CFA qualification

JTL

Not sure if right forum so feel free to move if necessary..

Do any readers have this qualification? And if so can they give me some more information on it and how it has benefited their careers?

My current employers offer financial assistance to staff members who want to study for it so I'm starting to do some research.

Any opinions, comments welcome.

Thanks all.

Clauric

JTL wrote: »

Not sure if right forum so feel free to move if necessary..

Do any readers have this qualification? And if so can they give me some more information on it and how it has benefited their careers?

My current employers offer financial assistance to staff members who want to study for it so I'm starting to do some research.

Any opinions, comments welcome.

Thanks all.

Just some quick information about the CFAs and where to find further information. For Ireland, the basic start point is the CFA Ireland website and their Facebook page. That will get you the information on how to sign up, fees, etc.

From having Sat the CFA level 1 exams and ding the research before hand, the following stand out:

+ there are 3 levels of exams. Level 1 sits in December, and all three sit in May.+ exams are 3 hours long, with 180 multiple choice questions for level 1. There are two exams to complete on the same day.
+ cost is about €1,800 for books, fees, calculator (needs to be one specified), etc.
+ pricing depends on when you sign up, but the earlier you pay your full fee, the chapter it is.
+ time required is rather large. It is suggested (on various websites) that you need between 15-20 hours a week, every week, and that you should give yourself a year per level.
+ the pass rate from level 1 to level 3 is about 16%. I.e. 16% of people who sign up for level 1 finish level 3. This is wise than most actuarial exams/courses.

I hope this helps.

Clauric

JTL wrote: »

Not sure if right forum so feel free to move if necessary..

Do any readers have this qualification? And if so can they give me some more information on it and how it has benefited their careers?

My current employers offer financial assistance to staff members who want to study for it so I'm starting to do some research.

Any opinions, comments welcome.

Thanks all.

Just some quick information about the CFAs and where to find further information. For Ireland, the basic start point is the CFA Ireland website and their Facebook page. That will get you the information on how to sign up, fees, etc.

From having Sat the CFA level 1 exams and ding the research before hand, the following stand out:

+ there are 3 levels of exams. Level 1 sits in December, and all three sit in May.+ exams are 3 hours long, with 180 multiple choice questions for level 1. There are two exams to complete on the same day.
+ cost is about €1,800 for books, fees, calculator (needs to be one specified), etc.
+ pricing depends on when you sign up, but the earlier you pay your full fee, the chapter it is.
+ time required is rather large. It is suggested (on various websites) that you need between 15-20 hours a week, every week, and that you should give yourself a year per level.
+ the pass rate from level 1 to level 3 is about 16%. I.e. 16% of people who sign up for level 1 finish level 3. This is wise than most actuarial exams/courses.

I hope this helps.

BizzyC

If you can stick it out, having CFA will be very beneficial to your career if you work in the right area (given your employer will provide assistance for it I'm assuming it's relevant).

It is a very tough course though, what they also don't state in the above stat of 16% of people completing is that the majority of those 16% have repeated at least one year.

If you're only considering doing it because it's free and you think it will boost your CV, don't bother.
It will be something that will require you to put all of your spare time into if you're going to succeed.
If you're going to do it, give it 100% or you will be guaranteed to be one of the 84%.

1huge1

Best of luck to everyone taking the Level 1 on Saturday (myself included), all I can say is, do not sign up to the course lightly, it requires more work than you will ever expect.

Not impossible, but the volume to learn is immense.

freeze4real

I have not signed up for the CFA but I have the CFA curriculum for level 1. Are we expected to cover all the chapters and pages in the curriculum.

I just opened chapter 1 Ethics and Quants, its less than 1000 pages. And the remaining five chapters are similar.

1huge1

freeze4real wrote: »

I have not signed up for the CFA but I have the CFA curriculum for level 1. Are we expected to cover all the chapters and pages in the curriculum.

I just opened chapter 1 Ethics and Quants, its less than 1000 pages. And the remaining five chapters are similar.

I don't believe it is possible for anyone to cover the entire CFA curriculum from their own notes, everyone I have spoken to that have done the exam (myself included) studied the Schweser notes.

https://www.schweser.com/cfa/level-1