Need some Opinions on CFA

Jobs & Careers
1624

hello guys...anyone who has completed cfa level 1 in june can supply m with the study mat and the schweser nots for dec 2008...would b very grateful..cheers

1625
Required downloadable link of following book
Economics by parkin
1626

Got some pm's regarding the lead time for preparation, suitability, CFA with MBA etc.
The lead time for preparation is entirely upon you. However I feel that people coming from a non-finance background should religiously prepare for at least 2 months. People who've already done the same stuff in MBA can take it easy/create a schedule for themselves. (all this has been said for L-1)
On a personal front, I couldn't follow the study schedule I had a chartered for myself, and this was due to unanticipated pressure at work :D
I'm sure this would've happened to many others as well, so the trick here is to plan for these gaps.

Many people are able to give CFA levels during their MBA's and the time that you spare from your schedule depends on your b-school/electives etc... so I can't really comment on whether you can give 1-2 levels during graduation. Having said that, I feel that giving CFA during December in your first b-school year is quite tough as you've to grapple with the mba curriculum, summer placements and CFA. Do keep this in mind when you make a CFA schedule for yourself.
Yeah... and there's no correspondence CFA course.
Hope I addressed most/all of the queries I got as PM's.


Cheers and ATB to everyone in their CFA prep's/results.


Vivek

1627
Hi i sumit . new member of this community

I hv always been intrested in Finance ........ i did B A hons in Business Eco at my graduation level in 2006 . Now i want to do CFA or Ms finance ..... just hv Bit of knwoledge of these cources . plz help me . want to know which one is better course , level of difficulty,, future prospects ...............

i cleared my graduation in 2006 n dnt carry good work exp . 1 year exp in call cntr . n 7 months in standard chartered Bank........... how to get enrolled for these course n what difficulty can i face in doing this course kindly help me:dontgeti:



hi
ur problem same as i was havin so i can try to help u buddy.........chk ur pvt msg i have dropped some imp info for u which will surely help u a lot as it is tried and tested by me......
thanks
1628

HI All,
I am preparing for Level 1 for Dec 2008.
I wanted to know about some specific area to concentrate on.
As of now i have completed FSA,Economics,Quant and Fixed income.
I wanted to know from the LEvel 1 June wali Junta as how to go about revision and practise test.

Thanks,:cheers:
Avi

1629

Dude..
revision:x
You have almost done the thing ,u have covered maximum percentage..
Why not u take these things all over again..:clap:
i think u were relaly fast..by the way when did u start ur preps and wat r u doing..
i guess it would be a very good idea atthis stage if u prepare /start revising with taking the "Previous years"practice papers..so that in speciific u willl get to know wat all areas further u need to dig out..all i said if i had been at ur position which ..:banghead:

..i seriosuly want to know when did u start ur preps and also wat notes are u reffering ..it would be great help for beginers ..



HI All,
I am preparing for Level 1 for Dec 2008.
I wanted to know about some specific area to concentrate on.
As of now i have completed FSA,Economics,Quant and Fixed income.
I wanted to know from the LEvel 1 June wali Junta as how to go about revision and practise test.

Thanks,:cheers:
Avi
1630

Hi Abhishek,
I started my preparation in March, as i will not get much time after July.
I am working with HSBC, and i have to go to UK for 3-4 months from July.
I will not be able to spend any time during my trip as They will make me work 12-14 hrs a day(like bounded labour).. :{.
This is the only reason, i started early.
I have read only Schweser notes and i do not plan to read any other material .. not even CFA notes . as a very good friend of mine said "it's a good read" but important thing is i choose not to read it.
I am aiming only pass the exam..
Passing is imporatant for because MY employer will refund exam fee only if i pass, otherwise i will have to pay from my pocket(which i already have :eyepop:).
Let us all make this thread more active and useful.
:cheers:

Avinash




Dude..
revision:x
You have almost done the thing ,u have covered maximum percentage..
Why not u take these things all over again..:clap:
i think u were relaly fast..by the way when did u start ur preps and wat r u doing..
i guess it would be a very good idea atthis stage if u prepare /start revising with taking the "Previous years"practice papers..so that in speciific u willl get to know wat all areas further u need to dig out..all i said if i had been at ur position which ..:banghead:

..i seriosuly want to know when did u start ur preps and also wat notes are u reffering ..it would be great help for beginers ..
1631

I posted this in an Orkut community. I hope its useful to someone here.

