Which topics from CFA Books

Hi, My query is for which topics should one refer to Curriculum Books rather than Scheweser for understanding the Concepts.I am a Chemical Enginner with no background in finance. I have read Fixed Income from Curriculum book and found that it clears the concepts in a much better way than Scheweser. I don’t remember by mugging.I remember by understanding the concepts.

Really depends on your time to spare. Id recommend (with no finance/accg background): FSA (hard to grasp accg for the first time using schweser imo) Fixed income (as youve done) Ethics - definately The rest like eco, equities, corp finance derivs you can probly learn enough to grasp the basic concepts with schweser.

FSA - definitely. I have a similar background to you and I think the CFA books are invaluable. It’s much easier to understand new concepts with ample examples and context (both of which Schweser sorely lacks). Quant - Just use schweser. You’ve probably learned all the material except TVM in undergrad. Maybe use CFA for reference in formula derivation. Econ - I liked schweser. But I had previous exposure to economics. That’s how far I am.

Thanks that was helpful.

I’m a chemical engg too… but have read quite a few books on finance. What do you do with your degree?

I’m an Eng Phys grad and got a job as a quant, hurray for me. Have to work my ass off on the CFA if I want to have a future in finance though.

I am MBA Finance,I have intentions to take CFA level I exam in June 2009, could somebody please tell me how much time I should give from October 2008 onwards till June 2009 for 100% success and whether I should start preparation through CFA Course or from Schwerser Note. I’m confused as CFA notes are in so much detail, which I may not be able to cover. If at all I cover CFA Course books even then I am not sure whether I would be able to retain all at the time of Exam, I also know that CFA course is the best source for exam and somebody told me that if you want 100% success use CFA Course. Please help me to resolve this problem as this is the first step towards CFA, if wrong then have no time to repent.

I’m starting in October as well and my plan is to start reading the CFA books on weekends in a sort of a relaxed way (breezing, taking a few notes and doing a few exercises, with plenty of time on my hands, checking out weak/strong points) until more-or-less February. There I’ll make an assessment on my progress and race through the rest. It’s at this point that I want to start using Shweser (being more condense and exercise-prone) we’ll see if just on weekends or not. This way I won’t loose fundamentals that might just be on the CFA books, nor will I forget anything for starting that early. Dunno if this is the BEST system or not, but I think it applies to my type of studying, maybe yours’ as well. Cheers