CFA® War Stories

this is pushing it...

Some war stories here.. I myself studied myself into a near coma for Lvl 1 in about 1.5 week and managed to pass quite nicely with all >70% (although I just finished a MSc. in Finance, so that did help tremendously). I just came out of Lvl2, the first part classifies as 100% war, where the afternoon session I found a bit more laid back. I studied a LOT more for this level and still am not confident whether I passed or not.

The saddest story I know happened today, where my friend figured out his ID was gone and he couldn't enter the exam. Studied like a mad man for it...

I've heard about how easy it can be to take level 1 after finishing a master's degree. It's pretty great that each section of the exam (except for ethics) pretty much matches up with all of the classes you take in a finance program.

wait a second, if you're taking the test today did you seriously just post this shit during the lunch break? lmao.

Anyway, I forgot something and couldn't sit. Know of other people who have done similar. This was in December. Was such an awful experience I couldn't get myself to throw 700 again for June and am now considering Dec again. What it comes down to is I'll prob end up doing L1 eventually cuz I hate having "unfinished business", besides that it'd b a waste of hundreds of hours and $2k if I dont. I'm prob gonna b done after that though. I just feel like studying for the CFA to work in finance is analogous to studying college level calculus to pass a basic arithmetic test.... brutally overkill imho

Edit: disregard that first statement... I forgot the "international" nature of this site

Does the CFA level 1 have any bearing in MBA admissions? I have a 700 GMAT, but I was wondering if this would enhance my application or just be a waste of time for me. I do not plan to go into PWM.

The 2nd calculator that I braught with me was some regular Sharp calc.

I did not use it and the lady cleared me at the entrance w/ it.

5 min later, some bitch came and told me that the Sharp calculator was not allowed and that she had to write an infraction report on me.

I don't know what was holding me back to pop her f*cking eye out w/ my HB pencil.

i showed up late cause i was in jail the night before, wearin a wife beater covered in paint but lucky one of the questions was what would u say if some1 showed up 2 the cfa wearin a wife beater and i wrote in "he must be wearin some fly as spants" boom automatic pass tru story

No idea but either way, fuck the CFA. There was close to 2000 people only in Montreal.

It is not worth it anymore IMO.

Montreal's the bomb dawg. I always have fun there.

True dat though....so many people taking CFA these days. What's the next hot flavor gonna be?

Not something related to Finance, that's for sure.

In London they put you in these huge halls and they have these garage door's that shut the entrance 30 min before the exam, anyway its not unusual to see someone sliding under the doors Indiana Jones style with under a minute to go.

well the CFA is meant for working professionals... it's not designed to help you break into the industry. There are MBAs, networking and various undergraduate degrees / universities for that.

Anyone who says the CFA is not worth it likely doesn't have the ability/discipline to do it. Ignore them. If anything... record numbers are indicative of the designation becoming a new minimum requirement.

http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2008/07/chartered-financial-banalyst/

If you're taking the exams because you think it will be your ticket into KKR, or Bridgewater then you're not doing it for the right reasons (although there are several Charter-holders at Bridgewater)

To put some numbers on this.. there are currently 149,000 "Candidates" from 168 countries according to the CFA Institute. Most of these guys won't end up becoming CFA Charter-holders simply due to their inability to pass the sequence of exams. Never-mind all of those who will give up or end up leaving finance / never entering finance.

Last year's CFA Exam Pass Rates (June 2011): Level I: 39% Level II: 43% Level III: 51%

Keep in mind, there are roughly 100,000 CFA Charter-holders globally. This number grew about 10% or so from the previous year, which is kind of representative of the pass rate of all 3 levels.

Is is useful for your career?

If you're in ER, AM / Fund Management or aspire to a higher level at an institutional investor (pension funds, etc...) or to be an advisor to such institutions then it is pretty much essential to your career progression. You'll look deficient if you're not a Charter-holder unless you have a finance related masters / MBA.

If your job is in risk management or in an area where you have to deal with portfolios and multiple asset classes then the CFA programme would be useful. The guy sitting next to me at this year's exam was in risk management at a large energy company and was also looking to move to the team that is responsible for managing their pension fund.

If you're in M&A / investment banking, private equity, venture capital or other area where business development skills and affiliations / networks are the key driver of your job then the CFA won't be required for your career progression in those roles.

The key thing is for you to understand why you are doing it and have realistic expectations of what is can do for you. For me it makes sense as I've been in the industry for several years and I'm not certain about whether or not I'll do a finance related masters in the near future. It's not required for my career progression within my current role, but it allows me to both acquire and benchmark my finance knowledge and skills. It's good to understand finance beyond the limited silo of your product / market segment. I don't see how you can be a good equity investor without understanding fixed income at a basic level, how you could aspire to invest globally without understanding the hedging, currency and economics implications of doing so or how you could aspire to manage a multi-asset class firm without understanding portfolio management. The CFA covers this an more.

It's also pretty good to see a professional qualification take ethics in this industry seriously. We can argue about the institute's approach, but it is good to see more than lip service.

It's a respected qualification within investment management and among buyside professionals. It's also good for networking among buyside folks.

HOLY fuk at these numbers.

Apparently the results for level II are out July 24th.

Abdel, I can't see how the CFA Institute investigating why you broke their exam rules = "only shows how of a farce this whole CFA thing is"

wait for their verdict first.