1. Yes it is very much possible. In fact the CFA institute recommends at least 250 hours of study for each level, which should easily be manageable alongside work. Most people pursue CFA alongside their MBA or other degrees and jobs.
2. Most people start with CFA to move into finance, though it is not as easy as it sounds(as you might have read in previous innumerous posts). So assumption is that the person is from a non-finance profile while he is pursuing CFA (which is perfectly fine). But if you can manage a finance/business analysis kind of profile, nothing better than that.
3. Yes it is. Many opportunities are there, but mostly in Mumbai. There are Investment banks, Brokerage firms etc. But outside india, specifically in the US the opportunities are many.
4. When you register with the CFA institute for an exam, they provide you with the study material. So you really wouldnt have to study outdated material. And yes, there are always slight changes to the curriculum every year/every exam. So it is better to study with the updated material(even though there would not be huge differences in the curricullum).
Thanks
Thanks for the reply. I know the previous posts must be having this but could you please tell me the cost of registration for this course? And is all the study material included in registration or do we require to go through additional material? Is there a special calculator as well!!
Thanks for the reply. I know the previous posts must be having this but could you please tell me the cost of registration for this course? And is all the study material included in registration or do we require to go through additional material? Is there a special calculator as well!!
Here is the link to CFA Institute fee page: Fee Schedule
There is a one time registration fee and subsequent exam fee. All the study material is included in the registration fee(for all three levels). But calculator, you need to but yourself separately. Two Calculators are permitted in the exam - Texas Instruments BA II plus (professional as well) and Hewlett Packard 12C
Usually the study material provided by CFA Institute is considered bulky, so many candidates refer either Schweser or Stalla notes which are available at esnips.com in the form of ebook pdf's. You can also find addresses of book shops in this thread where you can purchase their hard copies.
You should go through the CFA Institute website in detail before you sign up for an exam so that you know about the course and exam well.
Hi, Probably this question lies in the mind of many Software Professionals. Can anyone please share some info if there really is some benefit in doing a CFA when you are working as a Senior Software Engineer in an IT industry? Precisely, I wanted to know that will CFA be counted as a worthwhile addition in my profile, being a software engineer. Thanks Alok
Thanks for your reply Amit. The actual thing is I am not considering a long term career in Finance, as of now, but yes do have a zeal of working for the development of IT in financial giants like JPMC & ML. Will a CFA be given a heed over there?
Well it would help you for development of IT in finance since you have good domain knowledge of finance.. but what i feel is it's not worth going for CFA if after completing you still want to develop software.. CFA would require enormous amount of time and quite a good amount of money to complete the course.. Probably with your experience of software development you can get in one of those financial giants like JPMC and actually work on the finance side rather than the development side...
This is what i feel..
Thanks for your reply Amit. The actual thing is I am not considering a long term career in Finance, as of now, but yes do have a zeal of working for the development of IT in financial giants like JPMC & ML. Will a CFA be given a heed over there?
Hi Guys, I am in my final year of B.COM. I will be pursuing CA. I was also thinking of doing CFA. Guys plz tell me which are the institutes who offer a CFA degree in India. Is it just ICFAI by government regulation. What do you think is the worth of the CFA degree from ICFAI. I can't pursue the CFA degree by CFAinstitute US 'coz I think that would be tuff as I wouldn't much time as I will be pursuing CA which as you know is a tuff nut to crack. Do you people think that a CFA degree from ICFAI would be a good value add-on to my profile if I manage to become a CA.
Hi Guys, I am in my final year of B.COM. I will be pursuing CA. I was also thinking of doing CFA. Guys plz tell me which are the institutes who offer a CFA degree in India. Is it just ICFAI by government regulation. What do you think is the worth of the CFA degree from ICFAI. I can't pursue the CFA degree by CFAinstitute US 'coz I think that would be tuff as I wouldn't much time as I will be pursuing CA which as you know is a tuff nut to crack. Do you people think that a CFA degree from ICFAI would be a good value add-on to my profile if I manage to become a CA.
Thanks Deep Jain
In India, CFA is only offered by ICFAI. It is equivalent to Masters in Finance. It will add to your profile only if you want to make a career in asset management, research analysis or related field. If you want to make a career in the core areas of CA like Tax and Audit, it is not really required. For more info on CFA from ICFAI refer this thread: http://www.pagalguy.com/discussions/chartered-financial-analyst-cfa-from-icfai_hyderabad-25014266. Hope this helps.
@ Nadeem I am taking these questions on the forum for the benefit of all. I hope u dont mind.
1) Would 6 months preparation be enough for L1? Is it a tough exam to clear?
People having a commerce background have an edge over the engineers, in the sections like Financial statement analysis. As far as my opinion goes, u can clear any level of CFA if u study for 6 months. Usually 2-3 month prep is good enough to clear the exam.
