CFA Program

[dachinesedude]

Anyone in it or done it before? How difficult is it? I was looking at the past exam results, and in 2009 only 34% of the people passed the december level I exam, which is just scary to know.

Any insights would be nice!

[van_driver]

I believe there is someone on revscene that has done this and posted about it.
I'm also planning on doing it but three 6 hour exams scares me!

[Mentar]

I took Level I in December and passed. You're correct that only 34% of the people that took the exam passed. The program covers a lot of material and requires commitment, but it is worth the sacrifice in the long run as it is highly regarded in industry.

[jackmeister]

if you studied accounting/finance in university it is pretty much everything you learned + a little more

if you dont have that type of background.. you will need to learn a shitload

[Salzuberg]

I'm also considering taking the CFA program, has anyone of you taken the program offered by Stalla? They seem to cover all the material, but I just wanted to know if that is enough for someone without an accounting/finance degree...

[j3welz]

Originally Posted by Salzuberg

I'm also considering taking the CFA program, has anyone of you taken the program offered by Stalla? They seem to cover all the material, but I just wanted to know if that is enough for someone without an accounting/finance degree...

My friend took level 2 recently, and he said Kaplan is much better than Stalla, granted he did his accounting/finance concentration at SFU.

The study program itself is definitely not enough if you don't have any accounting or finance foundation. The level of material covered is quite in-depth and broad (even for level 1) such as economics, financial reporting, and finance theory to ethics and derivatives. It's 6 textbooks just for the level 1 exam.

[Salzuberg]

Originally Posted by j3welz

My friend took level 2 recently, and he said Kaplan is much better than Stalla, granted he did his accounting/finance concentration at SFU.

The study program itself is definitely not enough if you don't have any accounting or finance foundation. The level of material covered is quite in-depth and broad (even for level 1) such as economics, financial reporting, and finance theory to ethics and derivatives. It's 6 textbooks just for the level 1 exam.

Is there anything you/your friend can recommend before taking the course(since I'm not in finance/accounting)? cuz I want to make the best out of paying ~$1500 for those courses

[j3welz]

Originally Posted by Salzuberg

Is there anything you/your friend can recommend before taking the course(since I'm not in finance/accounting)? cuz I want to make the best out of paying ~$1500 for those courses

I'd say go to the library and checkout a few introductory microeconomics, financial accounting, and finance textbooks to at least familiarize yourself with some terminology and basics.

Make sure to do all the problems in the study guide and understand them. Give yourself lots of time to absorb the material and take it all in, don't just start studying like a month or two before the exam. You need at least 4 months. Lastly, read the ethics book thoroughly, it's one of the trickiest topics on the exam.

The exam itself is all multiple choice, but very tricky as oftentimes there will seem to be more than one correct answer. They tell you to choose the best one, which can be difficult.

[van_driver]

Originally Posted by Salzuberg

Is there anything you/your friend can recommend before taking the course(since I'm not in finance/accounting)? cuz I want to make the best out of paying ~$1500 for those courses

$1500 for the whole CFA program?

[sexyaccord]

Originally Posted by van_driver

$1500 for the whole CFA program?

yes , plus books and materials, ~ 2-3k