CAIA Level 2 and CFA Level 2 in Spring 2015

CFA Level II
#1

Second post on this forum (first was the same-sorta post in the CAIA Section) although i’ve been an avid follower of both the CFA and CAIA sections.

I just passed the level 1 CAIA exam along with the level 1 CFA exam in June 2014. I thought both were relatively easy and put in about 100 hours for CAIA and 200-250 hours for CFA.

I’m contemplating sitting for CAIA Level 2 in March 2015 and CFA Level 2 in June 2015.

I value the CFA above the CAIA and don’t want to risk not having enough time to study for level 2 but was hoping to get it all out of the way so I could enjoy the summer and partially/potentially improve my career prospects. I may also take the GMATs Fall 2015 as well.

I was wondering here if anyone had done this before and if they could talk about their experience with it. Is there a lot of overlap/too little time to study for both?

Thanks in advance for the help!

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#2

Bad idea.

Instead, focus on the June 2015 CFA Level II exam, then sit for the CAIA L2 exam in September and the GMAT in January.

#3

Thanks for the advice L2_Again. I talked to several people in the office as well and they said to just focus on CFA Level 2 and take CAIA L2 in September so I will do that.

#4

I passed CFA level 1 very easily. I am stuck on CFA level 2.

#5

Or, skip CAIA entirely and focus on the GMAT. CAIA is a relatively useless designation.

#6

^ already halfway…may as well finish

#7

I did it…it was fine and I passed all 5/5. CFA L1 (June '12), CAIA L1 (Sept '12), CAIA L2 (March '13), CFA L2 (June '13), CFA L3 (June '14)…if you want to do it…then do it. You can take GMAT in the Fall if you want as well, I ended up taking it January '14. I work in PE currently…employers like people who are hungry and its not so much the designation that will get you there but if you take on a lot of stuff like this at the same time with a full time job it shows your dedication and may get you an interview for a legit finance job. In PE and other legit finance jobs, people value the hunger more than knowing something useless like the highest yielding type of timber (eucalyptus), in addition to experience, which you cant get without the job, so this kind of stuff helps. I’d say go for it if you want…don’t be a p*ssy…people will tell you not to because they couldnt hack it, but if you want to do it, just know it can be done.