CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Exams

REBELGAA82

Hi Folks,

I am thinking of doing the CFA Exams and was hoping to get some feed back from anybody who is doing or has done them! I hear they are and i quote "ficious". Have been reading through the manuals in the libruary for the last few days and the quantity looks unreal i must say! i know this is a stupid question but is it neccessary to read through every single page or just the main points in each chapter?

I have a commerce degree, aiti tax exams and qfa's behind me. I wouldnt say my maths is excellent by any means and was wondering if this will kill me when doing them?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

woodseb

they are a serious amount of work alright, you will need to read the guts of most books but most people use preparatory material from providers like schweser that condense the course down.

maths isn't really a huge part of it, quant only takes up about 10% of the first two levels and most of it is managable enough

dunkamania

Finished them a couple of years back. Ficious seems an appropriate term to describe them. Well worth it though.

I never used the official notes, neither did any one esle i knew that was doing it. I used the schweser notes instead. The schweser notes cut out alot of the non-essential material, so was about two thirds the volume of the offical notes. Even then, you have to know what to spend time on and what to skim over. Some sections have a huge amount of material, but low number of points for them. Start doing practice questions early, the exam is as much about learning the exam question style, as it is about learning material.

Its not a very mathsy exam, if you are comfortable with percentages etc, you should be fine. Its more a question of logic, and knowing which numbers in the question go where. Good luck

Mr_Roger_Bongos

dunkamania wrote: »

Finished them a couple of years back. Ficious seems an appropriate term to describe them. Well worth it though.

Can i ask if your using the qualification in your job role? Or just from an investment analysis perspective?

pocketdooz

Work load is serious.

Use the notes as stated above.

If you have a 2.1 or higher in a B.Comm you should have no problem with levels 1 and 2 anyway.

Best of luck.

.

barbie_j

hi all! I m thinking the CFA exam now. do I have to buy the books from their on-line shop? where can I buy the notes? I basically knowing nothing about the CFA exams//

EriT

Thinking about doing these myself im currently in my 3rd year of a 4year part time honors Degree in Financial services undecided as to do the MA in Financial services which is said to cover 70% of the CFA's first or to just go straight into them

woodseb

barbie_j wrote: »

hi all! I m thinking the CFA exam now. do I have to buy the books from their on-line shop? where can I buy the notes? I basically knowing nothing about the CFA exams//

when you sign up for the exams you automatically get the ciriculum mailed to you which is a 5/6 books with various readings. These should cover the whole course but many also buy material from providers such as schweser who break the course down into more manageable chunks

EriT wrote: »

Thinking about doing these myself im currently in my 3rd year of a 4year part time honors Degree in Financial services undecided as to do the MA in Financial services which is said to cover 70% of the CFA's first or to just go straight into them

have a look at the level 1 material and see if you could do it now alongside your college work - if you can then great cos having level 2 by the time you are finished college would be a great advantage - though be aware you won't get the designation until you've had 4 years relevant working experience

barbie_j

hi all!! did you all get ebook or print?? the only available test centre in Dublin this year is June.. I m thinking its maybe too late for me to start from now on.. I have a master degree in Electronic Engineering, and also I am a part-qualified accountant. Not really have much finance background to be honest.

Do you think it is too late for me to do the exam this year or I should just do it and try my best ???

**Portia**

Hi All,

Would be so grateful for any and all advice!

I have been working in Fund Administration (TA/shareholder services) for the past 4 years and am considering starting the CFAs. I have a few qs...

1. What are my career prospects like if I had this qualification considering my work experience. Would I have much chance of getting a job as an analyst.

2. What salary could I expect to start on taking my experience into account and having passed all three CFA levels

Would really appreciate any advice - CFA's are a big commitment I need to know if it will be worth it!!!!

EriT

**Portia** wrote: »

Hi All,

Would be so grateful for any and all advice!

I have been working in Fund Administration (TA/shareholder services) for the past 4 years and am considering starting the CFAs. I have a few qs...

1. What are my career prospects like if I had this qualification considering my work experience. Would I have much chance of getting a job as an analyst.

2. What salary could I expect to start on taking my experience into account and having passed all three CFA levels

Would really appreciate any advice - CFA's are a big commitment I need to know if it will be worth it!!!!

