Need some Opinions on CFA

Jobs & Careers
305
What has happened to this thread? Only questions and no answers.
The thread leader have run after facing music on June 4 L 1. I knew it in advance.
Lets keep this thread alive without the leader



I've been following this thread for a while now. Havnt posted much after my L1 exam, thought i`ll take out time properly when i`m free and write more detailed posts later. but seeing this pest back to his antics has forced me to reply.

Babu, if you have nothing better to do with your life than to poke your nose into other people's business, then you really need to see a therapist. The way you turn to personal attacks, and this is definitely not the first time you`ve done this, shows your own lack of sense and intelligence. Just because the tongue doesn`t have a bone, doesn't mean you go around wagging it like that.


in case others are wondering why i`m being particularly harsh here, check out some excerpts of this pest from some other threads:



What makes you to give oversmart statements ? Where you stand at this juncture in specialised finance field? Are you a CFA AIMR charterholder? Are you a investment banker on wall street ? Are you a ICFAI vice chancellor where you know the university and its courses and pen down fatuous words.

What do you think about CFA AIMR. Are you thinking you will clear june 2006 level 1, then pass level 2 in june 2007 and finally bang level 3 in june 2008? Registering in mid february for june examinations and that too with a non commerce background -Is that making you oversmart


You might have increased India's current account deficit balance by transferring Indian currency in foreign account but we are not here to read misleading, irrational, repungance,bad purport discussions.


You are too stupid.Apart from decreasing India's BOP by debiting 'Invisible Private transfer', your simple stupidity made a hole in your pocket too
You should have registered for December exam. Simple common sense !. Go and face the music in june.I know it in advance what the results are.


All said and done, this one post sums up the reason for such behaviour:


i took a break from industry and then started again in US voice based collections because i thought may be i worked very hard in first call centre job and lets try for second time. No use. Again quit and now currently listening to one of US customer abuse while writing this in my third call centre job within 2 years. Good money but horrible life.
Its suffering. Pure suffering. Some times i just want to vomit before entering my call centre premises. Body is paining. Its low value added job and burnout comes after reading same script again and again at 2: 00 a.m in night . Money is good, facilities good but life productivity goes down with call centre. Abuses lowers confidence and you feel disgruntled.
Some thing is wrong fundamentally with call centre.Big problem with voice based project is abuses and night shifts.



Babu, if you are pissed with your life, this is clearly not the thread for you to vent out your frustrations. If you've failed and you want to feel better by watching others fail, then you're only making yourself a bigger loser. Please find some place else to get your kicks. this place is for serious people with serious things to discuss about. You are not even worth our time and attention.
306

Hmm. Now that that's done, CTD, how about if you gave us some gyan on how the June L1 was, and how much, in retrospect, seems to you would've been a good amount of prep for L1?
For context, I was initially gunning for this December's L1, but quickly banished the thought after several weeks of little to no prep. June '07 is the current target.
Thanks!

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Dear CTD,

Its okay mate . Dont take things too seriously 😃


All the best for your L 1 results.

Cheers,

308

Any body interested in sharing the books or want photocopie plz call me at 09888235195,bye.

309
vineetkumar Says
Any body interested in sharing the books or want photocopie plz call me at 09888235195,bye.



Vineet,please do not post ur cell no.. its against rules of the forum.
if u have some material to sell,do it on e-bay.its good for all parties concerned.
310

hey phoenix u frm delhi r u taking ny tutions 4 level 1.

311
Hmm. Now that that's done, CTD, how about if you gave us some gyan on how the June L1 was, and how much, in retrospect, seems to you would've been a good amount of prep for L1?
For context, I was initially gunning for this December's L1, but quickly banished the thought after several weeks of little to no prep. June '07 is the current target.
Thanks!


I think it's better I'll start posting as and when i have time than to wait for the time when i can pen down a 10,000 word essay that no one wants to read! So here goes....

