CFA Study Group

[AnnaKish]

Hi,

I am a banker. I am looking at some courses to upgrade myself and am seriously considering the CFA course. Can someone give me feedback on how good the course is? And how much efforts and time does it involve to complete the course?

[anjin-san]

From what I can gather it is an excellent qualification that really displays your skills. Highly recommended, and I will probably do it in the near future as well.

The only thing is that the study is left completely up to you, and it is tempting to put the study off 'until later'. Had a friend just sit for it in Sydney. A 6-hour exam, but in his opinion, if you've done your work you should be alright.

What kind a banking do you do AnnaKish?

Pat

[Boon]

If u intend to do CFA to boast up yr market value, then I advice against it. CFA is so common nawadays especially in banking field, and there are thousand of ppl taking it every yr. My feel is the exam is getting very commercialise.

However, if you taking it to upgrade yrself, then I vote for it. Bcos it is a cheap course as compare to MSc or BSc, but it does required great deal of self discipline. It also covers quite a wide area, but I find it useful if u r in investment field in banking area (treasury or asset mgmt)

Hope it help

[anjin-san]

You're right Boon. Many people do sit for it, but the pass rate on the other hand is low. This makes it a qualification you truly earn, more so when you consider the fact that bankers working 80+ hours a week have to find time to study as well.

[AnnaKish]

Hi,

Thanks Pat and Boon for the inputs.

But its kind of confused me now. Isn't CFA good for both upgrading self and to improve one's saleability in the job market. What kind of efforts would be required for completing the course? Is self study good enough or special training would be required?

I am in private banking-- relationship manager. But i would like to change my field into investment analysis or risk management.

[anjin-san]

Personally, I think the CFA satisfies both aspects you mentioned. I know of one person who sat and passed CFA Part 1. He did it wholly through self-study.

However, it may or may not be suitable for someone without a moderate accounting/finance background. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but if you haven't a background in finance, perhaps you could consider a Masters degree? There is a reason the failure rate is so high.

Best of luck AnnaKish, and best wishes.

[charlene_yy]

is thr any school tat prepare u for the CFA papers? or muz ownself self study???

[anjin-san]

From what I can gather, the CFA was meant to be a professional self-study course, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

People form study groups, or pay to attend CFA prepatory courses. Don't know if there are schools per se, but you will find plenty of places online offering help.

Best of luck Charlene!

[AnnaKish]

Hi Charlene ,

I have one institute that provides training for the CFA cousre and i heard its a good one. The website is www.stalla.com

Good Luck

[Kimi]

A friend passed it while still enrolling in his master course, so yeah even without taking a course one can pass with self-study and that would require a lot of discipline. But anjin is right too in pointing out that there is a reason why the passing rate is low.
But the way I see it, unless one is really being a slack, at least what s/he studies to prepare for the exam, is going to be that person's knowledge and it can be used in practice as well, isn't it?
Plus in times when it comes to marketing yourself, one might have the knowledge but don't have the ability to really "market" oneself, so it does depend on the situation, esp. on the interview...

Heard that the textbooks between last year and this year's exams are covering different topics for about 25%, anybody heard anything similar?

Well, if we're going to have a study group, why not having it online?
I used to have something similar for my Chinese course. Some people asked questions they had and others who know what the answers are replied on what they know.

First question then?
Why in Capital Asset Pricing Model approach to calculate the cost of retained earnings, in some analysis or some analysts would choose the long-term T-bill rate instead?
Are there any special cases to apply the long-term T-bill rate instead? Such as?

Second question:
Say you have an equation of
0 = -10*n^4 + 5*n^3 + 4*n^2 + 3*n +1
I think I was studying in high school there is a formula for finding the n even though it's not an integer number but I can't remember what the formula is.
Please note that n is actually 1/(1+IRR).

Cheers in advance.