I am in the same situation nearly four years in finance/TA and looking to do my CFAs but I have a year left in an honours degree in finance which I do in the evenings

whysomoody

barbie_j wrote: »

hi all!! did you all get ebook or print?? the only available test centre in Dublin this year is June.. I m thinking its maybe too late for me to start from now on.. I have a master degree in Electronic Engineering, and also I am a part-qualified accountant. Not really have much finance background to be honest.

Do you think it is too late for me to do the exam this year or I should just do it and try my best ???

No it's not too late by any means. If you are committed to it then 3 months is enough for Level I.

There isn't really the option to skip anything, plain and simple hard work is needed, but it's pretty interesting stuff..

**Portia**

EriT wrote: »

I am in the same situation nearly four years in finance/TA and looking to do my CFAs but I have a year left in an honours degree in finance which I do in the evenings

And are you planning on doing the CFAs after. What kind of career prospects do you foresee?

dunkamania

**Portia** wrote: »

1. What are my career prospects like if I had this qualification considering my work experience. Would I have much chance of getting a job as an analyst.

2. What salary could I expect to start on taking my experience into account and having passed all three CFA levels

1. Your career prospects are better with it, but analyst jobs are still scarce. The CFA wont get you there on its own, you should be looking to network through the CFA organization as much as possible, and look for a job closer to front office, if you cant get an analyst job straight away. There are alot of ppl doing Level 1, less doing level 2, and few doing level 3, so the farther you get, the more you will stick out from the crowd.

2. In general, analyst jobs go to graduates, which means starting salaries could be less than your currently earning. The fact that you have 4 years of experience in TA, would be unlikely to affect your salary. If you had all three levels of the CFA, this would probably be a different story, although ideally, you should have an analyst job before you finish all 3 levels.

SBWife

You also need 4 years experience in an investment role. The CFA Institute is pretty specific in it's work experience requirement.

"Evaluating or applying financial, economic, and/or statistical data as part of the investment decision-making process involving securities or similar investments, which includes, but is not limited to, publicly traded and privately placed stocks, bonds, and mortgages and their derivatives; commodity-based derivatives and mutual funds; and other investment assets, such as real estate and commodities, if these other investment assets are held as part of a diversified, securities-oriented investment portfolio;

Supervising, directly or indirectly, persons who practice such activities;

Teaching such activities."

EriT

**Portia** wrote: »

And are you planning on doing the CFAs after. What kind of career prospects do you foresee?

Yeah thats the plan anyways all going well finish my Degree May 2012 and sit the CFA level one December . Would love to get into fund management eventually probably start off in an analyst role I understand options are not great in Ireland but there is always London or New York ( I'm an american citizen)

mac123

barbie_j wrote: »

hi all!! did you all get ebook or print?? the only available test centre in Dublin this year is June.. I m thinking its maybe too late for me to start from now on.. I have a master degree in Electronic Engineering, and also I am a part-qualified accountant. Not really have much finance background to be honest.

Do you think it is too late for me to do the exam this year or I should just do it and try my best ???

Its not too late, I signed up for the level one in Sept last year and I sat and passed it in Dec. It was alot of work...but worth it. Im doing the level two now for June this year, again alot of work.

Practice questions are key.

barbie_j

where did you guys get CFA Calculator?? ebay??

mac123

barbie_j wrote: »

where did you guys get CFA Calculator?? ebay??

Im in Canada, got the TI one from a local office supply place. Its about half the price of the HP one.

vangough

SBWife wrote: »

You also need 4 years experience in an investment role. The CFA Institute is pretty specific in it's work experience requirement.

"Evaluating or applying financial, economic, and/or statistical data as part of the investment decision-making process involving securities or similar investments, which includes, but is not limited to, publicly traded and privately placed stocks, bonds, and mortgages and their derivatives; commodity-based derivatives and mutual funds; and other investment assets, such as real estate and commodities, if these other investment assets are held as part of a diversified, securities-oriented investment portfolio;

Supervising, directly or indirectly, persons who practice such activities;

Teaching such activities."

Thinking about doing them as well. I have 2.5 year fund accounting experience. Does this fall under the requirements?

soddy1979

vangough wrote: »

Thinking about doing them as well. I have 2.5 year fund accounting experience. Does this fall under the requirements?

Hi, yes if you are publishing a NAV this should be acceptable work experience. You should check it out with CFA Institute though.