Loving L3

I’ve finally started on my L3 reading and I have to say that I’m loving it. Admittedly I dove right in to portfolio construction, strategic asset allocation, etc and will have to circle back for ethics and behavioral finance. But I feel like this is the material I’ve been wanting to get to since I started at L1. I understand that basic tools and valuation methodologies tested at L1 and L2 are necessesary prerequisites, but how you combine things into portfolios to achieve certain ends is really the best stuff in the curriculum, I think. I’m sure that when it comes to test time, I will have a full love-hate relationship with this stuff, but right now, it’s just the bloom of romance, when possibilities seem endless. Anyone else psyched?

I felt exactly the same way last year.Level 3 was everything I felt was missing from L2 & L3.Be warned,its not easy,you cant afford to take it likely. I passed,barely,I got below 50 on the first 5 written Q’s,I have no idea how that happenend,but I know alot of other people who passed,scored very poorly in those Q’s.

I agree completly with bchadwick : I loved studying those stuff as well (studied more than 400 hours for all the level 3 and I was very focused on PM topics)… and agree with dunkamania about the difficulties of the essay parts (got below 50 for 7 written questions !) in spite of the fact that I am a PM from more than 7 years.

Man I envy you guys right now. This is the stuff I really enjoy too, but I am stuck taking my first run at level 2. I may never get to read this! Good luck.

L3 was a lot more interesting for me than the first two levels. But be careful - it is still a very difficult test. When you read the material it can lull you into a false sense of security because the big picture is very easy to understand, but the minutia that will be in the test may not jump out at you. Make sure you take it seriously, and take time to do the end of chapter questions from the readings (assuming they still have those with the new cirriculum) even if you are relying on Schweser or Stalla to study.

I actually am not interested in portfolio mgmnt at all - so I am not enjoying L3. I admit the L3 material can be useful for the buy-side, but from what I understand, it has very little application for sell-side finance, which is where I am. Please tell me I am wrong - so I’ll have some motivation for studying this material…

I agree level III is the most interesting of all but agree with tobias about getting a false sense of security about the big picture and dipping out on the minutia… How did you keep both in check Tobias and how did you practice the finer points of PM ?

Oh, I’m sure that the test is hard, and there will be lots of niggling minutiae that I will freak out about next April, May, and June, but this is the first run through the material for me, and I like it a lot. My general strategy is to read through to get the overview, then use Schwesser or Stalla to help me focus on the most testable parts of the material (and give pointers on how to study/answer etc.), then review from CFAI material to pick up as many extra details as possible. I’ve been a Stalla user in the past, and pretty happy with them, but I’m thinking of doing Schwesser this time around because I’ll be doing more direct readings from CFAI books, and I think Schwesser does a better job of condensing stuff (I think Stalla does a better job of *explaining* stuff, though).

I have to agree - I am absolutely loving doing the readings as well. There is nothing I’d rather be doing with my spare time then reading the CFA texts. The only criticism I have is they are too small. Why doesn’t CFA double the size of the assigned readings so that it would bring double the enjoyment to our lives?

CKBond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree level III is the most interesting of all > but agree with tobias about getting a false sense > of security about the big picture and dipping out > on the minutia… > > How did you keep both in check Tobias and how did > you practice the finer points of PM ? Everyone is different, but for me the key was making sure I understood all of the CFAI assigned problems. These problems were similar to what I saw on the test and if you know how to answer them you will do well. Another piece of advice I can offer is that when you do the problems, take the time to actually write out the answers. It can be tempting to answer the question in your mind to save precious time rather than writing out something like a whole IPS. Think of it this way: You are going to have to write out a good answer on the actual test to score points, and if you practice this ahead of time you will be much better off. It also gives you an idea of how long it takes you to think about the question, formulate your response and actually write it down. It may not seem important, but I think it was a major part of my success on exam day.

So does the good stuff start iwth Book #2??? B/c teh first book is interesting in some parts but boring in other…

i hate L3. it’s very boring with all the PM stuff. why would i care about setting up trusts and stuff like that?