Don't blow this whole CFA thing out of proportion!

[klaudnine]

He’s somewhat right but he didn’t have to be so uncouth about it. Having CFA won’t make you a good investor all it does is giving you the basic knowledge to do so and signal to employers your work ethic. Still it’s a nice thing to have to since it is hard-earned and respected in general.

[kaveh_nobari]

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@Greenman72

@kaveh\_nobari

Seriously! No one gives a damn, and tell you what, it won’t make a drastic difference to your career. I have never met anyone who is getting a *much* bigger paycheck solely cause of the charter (there are always exceptions and outliers, but with that logic you could argue that investing in a lottery is just as worth). It is merely good for your self-esteem and a bit of recognition in the industry, that’s it! I am working as an investment analyst and I can tell you of the number of CFA charterholders I meet on a daily basis who are useless fools! I am fed up with a lot of these non-sense posts I see on this forum. Who the hell cares? If I ever see one more retarded “how many hours did you study” or some useless post like that, I will cry. I genuinely will :D!

I’ve said this once before and I’ll say it again! In 100 years when you’re dead, your grandchildren will not remember or give a damn about your charter. Hence, better concentrate on good deeds and accumulating wealth for next generations of mini yous! Rant over!

Sounds like somebody did poorly on their exam and now wants to pooh-pooh it in order to make themself feel better about their pending failure.

That being said, how many hours did you study for the exam?

Actually did pretty well thank you very much! Of course with an exam such as CFA you can’t tell with certainty if you actually passed. But I am positive. As I already said, I did not mean to offend or give negative vibe. I genuinely feel my post is more positive than negative. I passed CFA level 1, as well as FRM level 1 and 2 on first attempts, and while I don’t know with certainty whether I will pass level 2 or not, I have a good feeling about it! What about you Green man? Are you not the guy who always tries to put people down after they recieve results (and find that they failed) and push them to give up? Are you not the guy who acts like a superior being for having passed all 3 levels, even though you have failed twice yourself? So please do not speculate on how I did! My point was, let’s take it easy! I know I am repeating myself but I didn’t have a bad intention when writing that, I just tried to say there are more important things in life to worry about. Whether I will pass or fail I don’t know, but I have a good feeling about it.

Be aware OP.

You are challenging CPA+CFA+MBA +Series 7(Greenman sir) into a fight…

I don’t think someone’s value or competence is based on the number of letters they have after their name! Anyhow I have no intention of fighting anyone…

[kaveh_nobari]

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@princeton2

I think the reason every one engages in this useless banter - is because they are bored waiting. I want to know if I have passed or not, mainly because I want to get on with something else - I have started doing the CQF which really is a mickey mouse and yet very expensive exam that is totally disregarded by the industry - but it is something I want do. However, since I don’t know whether I will be taking level 2 again or not I can’t really focus on the CQF and feel stuck in limbo.

I’m sure for all the contortions the CFAI claim they go through - they only have one variable to adjust - and the since the results are machine graded they could bang them out in a couple of weeks - however making us wait is part of the ceremony and enhances the mystic of the process and serves to imbue the CFA with some kind of grandeur.

Another thing someone at the CFAI has done a bit of linear programming to optimize the revenue from the CFA process. Think about it:

(i) The MPS has to be set so has to preserve the credibility of the exam whilst attracting enough people to take the exam.

(ii) The reason level 1 is so much easier than level 2 is to lure you in – like the guy giving you your first bag of crack free.

(iii) The reason there are two sittings for the level one – is to maintain the flow of candidates in to level two, failing at the first hurdle you are less likely to try again if you have to wait a year because you have less invested in the process.

I did the FRM a couple of years a go there was a complete dissection of the exam prior to the results being released, using a hive mentality the corpus was able to recall virtually every question and collectively agree the correct answer – not always pleasant reading but at least it passed the time while we waited.

One final thing…. The guy who did the analyst of the 40/60/80 rule in 2012 and matched that against whether people passed or failed (very interesting work by the way)…. Based on the results he reported 80% of the people who posted a result passed. Occasionally I see smug comments from AF posters about how the pass rate amongst AF’s is higher than that of the population of exam takers as a whole – I can’t help but think that the real reason is probably selection bias. If I pass I will tell everyone, if I fail I may fail to mention it to most people.