Overall, my CFA L1 was disastrous! But as bad as it went, i'm gonna keep hope alive until the results come in about 2-3 weeks and be positive. Plain, simple, straigt-forward advice: DO NOT TAKE THE CFA L1 LIGHTLY. This is NOT your regular school/college exam where you can study and cram for a coupla weeks and then vomit it in the main exam and pass. If you dont have a commerce/eco background or work ex, ou need at least 6 months of consistent preparation with 2-3 hours every single day and full time studies on the weekends. i studied very sporadically. i started in full force in december 2005, which tapered off by feb. Then picked up some speed around late feb and tapered off again around april. I hardly studied in May and by then it was too late. The ideal time to prepare for a newbie is about 8-9 months, assuming he has a job and can snatch a coupla hours here and there. for students (who can devote much more time for studies), i think it'll be ideal to study for 6 months consistently.

the biggest problem i faced was recalling/remembering concepts. There is just SO MUCH to learn...it`s really vast. Even if you study hard, your memory might fail you...there was stuff that i had studied, and i was so confident that i KNEW it well...but i couldn`t recall something as fundamental as a formula or a shortcut. I stared at some problems so helplessly coz i couldn`t recall what the concept was, or i spent way too much time on some problems coz i went long way calculating coz i didn`t remember the formula. the only solution is to devote the last one month exclusively for revision, and not go in for anything new in that period.

secondly, i focussed a lot on the textual and conceptual part of the topics and didnt focus so much on the application part. if you study from the prescribed textbooks, each topic is covered in dozens of pages of pure text...no applicaiton, no problems, nothing. CFA asks you to APLLY these theory concepts to solve numerical problems. So do not get satisfied if you feel you've read thru the text and "understood" everything. You HAVE TO know how to solve problems and apply concepts. this is where schwesers, stalla, prep material, etc comes handy. I should have made my studies more exam focussed rather than purely academic.

Thirdly, the calculator! You must be fluent with it...it's quite a complicated peice of machinery! learn to do all that jazzy techno stuff with the calcy and be fluent with it. Input cash flows, calculate IRRs, NPVs, amortization values, etc. This stuff can be done manually as well thru regular arithmatic operations, but knowing ho to use the hi-tech functions of the calcy can save a lot of time.

Fourthly, you have to prioritize and allocate appropriate times to each topic. For example, accounting and asset valuation forms a big chunk of the paper, and for a person without accounting background, it takes ages to get used to the concepts. in contrast, topics such as portfolio management and derivatives are easy to understand, fun to study, can be completed quickly, and carry very little weigtage in the exam. So pick and choose your topics accordingly and prioritize them well. i spent way too much time studying simple topics with low weigtage and rushed thru heavyweights such as accounting.

As for study material, i feel one should try and study from as many sources as possible. I mean, you shouldn`t restict yourself to only schwesers or only textbooks. Schwesers is good from exam point of view...it gives you actual exam questions, application based questions, and problems. but it condenses important concepts and presents them very briefly, so it`s difficult to understand such concepts for a newbie. On the other hand, standard books give you no exam based training and present concepts in plain text...you might understand the concept thoroughly, but may not be able to apply them if you study only from textbooks. A good strategy would be to keep both side by side and study in parallel, referring to textbooks each time you dont understand something in schwesers. Obviously, such a strategy will require a lot of time...6 months along with a job may not be sufficient to implement such a strategy.

that`s all i can think of now. if you have any specific questions, i`ll try and answer those. best of luck!

PS: mojo, i think your style of writing, the flow of language, and word choice is very impressive...not to mention the perfect punctuation!! (i tend to notice such things a lot!)
312

@CTD: I have followed this thread since it started and I am sure there are many here who have been trying to follow your example. About your exam, I am sure it must have been hard to manage along with your job, but what stood out was your optimism and persistence. So, here is wishing you all the best for your results. Hope you make it through!! :grin: :grin:

313
I think it's better I'll start posting as and when i have time than to wait for the time when i can pen down a 10,000 word essay that no one wants to read! So here goes....

