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Career Resources
still waiting.... lvl 2
:)
What the fuck is a CFA? LOL
A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is a professional designation given by the CFA Institute, formerly AIMR, that measures the competence and integrity of financial analysts. Candidates are required to pass three levels of exams covering areas such as accounting, economics, ethics, money management and Security Analysis.
hahaha almost spit out my coffee.
Dude the guy is a major troll, don't waste your time on him/her/it.
Level III not until August 8, and I'm nervous.
passed. 4/10 over 70 none under 51
what a shit show the roll out of the results were. Didn't get mine til 430
They always are
Creates an awkward dynamic in the office when people are getting results at different times haha
Dude it was awful, 2 others found out they failed lmao so I just had to sit there all day waiting for mine while that tainted my thoughts
Awful! Then we all create scenarios where the sooner you get higher are the odds of passing etc..whereas it's just a big lag! You'll see May is a great month once L3 is done!! ahah
Same 4:15, even though I passed I was still pissed off the rest of the day that I had to sit there all day thinking about it
Passed Level 2, pumped but already anxious about level 3. Considering taking a break instead of going right into it June 2018. Did most of you guys go 3 years in a row and just finish it or spread out 2 and 3?
Aren't you a quant? I'm sure you'll be fine on level 3 Mr. Ivy STEM
Level 3 is probably less quanty than level 2. More of a case study/ essay format where you are constructing portfolios, adhering to ethics and "client needs/risk tolerance".. stuff like that. I also want a break to focus on work and life, 3 years in a row of night classes after work kind of sucks and burns you out idk something to consider.
Unless you have a major reason not to sit again next year, just get Level 3 over and done with.
I did all 3 in consecutive years and was glad it was finally over.
Did you take a class for L3?
Fuck the break bro, don't let up. Congratulations
Congrats to everyone who passed. BobTheBaker what did you do to prep? The 300 hours recommended sounds insane.
If you have ugrad in finance/eco/accounting you can get away with 200 for level 1
Passed level 1. Scored over 70% in 6/10 sections and none under 51%
Congrats. How many pages is the reading for each level? I am considering on applying for lvl 1 by Aug 16 deadline but I'm not sure if I will have enough time due to my busy schedule. For the Series 7 (kind of unrelated) the reading in Kaplan was about 660 pages and was rather dense, so how many pages are there for the Schwese notes level 1? For someone with finance/econ knowledge how dense is the material?
For June? Def get the "secret sauce" to lighten the reading to about 200 pages or so and then you can focus on needs from there. Best bet is dedicate about 1 or 2 hours per weekday (commute + lunch) and a little more on weekends (aim for 3 hours per day) puts you at about 200 hours in 3 months if you slack a little 200 in 4 months which is more than enough time to fine tune things before june exam
I meant for December. How about the actual, real reading material how long is that?
Level 1 is pretty easy. Level 2 is the exam that 60% of people who have already passed level 1 fail.
Here is my advice: study 100 hours for level 1 and either study 150 hours more for level 2 than you studied for level 1, or swear off the fricking exam (which you will probably do when you hit 150 hours anyways).
Fuck the CFA, find a fun hobby. Get a technical SCUBA certification. Or get a pilot's license.
the CFAI reading material is way too long and designed to overwhelm you. Aside from the Ethics portion and their practice problems, you should not use their materials. Buy secret sauce and some practice questions from wiley or something for $50 (2 full exams.) Utilize youtube if you have to, or do a kaplan course. If you plan on just self studying with the materials you get with the sign up fee you will just be making things way more difficult than it is. Level 1 is a mile wide and an inch deep. You need to know a lot of areas at the very simplest level, so if you plan it right it's really not a hard exam.
Schweser/Kaplan sucks. The prep questions were written by eighth graders, and it really shows on quant.
CFAI material isn't as efficient, but if nothing else do yourself a favor and use their test prep questions as your metric, not Schweser.
Most people on this forum have recommended the Schweser study materials. On Amazon it looks like there are 5-6 books for level 1 + Secret Sauce. Are these too much? If they are, then I don't need to spend all this extra Money.
Disagree.
Schweser boils down the material to what you need to pass. QBank is great for practicing concepts and formulas (especially for Level I & II), and their practice exams are harder than the real thing.
That's because 10% of their questions are so badly written there's no correct answer. On another 5%, they have the wrong answer! At least on quant. This is coming from someone who does this for a living and did all of the godawful PhD econometrics and stats classes and ground out all of the painful math behind ARMA, GARCH, etc.
Garbage in, garbage out. If you're crazy enough to take the CFA Level II and need test prep questions, the most reliable ones are the CFAI's.
That said, in 900 hours, you can accumulate nearly enough flying time to qualify for a type rating in a jet. Why not go for that?
Join a boiler room, a good one will make u millions in a year. Then u can have a bunch of fighter/private jets.