Any way good luck and I hope you enjoyed my useless banter as much as I enjoy yours. P.S. best thread was about the guy who met a girl at the exam – that’s what I call multi tasking.

Princeton what is your take on CQF? Is it worth doing the program? I will be doing mt Ph.D in quant finance in September 2015 and wish to get a strong background first! However, CQF is very expensive and I wonder if it is worth doing it.

I don’t think CQF will be better than FRM.Since you already have FRM you don’t need CQF.

But in FRM I didn’t see any signs of stochastic calculus, PDE, Stochastic processes, etc applied to asset pricing! The level of maths wasn’t much more intensive than CFA (apart from maybe the econometrics part of it). Hence, why I am intereste in the program.

[system]

@kaveh\_nobari

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@princeton2

I think the reason every one engages in this useless banter - is because they are bored waiting. I want to know if I have passed or not, mainly because I want to get on with something else - I have started doing the CQF which really is a mickey mouse and yet very expensive exam that is totally disregarded by the industry - but it is something I want do. However, since I don’t know whether I will be taking level 2 again or not I can’t really focus on the CQF and feel stuck in limbo.

I’m sure for all the contortions the CFAI claim they go through - they only have one variable to adjust - and the since the results are machine graded they could bang them out in a couple of weeks - however making us wait is part of the ceremony and enhances the mystic of the process and serves to imbue the CFA with some kind of grandeur.

Another thing someone at the CFAI has done a bit of linear programming to optimize the revenue from the CFA process. Think about it:

(i) The MPS has to be set so has to preserve the credibility of the exam whilst attracting enough people to take the exam.

(ii) The reason level 1 is so much easier than level 2 is to lure you in – like the guy giving you your first bag of crack free.

(iii) The reason there are two sittings for the level one – is to maintain the flow of candidates in to level two, failing at the first hurdle you are less likely to try again if you have to wait a year because you have less invested in the process.

I did the FRM a couple of years a go there was a complete dissection of the exam prior to the results being released, using a hive mentality the corpus was able to recall virtually every question and collectively agree the correct answer – not always pleasant reading but at least it passed the time while we waited.

One final thing…. The guy who did the analyst of the 40/60/80 rule in 2012 and matched that against whether people passed or failed (very interesting work by the way)…. Based on the results he reported 80% of the people who posted a result passed. Occasionally I see smug comments from AF posters about how the pass rate amongst AF’s is higher than that of the population of exam takers as a whole – I can’t help but think that the real reason is probably selection bias. If I pass I will tell everyone, if I fail I may fail to mention it to most people.

Any way good luck and I hope you enjoyed my useless banter as much as I enjoy yours. P.S. best thread was about the guy who met a girl at the exam – that’s what I call multi tasking.

Princeton what is your take on CQF? Is it worth doing the program? I will be doing mt Ph.D in quant finance in September 2015 and wish to get a strong background first! However, CQF is very expensive and I wonder if it is worth doing it.

I don’t think CQF will be better than FRM.Since you already have FRM you don’t need CQF.

But in FRM I didn’t see any signs of stochastic calculus, PDE, Stochastic processes, etc applied to asset pricing! The level of maths wasn’t much more intensive than CFA (apart from maybe the econometrics part of it). Hence, why I am intereste in the program.

CQF is too expensive with little utility.

[kaveh_nobari]

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@princeton2

I think the reason every one engages in this useless banter - is because they are bored waiting. I want to know if I have passed or not, mainly because I want to get on with something else - I have started doing the CQF which really is a mickey mouse and yet very expensive exam that is totally disregarded by the industry - but it is something I want do. However, since I don’t know whether I will be taking level 2 again or not I can’t really focus on the CQF and feel stuck in limbo.

I’m sure for all the contortions the CFAI claim they go through - they only have one variable to adjust - and the since the results are machine graded they could bang them out in a couple of weeks - however making us wait is part of the ceremony and enhances the mystic of the process and serves to imbue the CFA with some kind of grandeur.

Another thing someone at the CFAI has done a bit of linear programming to optimize the revenue from the CFA process. Think about it:

(i) The MPS has to be set so has to preserve the credibility of the exam whilst attracting enough people to take the exam.

(ii) The reason level 1 is so much easier than level 2 is to lure you in – like the guy giving you your first bag of crack free.