2) How many subjects do we have to study? How many papers do we have to appear? (Sorry, I couldn't find this on the site, or maybe it's just my eyesight)
There are 10 main sections to the paper. Ethics, quantitative ability, economics, financial statement analysis, corporate finance, equity valuation, fixed-income valuation, derivatives valuation, alternative investments, and portfolio management.
3) Will it be an advantage, when I apply for an MBA to have cleared any/ all of the levels? Was it so in your case?
Yes, it is a big advantage if u have cleared CFA exams before your mba. 1. you can easily comprehend the subjects in mba. 2. I-banks, and private equity recruiters prefer CFAs
HI, Can freshers go for CFA after graduation. Somewhere I saw it written that 4 years of exp. is mandatory!
Yes you can go for the exam anytime you want. but u can get the charter only after 4 years of relevant work ex. People usually take the exams while working.
Now that the L1 dec exam is approaching i would like the veterans to come forward and help us newbies about the do's/dont's of the exam. How should one approach the exam, how important is time and whether one gets ample time to complete the exam or should one browse through questions and attempt his/her strong areas? Also which all topics are included in the morning session and in the afternoon session? If somebody can post his/her success story and real time exam experience, then it would be very helpful for many people like me. Expecting a reply soon.
hi, i m a engineer from nsit and planning to take cfa l-1 in june 09... I ve a few queries...they maybe redundant but plz answer them anyways....plz 1.I m planning to take cfa in june 09 followed by level 2 in june 2010.Then i'll go for an mba n complete the third level during my 2 years at mba.Is that a good strategy...experienced guys plzzz help me out.
2.wat is the difference between the job oppurtunities for a cfa who ha s completed his level3 but has not got a charter compared to the guy who has got a charter(4 years relevant work experience)..plz do explain in context to jobs in India also.
3.Are there any centres in India?
4. Do we need to submit any proofs of our graduation ,schoolin et al? If yes do we need 2 submit the originals?
5.Plz enlighten on the jobs for cfa's in india...how much pay can i expect and which companies recruit for wat profiles?
6.Are the books i get after registration by cfa institutes enough or do we need more books...if yes plz give us da links or the location of shops we can access \em from(i live in south delhi).Heard alot bout schrewster notes....plz elaborate(only for cfa 09)
7.Will it benefit me in my gd/pi for b-schools that i've cleared l1 and will b appearing for level 2 soon.
8.How difficult it exactly is??? i'll start studyin soon and at the max will be able to put in 2 hrs daily with 5-6 on weekends...how much crammin is rewuired(i suck at that)...
CFA is only regulated by ICFAI in India by which CFA charter can only use in India. You can't use CFA charter in US.
As you are going for CA, Doing CFA alongwith will be quite tuff for you. You wont be able to do both things as CFA needs very rigrous preparation. I'm also doing CFA from ICFAI, & believe me their exam needs serious & hard preparation.
I'm doing CFA from ICFAI. As I'm working in a ICICI Bank, m not getting so much time to prepare for the exams.
After taking admission in CFA in Jan'08, I've given exams of Group-A for 2 times. but it was not cleared. Difference was always of 3-5 marks as 55% aggregate are required to pass the exam.
Now I'm going to plan exam for Jan'09 but I think my preparation is not upto the mark. So,can u suggest me some tips for my L1, i.e Economics & Financial Accounting.
Now that the L1 dec exam is approaching i would like the veterans to come forward and help us newbies about the do's/dont's of the exam. How should one approach the exam, how important is time and whether one gets ample time to complete the exam or should one browse through questions and attempt his/her strong areas? Also which all topics are included in the morning session and in the afternoon session? If somebody can post his/her success story and real time exam experience, then it would be very helpful for many people like me. Expecting a reply soon.
Thanks
@ puys taking level 1 this december
DO's and Donts
First things first, please ensure that u have your admit card, govt issued icard and the calculator. U can start with the section you are most comfortable with. Leave the ethics portion for the last as it requires a perso to think a lot. Try to finish the other questions in 2 hours max. Use the next half an hour to solve ethics, and check ur answers in the last half an hour. Theres usually ample time, so dont panic and attempt the questions carefully. The topics in the morning and afternoon are same. Its just that they might ask a different question from the same topic. I would say,please attempt as many mock papers as possible. Try to get hold of schweser pro, its a software that has a qbank of 5000 questions. It helps a lot. Also practice as much ethics as possible. I took level 1 in june 07. I found it pretty easy and was able to correctly attempt arnd 105/120 questions in both the sessions. Dont leave any questions as theres no negative marking.
Take something to eat with u, as there isnt much time between the exams to go out and buy stuff. Prepare well, all the best