Overall, my CFA L1 was disastrous! But as bad as it went, i'm gonna keep hope alive until the results come in about 2-3 weeks and be positive. Plain, simple, straigt-forward advice: DO NOT TAKE THE CFA L1 LIGHTLY. This is NOT your regular school/college exam where you can study and cram for a coupla weeks and then vomit it in the main exam and pass. If you dont have a commerce/eco background or work ex, ou need at least 6 months of consistent preparation with 2-3 hours every single day and full time studies on the weekends. i studied very sporadically. i started in full force in december 2005, which tapered off by feb. Then picked up some speed around late feb and tapered off again around april. I hardly studied in May and by then it was too late. The ideal time to prepare for a newbie is about 8-9 months, assuming he has a job and can snatch a coupla hours here and there. for students (who can devote much more time for studies), i think it'll be ideal to study for 6 months consistently.

the biggest problem i faced was recalling/remembering concepts. There is just SO MUCH to learn...it`s really vast. Even if you study hard, your memory might fail you...there was stuff that i had studied, and i was so confident that i KNEW it well...but i couldn`t recall something as fundamental as a formula or a shortcut. I stared at some problems so helplessly coz i couldn`t recall what the concept was, or i spent way too much time on some problems coz i went long way calculating coz i didn`t remember the formula. the only solution is to devote the last one month exclusively for revision, and not go in for anything new in that period.

secondly, i focussed a lot on the textual and conceptual part of the topics and didnt focus so much on the application part. if you study from the prescribed textbooks, each topic is covered in dozens of pages of pure text...no applicaiton, no problems, nothing. CFA asks you to APLLY these theory concepts to solve numerical problems. So do not get satisfied if you feel you've read thru the text and "understood" everything. You HAVE TO know how to solve problems and apply concepts. this is where schwesers, stalla, prep material, etc comes handy. I should have made my studies more exam focussed rather than purely academic.

Thirdly, the calculator! You must be fluent with it...it's quite a complicated peice of machinery! learn to do all that jazzy techno stuff with the calcy and be fluent with it. Input cash flows, calculate IRRs, NPVs, amortization values, etc. This stuff can be done manually as well thru regular arithmatic operations, but knowing ho to use the hi-tech functions of the calcy can save a lot of time.

Fourthly, you have to prioritize and allocate appropriate times to each topic. For example, accounting and asset valuation forms a big chunk of the paper, and for a person without accounting background, it takes ages to get used to the concepts. in contrast, topics such as portfolio management and derivatives are easy to understand, fun to study, can be completed quickly, and carry very little weigtage in the exam. So pick and choose your topics accordingly and prioritize them well. i spent way too much time studying simple topics with low weigtage and rushed thru heavyweights such as accounting.

As for study material, i feel one should try and study from as many sources as possible. I mean, you shouldn`t restict yourself to only schwesers or only textbooks. Schwesers is good from exam point of view...it gives you actual exam questions, application based questions, and problems. but it condenses important concepts and presents them very briefly, so it`s difficult to understand such concepts for a newbie. On the other hand, standard books give you no exam based training and present concepts in plain text...you might understand the concept thoroughly, but may not be able to apply them if you study only from textbooks. A good strategy would be to keep both side by side and study in parallel, referring to textbooks each time you dont understand something in schwesers. Obviously, such a strategy will require a lot of time...6 months along with a job may not be sufficient to implement such a strategy.

that`s all i can think of now. if you have any specific questions, i`ll try and answer those. best of luck!

PS: mojo, i think your style of writing, the flow of language, and word choice is very impressive...not to mention the perfect punctuation!! (i tend to notice such things a lot!)


Hi CTD. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us as it would be very useful for many new CFA aspirants.
As of your results are concerned, be positive and Godswilling you will clear your CFA L1 soon.
wishes,
Anand
314

ALL d best 4 ur result CTD . thnkx 4 d info.

