Am toying with the idea of taking the FRM Level 1 this November. Wanted to know if there’s any significant overlap in certain sections of FRM Level 1 compared to CFA curriculum. I’ve looked at the outline for FRM Level 1 Quantitative Methods and it all looks familiar (at least the topic headings).
Any areas you guys think I could sort of skim read without missing out?
you could probably skip most of the quant stuff, derivatives, and ethics material. the cfa material covers most of these. focus more on the monte carlo/shortfall and past risk disaster events.
I disagree with tribeca_regent. I have both the CFA charter as well as the FRM, and I can tell you that if you are relying on your CFA exposure to get you through these sections, this is a good plan to fail Part 1 of the FRM.
DW might be right. Just my two cents. I took the FRM level 1 exam before I took the CFA level 2 exam.
I’ve been fortunate to save a lot of time with the CFA derivative curriculum.
Let me restate my thought : don’t skim it but it will be much easier to absorb than the new stuff.
^ That’s more like it.
I’m an Engineer and have absolutely no work-ex in finance. I did manage to pass all three levels of CFA with 2-3 months of study. I’ve looked at the table of contents and topics details for FRM part 1 and the titles seem very familiar except in the area of risk. Quant, derivatives, etc. have been covered at various depths in CFA.
I’ve registered for May 2014 FRM part 1 exam, and haven’t started yet. I wondering how I should plan my studies. Whether I should go with Schweser or BT? Lot of questions and uncertainty, but I would like to start my March 1st atleast.
All done while you work full-time? What’s your working hours like?
8AM-5/6PM; Pretty laid back compared to Finance jobs …
I’m looking into the FRM Part 1 Curriculum and here is what I find.
Book 1 (Foundations of Risk Management) is something not covered so detailedly in CFA L3, although parts of it like CAPM, Multi-factor models, etc. have been touched upon.
Book 2 (Quantitative Analysis) looks mostly familiar with CFA L1 and L2 material. I don’t see any new material in FRM atleast at the overview level.
Book 3 (Financial Markets & Products) has a lot of overlap with CFA, but it remains to be seen whether these two exam materials approach these topics from same perspective or not. I mean CFA could be talking from an investing/PM perspective and FRM could be talking from a risk perspective. Otherwise the content looks similar.
Book 4 (Valuation & Risk Models) has lot of overlap. CFA L3 has couple of study sessions for all these materials, but I would believe FRM would go a little deeper. I will have to find out.
Sorry to quote Hans and Franz from SNL but…hear me now, and believe me later!
It’s possible, but you have to rearrange your life, change your routine and be super disciplined. It is a sacrifice after all.
Hey, is it possible to have a decent shot at both parts of FRM in Nov 2014 if I start prep within the next month or so? and to what degree will CFA Level I help in prep for the exam? I have no finance exposure in my job either.
CFA L1 is just a rehash of undergrad.
^+1
only brand new topic will be ethics if you had some finance UG background. but you could get through the ethics portion in a week or so before the exam just by reading a few times.
A cursory examination suggests that the overlap between CFA and FRM is F.
Yes, forgot about the most exciting topic: ethics.
There are similarities but at the same time you should be careful and go for FRM material also . You should not leave FRM material altogether.