I attended the exam in Nepal. Exams started and ended sharply at correct time.

I feel I have done well. Lets see.

I would say they tested the basic fundas to the core. They did not touch advanced fundas much. If one had read the books well and thoroughly, it would have definitely been easier. Solving a few qp's would have given an idea. CFAI mocks for 100$ resembled the main exam though main exam was easier than CFAI mocks. Schweser mocks were unnecessarily tough and did not focus much on the "basics" part whcih CFA tested. Numericals were very less in main exam. Second session was slightly more difficult than 1st. I found ethics tricky in 2nd.

I would definitely say that if one prepares and is willing to slog (to remember the many concepts) it is a passable exam. If one takes it lightly and skims thru the text (schweser), you may lose out on a few qns.

I thought the most deadly questions in ethics were those were we have to identify the type of violation. 4 options were given and one of them least likely violated it. One really had to know the fundas in ethics to crack those. I already am discounting 10/36 questions in ethics since they were awesomely tricky.

I felt schweser Q Bank of 3300 questions is a much better practice ground. It tests your basics in a much better way than the book 6/book 7 exams of schweser. Book 6/ Book 7 is olympiad type of stuff which will help to understand concepts if you have time to spend on those. If one does not have time to study and does only book 6 and book 7, opportunity cost is too high. Its worth spending 100$ on the mocks. But if they dont give the mock papers to review after completing exam (they dont give as of now, so there is no way you can see the questions once test is over,only solutions can be seen), its a bit futile.

Some more points which I did not post in Orkut for PG junta:

1. Be patient while reading the questions. Dont rush thru it. Some are deceptively easy and are easy except for a word or 2 in the question. Like "annual" instead of "semi annual". "This year" vs "next year". Assuming this wrongly will give wrong answers. I made some 5-7 mistakes like this.

2. Don't skip any topic unless you don't have time. They more or less tested everything.

3. As engineers, sometimes we may concentrate more on formulas and look at theory as cut-the-crap. Dont do that. If reading from schweser, better go thru the whole text book, each line. Its just 5 books and not too tough.

4. Also, remember things these way: There will be many things in schweser which would be like: There are 3 types of .... There are 5 reasons why.... There are 6 types of risk. They are.. There are 3 types of probability.. etc Or They may not specifically quote like There are n types of... But it would be implicit in the passage. There may be some 2-5 types of things.

Remember these very well. Each point you can remember thru some code word or something. EPS, FLISKKS or whatever/however you feel like. But dont just skim thru those parts. You will find so many of those in each subject, including quants. Write them down somewhere in short form. It helps. We had many questions which were theoretical this way.


5. FSA: The SS8 and SS9 is considered tough. 2 days before the exam I made some notes which helped me.

SS9:

I drew some tree diagrams/flowchart kinda stuff. Like FIFO-> Less COGS-> More Net Income-> Better profitability. Also like DDB-> More depreciation->Less assets->Higher ROA and types.

This helped to understand how everything is linked.
I drew 1-2 tree diagrams for each topic like inventory, capitalizing etc

Also, next part is understanding restatement of financial statements when:

- Converting FIFO between LIFO
- Capitalizng vs expensing
- Operating lease was capital lease etc
- whatever to whatever

They will ask questions like if you change one from another how will it affect:

1. Balance sheet
2. Income statement
3. Cash Flow

Schweser would have given one paragraph which is lengthy while revising and you will forget soon. So, make notes of how they affect with 1-2 lines.

e.g. FIFO to LIFO for COGS (Income statement):

COGS FIFO = COGS LIFO - Change in LIFO reserve

(We got the above equation as a question but worded as a sentence)

It helps. Make such notes for each area in SS9.

SS8:

Same stuff. I/S and B/S may seem more easy when compared to Cash Flow. Please don't leave Cash Flow. Study that. There will be an example in CFAI books. Note down the formulas from that. Its very conceptual to remember too.

1632

BTW, I have no idea whether I will pass. So, am technically not qualified to advice anyone. But thought, the above wont fail anyone. 😛

1633

i gott the answer

1634

Hi people...

