CFA level 2 study strategy 1/1/16

Hi All - I took L1 on Dec 5, 2015. Obvi I have not received the results yet, but I am starting to study for L2; if I passed, great! I got a head start (at the very least a month in advanced), if I didn’t pass, then I just lost a month of social life (January, so nothing too big). Anyway, my strategy is to start reading CFAI Quant, and if I received a PASS at the end of January 2016, then I will purchase Schweser. Anywho, my study plan is as follow:

  1. Quant

  2. FRA

  3. EQ

  4. FI

  5. Derivs

  6. PM

  7. Corps

  8. AI

  9. Econ

  10. Ethics

Any opinions? Or do you guys suggest another chronological strategy to study this beast, the furious L2?

I will also be posting this in the L3 for their advice.

Cheers! - Lost one

how did u do in L1? if u are reasonably confident that u will pass then i suggest you start looking at the most heavily weighted sections: FRA and Equity. Derivate is difficult too according to what I heard, so starting early on these topics will be good.

Hi, I am also starting studying for level 2 from today. I am starting with quant and then will go on to eco, mainly because I am very comfortable with these subjects and want to start with something easy.

One thing I wanted to ask was that for studying these two topics can I use 2015 curriculum ? Only one small reading has been added to quant no other changes for these two topics. Thanks.

quant and eco - are easy to start off with - but go through them quickly. I say this because there is a TON of material on these - so you could spend a lot of time going thro them.

you would be well advised to look at the actual exam weightages.

From what I recall - FRA, Fixed Income and Derviatives have a lot of material with high weightage for Level 2.

I think you will be fine given that Quant shouldn’t change yoy. Good luck my friend! I hope to see you in other discussions from now until June!

Cheers - Lostone

Thanks cpk123 and Lostone. And good luck to you too Lostone.

Economics Reading 13 - Currency Exchange, is dirty and enough to mangle you brain. I started readingit, came close to half of the chapter ,(over 80 pages chapter) closed the book and went back to FRA. FRA is my strong point :slight_smile:

I started with L2 preparing a couple of weeks ago. Since I joined in Schweser trial, I have only Ethics, Quant and Econ material. It’s just enough till 26/01. Now, I am about finishing 1st reading of Econ and agree with above that I had a headache about Currency exchanges and triangular arbitrage. Quants are quite straightforward and Ethics is same as it was in L1.

Is Jan 5 not too late to start studying for Level II in June? What is the Schweser trial?

I am talking about this…

https://www.schweser.com/cfa/jump-start

Got material for first 3 sessions (Ethics, Quants and Encom) free of charge expiring on beginning on February. Supposed I will purchase entire material for L2 if I pass L1. If not, it will just expire with 0 cost for me.

Im doing Wiley, much more detailed that Schweser which I used for L1, am expecting to finish the 1st two by the 26/01 FI is a few number of pages surprisingly

FRA

FI

QUANT

EQUITY

PORT MAN

DERIV

ALT INV

CORP FIN

ECON

ETHICS

Some answers from the L3 guys:

http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-iii-forum/91347351

Done w quant. I will start w Econ tomorrow. My thoughts on Quant:

A lot of overlapping material between reading sessions (x=b0+b1x1, T-tests, F-tests) comes primarily to mind; however, Time-Series detours a bit. In terms of importance for the exam, I think the below is accurate (will be taking L2 for the first time, so don’t quote me):

  1. Multiple Regressions and Issues in Regression Analysis

2.Time-Series analysis (to me was very boring)

  1. Correlation and Regression

Cheers - Lostone

Although I do 60ish hours a week at work, I am a bit concerned that it took me 9 days to finish Quant! I hope this is just my warm up and I improve my timing of going through chapters as the process goes along!

Quant: 9 days

Econ: …will keep you posted

Hello,

I have passed Level I about two years ago and don’t remember most of it. Now planning for Level II.

What you would advise regarding study strategy?

Or at what extent is knowing level I topics important for level II ?

Equity

FRA

Fixed Income / Alternative Investments

Worry about the rest when I get there

Go over the most heavily weights topics first is what I am doing. Read early so you can re-read a second time and practice questions here. The largest areas with the least amount of pages to read is good. Corporate finance is 200 pages but Alternative Investments + Fixed Income is 200 pages and I’d rather cover that in teh schewser then 200 pages of corporate finance…

Passed Level 1 and done with both Quant and Econ. Both not heavily weighted so not too worried. As Joe_83 said, def going to put in the most focus on the heaviest sections in L2.

Cheers

Just registered for June 2016 L II exam, this time in my hometown. Continuing with FRA. Seems many things repeated from L1.

Congrats and good luck with the studying. I just registered as well. I’ll start the studying this weekend.

I found this to be a good resource for level 1, so I’m going to follow it for level 2:

http://www.300hours.com/articles/what-is-the-most-effective-level-ii-cfa-exam-study-session-order

Thanks for good wishes. I will continue with winning L1 strategy. A coctail of reading Schweser-Curriculum-and doing Mock/Topic tests. This time a bit modified with greater accent on practicing and less on theory reading.