Has anyone taken this and passed. How hard is it? How much studying do you need to do, etc? I am taking in a couple weeks. Started studying late, but just curious about others thoughts.
Curious what is CFA good for? Is it sort of like CPA where you have a lot of requirements? Is it easy to find jobs if you have it? I am curious because if that is a good option, I might tell my wife to work towards that.
Certified Financial Analyst. Its good to have if you want a job managing money. Not like selling Securities and the licenses that you need. I heard it was really difficult.
The CFA Chartered Financial Analyst designation is comprised of three exams over the course of three years (though they began offering 2 annual Level I exams last year). The first examination is all informational. It is a huge amount of information and needs quite a bit of preparation. I would suggest a Stalla Seminar that over a week goes through what you should focus on. Know the AIMR Code of Ethics VERY well. It will be covered thoroughly. The second exam is informational and portfolio analysis and the third is all portfolio analysis. A CFA designation is for those who wish to be equity analysts, portfolio managers, investment banking or investment management. Its a wonderful designation that is worth the time and effort.
My limited understanding as well. I would hate to make a living picking stock portfolios that beat the SP500 index, though. That said, CFA is a hard designation to obtain and there appears to be a job market for CFA certificants.
Analysts and porfolio managers do more than attempt to beat the S&P 500. It truly depends on the risk tolerance of a portfolio. Most portfolio managers follow a strategy of their fund and in accordance with their risk tolerance. There are funds and investment managers from the various hundreds and thousands of sectors and genres of funds. Many deal with not just stocks but bonds and other investment instruments. I believe an MBA is more well-rounded and more respected outside of strictly investment finance, but the CFA is more investment finance intensive than an MBA. Having both would be even better.
All in all, the only downside for someone with a business background like me in taking the exam is the cash outflow required...which can add up, but isn't that much. So, even if the designation gives me minimal reward, it is still probably worth it in regards to its value in continuing education / refreshing my education. FD - I know the ethics is a major determinant of pass/fail. Have you taken it? Would you suggest actually buying the ethics book, or shoudl the information provided in the reviews and study guide programs I have gotten be enough? Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time to prepare as I would have liked (taking the test Dec. 3rd), but hopefully I can wing some of the more pure finance aspects - which I theoretically should know!
Most funds have their performance listed right aside some passive index or another. Beating said index year in and year out means the actively manged fund provides an investor with an advantage over just going with the low cost index fund. Beating the index will attract investors. More money in the fund makes the analyst's employer very happy and the analyst's salary will reflect this. Restating performance matters. Performance is judged by peers and a passive index, if appropriate. This is a factor in how an analyst will be graded in their job performance.
I am taking Level 1 in December. I have my FSA (I am an actuary) and the exams are not nearly as rigorous as actuarial exams. I started studying a few weeks ago, and I can pretty much study most of the day from here out. While I don't need my CFA, the investment firm I work for places a lot of value on it. Unless you have an MBA, they expect you to pursue it. Let me know how is goes. BTW. The Schweser notes are very helpful.
If you have a finance undergrad or grad education, Level 1 will mostly be a review. That being said, I would by the Schweser notes and start reading ASAP, because it is a lot of material, and some of that stuff may not come back to you during an all day timed exam. The ethics stuff is the most important part of the exam. When i took it, the study notes were sufficient for level 1. Supposedly after Level 1, within the past couple years, they started putting things on the test that were only in the books and not in the notes. That being said, the people that told me that still passed comfortably.
