerance as above average and her time horizon as more than 20 years. Okafor calls Halvorsen and asks her to buy $20,000 of shares in a small biotechnology company that a friend recommended. The purchase would be about 2% of Okafor's $1.0 million portfolio. Halvorsen tells Okafor that she has not researched the company and that the stock is more speculative than anything else in the portfolio. Okafor still wants the shares. Halvorsen buys them, records in the account file that the trade was requested by the client against her advice, and sends Okafor a written confirmation that says the same.

Dunmore's daughter, Claire, calls the office. She has no authority over her father's account, and she is not named in any document the firm holds. Claire says she is worried about her father's finances and asks for the account's value and holdings. Halvorsen, who has met Claire at a family event, tells her the account value and its five largest holdings. Dunmore has never given permission for his information to be shared with his family.

Halvorsen is also preparing a presentation for a prospective client. She manages 40 accounts with the same balanced mandate. She selects the three accounts with the highest returns over the past five years and shows their average annual return on a slide titled "Typical results for our balanced clients." The slide does not say how the accounts were chosen or how many balanced accounts she manages.

Mara Halvorsen, CFA, is a private wealth adviser at Brookhollow Wealth Partners, a registered investment adviser. Each of her clients has a written investment policy statement (IPS) that she reviews with the client at least once a year. Halvorsen has discretionary authority over all of the accounts described below.

Walter Dunmore, aged 71, is a retired school administrator. His IPS, signed six months ago, describes his risk tolerance as below average, his main objective as stable income to supplement his pension, and his liquidity needs as moderate. His $1.2 million portfolio holds investment-grade bonds and dividend-paying equities. After reading about the strong recent returns of the Pallister Frontier Opportunities Fund, a leveraged fund that invests in frontier-market equities, Halvorsen moves 30% of Dunmore's portfolio into the fund. Dunmore did not ask for the change, and Halvorsen does not discuss it with him before or after the trade.

Grace Okafor, aged 45, has an IPS that describes her risk tolerance as above average and her time horizon as more than 20 years. Okafor calls Halvorsen and asks her to buy $20,000 of shares in a small biotechnology company that a friend recommended. The purchase would be about 2% of Okafor's $1.0 million portfolio. Halvorsen tells Okafor that she has not researched the company and that the stock is more speculative than anything else in the portfolio. Okafor still wants the shares. Halvorsen buys them, records in the account file that the trade was requested by the client against her advice, and sends Okafor a written confirmation that says the same.

Dunmore's daughter, Claire, calls the office. She has no authority over her father's account, and she is not named in any document the firm holds. Claire says she is worried about her father's finances and asks for the account's value and holdings. Halvorsen, who has met Claire at a family event, tells her the account value and its five largest holdings. Dunmore has never given permission for his information to be shared with his family.

Halvorsen is also preparing a presentation for a prospective client. She manages 40 accounts with the same balanced mandate. She selects the three accounts with the highest returns over the past five years and shows their average annual return on a slide titled "Typical results for our balanced clients." The slide does not say how the accounts were chosen or how many balanced accounts she manages.