315
vishalg Says
hey phoenix u frm delhi r u taking ny tutions 4 level 1.

Yes,Vishal. I'm from Delhi. Not taking any tuitions for level 1 though.
316
I think it's better I'll start posting as and when i have time than to wait for the time when i can pen down a 10,000 word essay that no one wants to read! So here goes....

Overall, my CFA L1 was disastrous! But as bad as it went, i'm gonna keep hope alive until the results come in about 2-3 weeks and be positive. Plain, simple, straigt-forward advice: DO NOT TAKE THE CFA L1 LIGHTLY. This is NOT your regular school/college exam where you can study and cram for a coupla weeks and then vomit it in the main exam and pass. If you dont have a commerce/eco background or work ex, ou need at least 6 months of consistent preparation with 2-3 hours every single day and full time studies on the weekends. i studied very sporadically. i started in full force in december 2005, which tapered off by feb. Then picked up some speed around late feb and tapered off again around april. I hardly studied in May and by then it was too late. The ideal time to prepare for a newbie is about 8-9 months, assuming he has a job and can snatch a coupla hours here and there. for students (who can devote much more time for studies), i think it'll be ideal to study for 6 months consistently.

the biggest problem i faced was recalling/remembering concepts. There is just SO MUCH to learn...it`s really vast. Even if you study hard, your memory might fail you...there was stuff that i had studied, and i was so confident that i KNEW it well...but i couldn`t recall something as fundamental as a formula or a shortcut. I stared at some problems so helplessly coz i couldn`t recall what the concept was, or i spent way too much time on some problems coz i went long way calculating coz i didn`t remember the formula. the only solution is to devote the last one month exclusively for revision, and not go in for anything new in that period.

secondly, i focussed a lot on the textual and conceptual part of the topics and didnt focus so much on the application part. if you study from the prescribed textbooks, each topic is covered in dozens of pages of pure text...no applicaiton, no problems, nothing. CFA asks you to APLLY these theory concepts to solve numerical problems. So do not get satisfied if you feel you've read thru the text and "understood" everything. You HAVE TO know how to solve problems and apply concepts. this is where schwesers, stalla, prep material, etc comes handy. I should have made my studies more exam focussed rather than purely academic.

Thirdly, the calculator! You must be fluent with it...it's quite a complicated peice of machinery! learn to do all that jazzy techno stuff with the calcy and be fluent with it. Input cash flows, calculate IRRs, NPVs, amortization values, etc. This stuff can be done manually as well thru regular arithmatic operations, but knowing ho to use the hi-tech functions of the calcy can save a lot of time.

Fourthly, you have to prioritize and allocate appropriate times to each topic. For example, accounting and asset valuation forms a big chunk of the paper, and for a person without accounting background, it takes ages to get used to the concepts. in contrast, topics such as portfolio management and derivatives are easy to understand, fun to study, can be completed quickly, and carry very little weigtage in the exam. So pick and choose your topics accordingly and prioritize them well. i spent way too much time studying simple topics with low weigtage and rushed thru heavyweights such as accounting.

As for study material, i feel one should try and study from as many sources as possible. I mean, you shouldn`t restict yourself to only schwesers or only textbooks. Schwesers is good from exam point of view...it gives you actual exam questions, application based questions, and problems. but it condenses important concepts and presents them very briefly, so it`s difficult to understand such concepts for a newbie. On the other hand, standard books give you no exam based training and present concepts in plain text...you might understand the concept thoroughly, but may not be able to apply them if you study only from textbooks. A good strategy would be to keep both side by side and study in parallel, referring to textbooks each time you dont understand something in schwesers. Obviously, such a strategy will require a lot of time...6 months along with a job may not be sufficient to implement such a strategy.

that`s all i can think of now. if you have any specific questions, i`ll try and answer those. best of luck!

PS: mojo, i think your style of writing, the flow of language, and word choice is very impressive...not to mention the perfect punctuation!! (i tend to notice such things a lot!)



