I might be promoted to being a buy side trader this year and I know one of the questions my PM will ask is what the CFA is (esp level 2).
I know trading doesn’t have much to do with the CFA but I’d like to know how people would explain what the CFA level 2 test encompassed in the most sophisticated way possible so that i can blow myself while sounding smart.
Thanks!
never heard anyone asking what level 2 is…what kind of shop is this
You want to blow yourself while sounding smart…? Come again?
seriously though, I’d also like to have a 3 sentence way of describing what CFA is. I was chatting to an old colleaugue the other day and it came up in conversation again that I was starting studying for L3. He said that he’d like to do that one day but if he did he’s the kinda guy who crams it all in 2 weeks before the exam. These kind of comments really annoy me. I told him you can’t do that with CFA but I know he must just think I’m one of those studious types who’s always ahead of schedule and worries about things too much.
just tell them:
'it’s similar to a masters in finance which covers a hugh breadth and depth of topics, from valuing swaps to tax accounting, CAPM, etc etc…
Over x thousand people take it each year across the globe and and they only pass 35% of people…’’
if you google, ‘‘hardest finance exam in the world’’ it comes up with CFA…
“Level 2 of the CFA is primarily focused on the valuation of financial products, especially businesses. A considerable amount of instructions focuses on how to adjust a company’s financial statements and forecast them in order to attain a reasonable estimate of the value of the company.”
Or you could just say, “CFA–it gets you laid and gets you paid.”