@guggroth93" This link shows 5 books https://www.amazon.com/2017-CFA-Schweser-Notes-Level/dp/B01MG0NRTG/ref=…
I am trying to understand is how many pages is in each book?
oh I'm not sure. Their "secret sauce" is a condensed approx. 250 page version of the CFAI study materials they give you with the exam. Those look like their no condensed form, which doesn't help much. like LeveragedTiger said their qbank is great too because the questions are generally more difficult than the actual exam and the secret sauce trims the fat on the material so you only study what you need. I used the secret sauce, kaplan 3 day weekend bootcamp, and bought some extra practice exams from Wiley for both Level 1 and Level 2 and it helped me a lot. Do whatever you think you can stick to without slacking off, but relying only on CFAI who wants you to fail and pay more and fail and pay more and fail again seems foolish to me when there are other resources out there made to help you PASS. I believe the more expensive products will even do refunds or partial refunds if you do not pass, but that is probably overkill for L1. Good luck
Do not underestimate the CFA exams. Level I is easier for finance undergrad majors, but still not easy. Level II is easy for no one and requires serious effort to pass.
The CFAI material (included in your registration fee) will always have the most comprehensive information, but is easy to be overwhelmed and deterred from continuing studying (3000ish pages of material).
Kaplan will give you 80% of the info you need. Their questions are worded different from official CFAI questions and that can be a real burden if you only use Kaplan materials (1500ish total pages). Kaplan does have something called the "secret sauce" which is more of a template outline for the whole curriculum than lessons. Use it as a supplement to re-study closer to test time (200ish pages).
My advice, study via kaplan, do all the EoC questions and "blue box" questions from the official CFAI material, and download every mock exam you can.
Quant is 12% of Level I, 5-10% of Level II, and 0% of Level III, so not make-or-break material for any of the exams.
The CFAI does not design material to overwhelm candidates. They create a thorough CBOK and LOSes to set a focus on what needs to be learned/mastered.
Just because you are overwhelmed does not mean it was the CFAI's intent to overwhelm you.
Thatta kid BobTheBaker , I passed as well, Level 2
70+: Alts, Corp, Deriv, Econ, Ethics, Port
50-70: Equity, FRA, Fixed, Quant
Actually shocked that I didn't score higher on equity, averaged 87% on the mocks but fuck it, one more god forsaken level to go
GLTA.
My pursuit of the CFA has been replaced with the pursuit of an aircraft type rating.
My pursuit of the CFA has been replaced with pursuing dat assss
I only fly private so not really interested
Great, but wouldn't you rather fly the plane?
I mean you can wait for the logistics of finding pilots, or you can just drive to the airport, do a 15 minute preflight, and fly the thing yourself. Less hassle, more fun.
I passed level 2 today, everything above 70 except for PM and Ethics below 50. Although I used Schweiser, I wouldn't recommend it because some concepts are kinda poorly explained. I had to put in extra work to figure things out. Perhaps I will use Wiley for level 3
Passed level 1, 9/10 >70% with 1 51-70%. Super relieved and super not looking forward to studying for level 2.
Never got the email, just logged on CFA website and found out I passed L2. Big relief......
I was wondering if anyone knows to what level a CFA title would help with career?
The whole thing. Having passed individual tests will not help any noticeable amount in job searches.
This is incorrect. Showing that you are in the program/ already passed a test or two will assist in entry-level Asset MGMT/ Equity Research job searches.
Few. L2 in the bag. Congrats to all who passed.
50: derivatives and PM 50-70: alt, econ, ethics, FI, quant. '>70: equity, corp fin, FRA
FYI: I was scoring in the 60% range the week of the exam on the Shweser mocks.
Anyone who just passed L1, i'll be looking to get rid of some L2 materials.... DM me.
Congrats! I took and passed Level I a couple years ago and it was a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Be sure to celebrate, you earned it. 7/10 sections at 70+ is solid, that test is a behemoth.
I went out last night with another friend who passed, I shouldn't have. I am hung-over af and can't wait to leave the office.
congrats Bob. Just seen the results of L2.. Impressed.
Waiting on my #2 & #3 exam scores for the CPA exam right now, it's killing me....I know not CFA, but the waiting game sucks the same
congrats bro
Thanks man, just locked up a new job as well so I am exiting stage left on PWM before it sticks. No offense.
hey man, it's not for everyone, do you bro
Passed Level I, 5 topics >70, 4 topics between 70 and 50, and 1 topic 50. Now on to the next level
Congrats!
Unfortunately, I didn't pass my L2. Wondering if I should retry or focus on applying for business school.
Hell no.
You've surrendered O(300-500) hours of your life to the CFAI. Don't surrender another 600 (L2+L3).
Again, I think people underestimate how much time 600 hours is. For a quant, that's 1/4 of a full-time year.
Get into scuba diving and either discover and explore some new wrecks or get a cave cert. Then get some photos published in a magazine. THAT will get you into Booth or Northwestern, not the CFA.
I feel like you're trolling. Anyone pursuing a career in fundamental equity research (whether for a bank, independent research firm, mutual fund, or hedge fund) should definitely pursue the CFA. It's basically a requirement. OFC I would rather not spend another 600 hours studying for this damn thing but it's what must be done.
I passed Level II! Q# Topic Max Pts =50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 - * - - corporate finance 36 * - - - Derivatives 36 - * - - Economics 18 * - - - Equity Investments 54 - - * - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - * - Financial Reporting & Analysis 72 - * - - Fixed Income Investments 36 - - * - portfolio management 18 - - * - Quantitative Methods 36 - * -
what study materials do you recommend using?
Passed level 1. 8/10 over 70%, none under 50%. CFAI materials, Kaplan materials and hella mock exams.
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