I have 2 years IT experience now., and going in for MBA marketing (since i could not get finance). Will CFA certification enhance my profile, or is it going completely out of line...?

Thanks

1635
Hi people...

I have 2 years IT experience now., and going in for MBA marketing (since i could not get finance). Will CFA certification enhance my profile, or is it going completely out of line...?

Thanks

completely out of line i would say, the material has nothing to do with marketing......
1636
Hi people...

I have 2 years IT experience now., and going in for MBA marketing (since i could not get finance). Will CFA certification enhance my profile, or is it going completely out of line...?

Thanks


CFA is Chartered Financial Analyst. It 100% wont help in marketing. Forget CFA, even MBA wont help much in marketing.
1637

hey bro

I've enrolled myself for the cfa programme. Have you cleared the level 1? I'm appearing from bangkok i guess for now... thanks

siddharth

1638

Hi Everybody,

I have been reading all the 164 pages for the past week. Must admit that this thread has really been very informative.
I still have a small doubt.
I am in TYBcom (Exam to be held in Mar-Apr 2009). Can I give the level 1 in Dec-08 and level 2 immediately in June 2009? (the results of Bcom are usually out in first week of june 2009).

1639

HI tmonu123,
CFA institute webpages, minimum critia for appearing in Level 1 exam as 16 year of school education or graduation in candidate's country.
Which in your case will not be possible as u will be giving final year exam in March-April 2009(if u want to appear for Level 1 in Dec -0.
Although this is on self certification basis .i would still suggest u to not take any risk by registering for dec 2008.
This is my personal opinion. u may disagree.

Cheers,
Avinash

Hi Everybody,

I have been reading all the 164 pages for the past week. Must admit that this thread has really been very informative.
I still have a small doubt.
I am in TYBcom (Exam to be held in Mar-Apr 2009). Can I give the level 1 in Dec-08 and level 2 immediately in June 2009? (the results of Bcom are usually out in first week of june 2009).
1640

HI, i AM A fRESHER, DONE WITH MY GRADUATION IN COMMERCE IN 2007.Also appeared for M-com I. Jus waitin for admission in Full- time Mba thru Cet.( probably mite land up in top col of mumbai) I plan to pursue Cfa but have minimal idea about it. i read few pages here & found them really useful. My query is: i plan to do Mba in finance/ &; H.R.... Can i simultaneously pursue Cfa? From where should i do it? How should i go about it? As of wht i read i undrstnd tht Mba in finance wud be at same level with Cfa.. so wht shud b my course then? Can both be handled together? Also i hav no work-ex & nil Knowledge about depth of Finance.... Plz Reply &; help me... If ans lies in the threads do notify me... i newaz wil read the entire thread as soon as possible...

1641

Look ...if you are interested to be in financial markets ,you can pursue CFA ..and CFA is much deeper than MBA finance also it will give you an edge over other MBAs ,that apart MBA HR and CFA has no correlation

1642

hey bro

nice tht u have great interest in cfa. Have given my TYBCOM in 2008, result awaited. Bro... bcom in itself is very time demanding, you will not b able to handle it all, n defenitely not along with cfa. Cfa is a thing tht needs full, complete and sole attention, u cant prepare it with other things.

Having done the research on it, I can gv u a sound advise, u can give the dec exam of cfa with ur best inputs, starting now. immediately after the dec exams get on to b.com prep. but never mix them. this way u'l b faring well at both the sides. At the stage of level 2 u r reqd to show evidence of being a graduate. so wait till ur a graduate. but ur worth after L1 will b 4-5L pe annum, which is excellent, and unmatched.

So in a nutshell, prepare for L1 cfa dec attempt, give ur bcom (u wunt b eligible for L2 unless ur graduate) u can only appear for L2 in 2010. awrite!

njoy, cheers!

Hi Everybody,

I have been reading all the 164 pages for the past week. Must admit that this thread has really been very informative.
I still have a small doubt.
I am in TYBcom (Exam to be held in Mar-Apr 2009). Can I give the level 1 in Dec-08 and level 2 immediately in June 2009? (the results of Bcom are usually out in first week of june 2009).
1643

Can anyone pls post the link for CFA L2 quick sheets, Question Bank Pro and Secret Sauce