Hi,CTD. I hope you get through Level-1.
I've some friends in USA who took the exam & they inform me that instructors of various prep courses are of an opinion that the cut-off is expected to be in high fifties to low sixties.
The reason being that the English used in the exam was quite tough. And this may lead to lower scores from non-english speaking candidates. The non-english speaking candidates form a higher percentage of top 5% scorers from which the cut-off scores are derived.
Did you notice any such thing (ie. hard english being used)?
317

queries if some 1 can answer pls..

1.Being an IT Pro..(bout 2 yrs of work-ex--Domain Banking) how difficult it is for me to crack CFA (currently having not much knowledge of Finance........)

2.Wat r the job prospect if i clear my CFA.
Will i be taken at the entry level or my earleir work ex would be counted..
Also wat would be the profile and package like after tat.

3.Also if i do my CFA ,by time will hav a work - ex of 4 + yrs.Can doin my MBA 1 yr offered by IIIM A IIMC ISB n likes will help me get a big break in the Finance industry..

Will my banking domain work - ex help..

318

hey phoenix wats dis cutoff thing .isnt dere a fixed passing percentage or marks like 75/100 dat is considered passing .

319

Are there any CFA (Aimr) Classes in Bangalore. If so can anyone give me the details!!

320

Hi CTD.Hello People.
I am a 21 years old commerce graduate and pursuing CFP.
I want to appear for CFA June 2007.

1. Can anyone please advice at what month of the year shall i start looking for CFA books for June 2007 as i want the latest material.
( Assuming current material for CFA December 2006 might be subject to change. )

2. I want to pursue my post graduation in finance but not able to make it to good B schools. My query is very straight forward.

Which is better? MBA(finance) from ICFAI or Ms(finance) from a top UK university.

Sorry for the second question as it does not fall within the scope of the topic of discussion of this thread but still any help from kind men will be anticipated.

321

Overall, my CFA L1 was disastrous! But as bad as it went, i'm gonna keep hope alive until the results come in about 2-3 weeks and be positive. Plain, simple, straigt-forward advice: DO NOT TAKE THE CFA L1 LIGHTLY.
................
.......................

that`s all i can think of now. if you have any specific questions, i`ll try and answer those. best of luck!

PS: mojo, i think your style of writing, the flow of language, and word choice is very impressive...not to mention the perfect punctuation!! (i tend to notice such things a lot!)


Agree totally with CTD.
I also took the exam in June... and my only suggestion is .... DON'T flag anything as unimportant....

The biggest misktake I did was overlook Ethics and GIPS. Overlook in the sense that I thought, " What's the point in revising them when they are more or less about common sense?"

Consequently .. the usual suspects for the toughest parts of the paper viz. Financial Statements Analysis and Investment Instruments were not a problem for me at all cz I had revised it at least thrice.

Ethics on the other hand came as a huge huge surprise for me.

Tip : Use Prof. Aswath Damodarans website. http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/ . He is a prf of finace in NYU andhas posted his lessons online.
322
vineetkumar Says
Hi its vineet again if anybody wants to know anything regarding cfa u can call me at 09888235195,bye.


Hi Vineet
this is Niraj here m interested in the material but how to get it as i m from delhi
323

hey wats dis cutoff thing .isnt dere a fixed passing percentage or marks like 75/100 dat is considered passing .plz can ny1 reply on this??

324
Hello everyone
anyone who is doing CFA or looking to do CFA should click on the link below to join the only mailing group for CFAs with so many members.
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFA-ICFAI-UNIVERSITY/
tr
hmm so everyone.. what are you waiting for. you can ask your problems, share material, solve queries, share files, make friends & much more..the place may even help you in placement sometime in future
regards
Sumit Gupta


Dude, This is CFA thread for cfainstitute candidates . ICFAI CFA and CFA US are different in terms of scope, content and structure !


I am anxiously waiting for CFA L 1 june 2006 results as i want to hear from one of my dear friend how he performed 😃