Is there one topic that is a killer in Level III? (ie. like something similar to derivatives or intercorporate investments at level 2). I don’t have any study materials yet, but I’m kind of ancy to get a jump start on the dirty work. Thanks
Time management.
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bang on! Failed due to lack of it this time round.
Forwards - mixed up the conditions and combinations all the time.
Make a list of really most difficult computations and most likely they wont be on the exam. That’s how it is.
Nailed it!
currencies (hedge or not to hedge), swaps, EAR calculation, derivatives (options)
I’ve opted to skip the dervatives piece where it has all the strategies and just go with the simplier/general overview of how the payoff works. Get nitty gritty real quick real fast. Gets you bogged down too easy. And ofcourse, good ol’ GIPS
Most important, followed by writing to the point and keywords rather than stories.
I underlined all keywords, marked my final answers clearly, wrote the formulas wherever necessary, properly labeled work. Concept wise level 3 is nothing like level 2, most concepts are simple, you just need to apply and get a hang of the stuff. Use past AM papers and you would figure out.
Behavioral Finance definitely.
Currencies are easy peasy and L3 derivatives are joke compared to L2 derivatives especially SWAPS.
And hand cramps!!
Time management I agree with. Behavioral finance is very gray, tricky too. With derivatives it’s very easy once you learn how to draw a payoff diagram. Knowing AML and immunization concepts are practically a must know, in and out, as it’s everywhere in curriculum. Try to have fun with level 3. It’s the “cool” stuff in my opinion, where you actually learn application.
Time management is a common theme, I was lucky and didn’t find that an issue.
I would suggest the FX translations can appear confusing until you master them and then they become easy points and the behavioural finance concepts can all seem similar so difficult to differentiate between each other but again with time they will become clearer although still some of the definitions seem to be remarkably similar to each other.
Overall the biggest issue for me was the AM format and the only real way to handle that is practice and I would emphasise the CFA past exams over the 3rd party mocks (Schweser seem to get an unduly bad reputation for level 3 from people it seems, however I would agree that their AM mocks are a waste of time).
BF was my weak point right up until the exam. Seemed very easy at face value, but when pitted against 3 slightly similar but nuanced biases, i would constantly freeze up. Ended up doing well come exam day, but was constantly a thorn in my side until d-day…that, and ethics, per usual.
Behavioral Finance by a margin is a bit confusing. Some biases are quite similar to each other and hence difficult to call out.
is this a joke?
Q was most difficult topic to master?
Imo, this was BF in my case.
I don’t know for other people’s experiences.
This.
you could condense all of L3 behavioral finance into literally 5 pages of notes
How to properly complete the morning Essay section.