(iii) The reason there are two sittings for the level one – is to maintain the flow of candidates in to level two, failing at the first hurdle you are less likely to try again if you have to wait a year because you have less invested in the process.

I did the FRM a couple of years a go there was a complete dissection of the exam prior to the results being released, using a hive mentality the corpus was able to recall virtually every question and collectively agree the correct answer – not always pleasant reading but at least it passed the time while we waited.

One final thing…. The guy who did the analyst of the 40/60/80 rule in 2012 and matched that against whether people passed or failed (very interesting work by the way)…. Based on the results he reported 80% of the people who posted a result passed. Occasionally I see smug comments from AF posters about how the pass rate amongst AF’s is higher than that of the population of exam takers as a whole – I can’t help but think that the real reason is probably selection bias. If I pass I will tell everyone, if I fail I may fail to mention it to most people.

Any way good luck and I hope you enjoyed my useless banter as much as I enjoy yours. P.S. best thread was about the guy who met a girl at the exam – that’s what I call multi tasking.

Princeton what is your take on CQF? Is it worth doing the program? I will be doing mt Ph.D in quant finance in September 2015 and wish to get a strong background first! However, CQF is very expensive and I wonder if it is worth doing it.

I don’t think CQF will be better than FRM.Since you already have FRM you don’t need CQF.

But in FRM I didn’t see any signs of stochastic calculus, PDE, Stochastic processes, etc applied to asset pricing! The level of maths wasn’t much more intensive than CFA (apart from maybe the econometrics part of it). Hence, why I am intereste in the program.

CQF is too expensive with little utility.

Have you taken the course yourself Rahul? If so, would appreciate a detailed explanation of why you weren’t satisfied (sorry if I am asking for too much)!

[system]

@kaveh\_nobari

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@rahul roy

@kaveh\_nobari

@princeton2

I think the reason every one engages in this useless banter - is because they are bored waiting. I want to know if I have passed or not, mainly because I want to get on with something else - I have started doing the CQF which really is a mickey mouse and yet very expensive exam that is totally disregarded by the industry - but it is something I want do. However, since I don’t know whether I will be taking level 2 again or not I can’t really focus on the CQF and feel stuck in limbo.

I’m sure for all the contortions the CFAI claim they go through - they only have one variable to adjust - and the since the results are machine graded they could bang them out in a couple of weeks - however making us wait is part of the ceremony and enhances the mystic of the process and serves to imbue the CFA with some kind of grandeur.

Another thing someone at the CFAI has done a bit of linear programming to optimize the revenue from the CFA process. Think about it:

(i) The MPS has to be set so has to preserve the credibility of the exam whilst attracting enough people to take the exam.

(ii) The reason level 1 is so much easier than level 2 is to lure you in – like the guy giving you your first bag of crack free.

(iii) The reason there are two sittings for the level one – is to maintain the flow of candidates in to level two, failing at the first hurdle you are less likely to try again if you have to wait a year because you have less invested in the process.

I did the FRM a couple of years a go there was a complete dissection of the exam prior to the results being released, using a hive mentality the corpus was able to recall virtually every question and collectively agree the correct answer – not always pleasant reading but at least it passed the time while we waited.

One final thing…. The guy who did the analyst of the 40/60/80 rule in 2012 and matched that against whether people passed or failed (very interesting work by the way)…. Based on the results he reported 80% of the people who posted a result passed. Occasionally I see smug comments from AF posters about how the pass rate amongst AF’s is higher than that of the population of exam takers as a whole – I can’t help but think that the real reason is probably selection bias. If I pass I will tell everyone, if I fail I may fail to mention it to most people.

Any way good luck and I hope you enjoyed my useless banter as much as I enjoy yours. P.S. best thread was about the guy who met a girl at the exam – that’s what I call multi tasking.

Princeton what is your take on CQF? Is it worth doing the program? I will be doing mt Ph.D in quant finance in September 2015 and wish to get a strong background first! However, CQF is very expensive and I wonder if it is worth doing it.

I don’t think CQF will be better than FRM.Since you already have FRM you don’t need CQF.

But in FRM I didn’t see any signs of stochastic calculus, PDE, Stochastic processes, etc applied to asset pricing! The level of maths wasn’t much more intensive than CFA (apart from maybe the econometrics part of it). Hence, why I am intereste in the program.

CQF is too expensive with little utility.

Have you taken the course yourself Rahul? If so, would appreciate a detailed explanation of why you weren’t satisfied (sorry if I am asking for too much)!

I have not taken CQF and will never take it.

[princeton2]

It definitely not worth doing if you are doing Ph.D in quant finance - it’s not taken seriously by any one and it is very expensive. I’m only doing it because I’m interested - and I don’t have time to go back to school.

The only reason I brought it up here was to demostrate that ot evreyone does things for their career.

[cgottuso8190]

This all sounds like someone expecting a “fail” in two weeks…

[S2000magician]

cgo . . . meet Greenman.

[cgottuso8190]

@S2000magician

cgo . . . meet Greenman.

Just saw his post - I read the first few in the thread and skipped down to say something.

[Topperharley]

Seriously though OP…how many hours did you study??

[calvol]

+1 OP… the CFA is less of a ticket to a great PM/AM/ER job and more of an “atta-boy” for studying 1000-1500 hours and passing three 6-hour exams. The curriculum is really too broad and not specific enough to make one qualified for a finance job on the basis of the CFA Charter alone, but does qualify one as having general knowledge in finance.

[kaveh_nobari]

@Topperharley

Seriously though OP…how many hours did you study??

Stop it already with this rediculous question! My mission when studying for an exam is as follows (so should be for anyone else):

1- Read the whole curriculum + answer EOC questions and concept checkers

2- Review using Schweser

3- Review EOCs and Mock exams

4- Review formulae and weak points

End of story, never timed and if anyone ever asks I could only give a guesstimate. If I had to guess I’d say somewhere in the region of 300-500 hours, but that doesn’t mean squat! Happy? The whole point is to finish the above points to be prepared for the exam. Now this could take 200 hours for one person and 2000 hours for another (although I really doubt the latter)!

[kaveh_nobari]

@calvol

+1 OP… the CFA is less of a ticket to a great PM/AM/ER job and more of an “atta-boy” for studying 1000-1500 hours and passing three 6-hour exams. The curriculum is really too broad and not specific enough to make one qualified for a finance job on the basis of the CFA Charter alone, but does qualify one as having general knowledge in finance.

Amen

[Greenman72]

@calvol

+1 OP… the CFA is less of a ticket to a great PM/AM/ER job and more of an “atta-boy” for studying 1000-1500 hours and passing three 6-hour exams. The curriculum is really too broad and not specific enough to make one qualified for a finance job on the basis of the CFA Charter alone, but does qualify one as having general knowledge in finance.

Amen, brother.

In this sense, it’s very similar to the CPA exam, a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, an MBA from UTSA, the CFP exam, the ASA exam, Marine Boot Camp, the Series 7, or pretty much any other “exam” or “certification” in the world. It guarantees nothing, except that it distinguishes you from somebody else who doesn’t have that feather in their cap, and it gives you a starting point, so your employer won’t have to hold your hand and teach you everything from scratch.

[itera]

^ CPA is required to do certain jobs.

No job requires CFA.

[kaveh_nobari]

@itera

^ CPA is required to do certain jobs.

No job requires CFA.

+1

In the UK to be recognized as an accountant you need to take the ACA examinations (ACCA qualified accountants are usually of less value for some reason and not taken as serious). So yes, I agree with you sir. Any job that I looked up in the AM arena only mentions the preference for CFA but they never have it as a requirenment!

[klaudnine]

over 9000!!!

[system]

@kaveh\_nobari

@itera

^ CPA is required to do certain jobs.

No job requires CFA.

+1

In the UK to be recognized as an accountant you need to take the ACA examinations (ACCA qualified accountants are usually of less value for some reason and not taken as serious). So yes, I agree with you sir. Any job that I looked up in the AM arena only mentions the preference for CFA but they never have it as a requirenment!

Again please allow me to make few points:

1)Every1 on AF knows that CPA/ACCA/ACA etc will get more job opportunities than CFA.

2)CFA was never meant to be a standalone degree/credential/designation.CFA helps your career if it is combined with quality workex or CPA/ACCA/decent MBA .This is why CFA is "preferred " by employers not required.

[rexkicker]

I have nfi what an ACCA or an ACA is.