You’ve got some balls. lol
As I said: wonky.
For me: Fixed Income and Derivatives
S2000: does your logic make sense? I think your reasoning is flawed.
Premise: I’m not surprised that it did make the list.
If Not Suprised; then made the list.
Contrapositive is: not made the list, is surprised? Please help me.
Premise 2: I simply think that it _ shouldn’t have _ made the list.
Conclusion: Derivatives, taught properly, is an easy topic.
Only premise 2 supports the conclusion.
Many candidates say that they find derivatives quite difficult; based on that, the fact that derivatives made the list is not surprising.
I learned something new today! WOOT.
Your conditional is incorrect. The proper conditional is:
If it made the list, then I’m not surprised.
You wrote the converse, which is not logically equivalent (at least, according to Aristotelian logic).
Carry on from there.
Probably the most difficult part of Level III is getting the right answers (return requirement, etc.) for Individual IPS essay questions. It seems like it’s not so difficult but so many points are lost on those questions. I thought I had that stuff nailed down going into the exam, but I bombed the question when it came up. I think most people did, too, based on the scoring matrices.
I agree, Tommy83. Throughout my practice, I was amazed at how tricky the required return calculations ended up being. Luckily, I didn’t bomb it here, but the tables could have EASILY been turned.
1.The survey was NOT sent to all CFA L3 candidates.
2.Whether GIPS is difficult or not ,was not directly tested.
So people would have responded on their assessmemt of which broader topic
it falls under-Ethics or PM.
3.It’s a reflection of viewpoint of those candidates who responded to the survey.
I presume responding to the survey was not mandatory either.
4.So we are debating whether a minority of candidates found derivatives difficult or not.
5.Even if we assume that this minority represents a fair sample and hence full group view,it’s the collective view of those candidates who responded.I do not find derivatives that difficult(but I was a swap dealer),and I responded to the survey-that would not change the survey result.
The questions that are tested by CFAI are a probably a shade easier than what can actually be tested on the concepts related to derivatives.
6.Candidates may find derivatives difficult,compared to AI,FI,Equity and Ethics or PM.Even though they may end up scoring higher in derivatives than,say,ethics or PM…So it’s also about their perception of difficulty of derivatives.Incidentally,PM is to too broad an area to be compared to other sections.And definitely trickier than it seems
7.We are talking about candidates who passed Level II and probably studied very well written CFA books and very well summed up Third Party providers.If they still find derivatives difficult,I respect that.
8.I find Individual IPS,and sometimes, Ethics to be tricky.Of course there are ways to get around them.
I find it boring to remember provisions related to GIPS-though many of them are logical,there are just too many of them and i end up memorising.
I find CFAI being liberal in testing us on GIPS.They can ask more difficult (though trivial)questions,but they avoid,especially It would be difficult to answer questions on dates/recommended vs required,but such questions do not constitute a majority,for instance check EOC questions…
Your second point is a violation of the CFA Code of Conduct.
agree, you have to really break down the formulas and understand them starting with the basic ones first and then build up from there. In general ok except for 1 or 2 that were very hard to remember, it took a lot practice to get them down and not get confused.
Sorry for the confusion because of the use of word “tested” in my second point.
The reference is not to the CFA exam actual questions but to the candidate survey,which should be obvious from reading the statement 1 with 2 .
The point is not a vilolation…CFA exam does not test WHETHER GIPS was difficult or not,or WHETHER IT FALLS UNDER ETHICS or PM-so it’s not disclosure of what is/was tested in the exam.
CFA Institute either tests you on GIPS or it does not;not whether it is difficult or not.
The reference is to the survey-I should have said whether GIPS was difficult or not was not directly being “asked”/“checked” from those surveyed,rather than not being tested.
You are welcome.
Agree with JJ1337.Tax formuale are not as bad as they look.
At level III,The CFA book builds up well on them.
They remind me of FCFF/FCFE stuff from Level II.But it was not handled probably as lucidly there
by CFA books.
Just write one formula after another.and see the difference.Some third party providers apparently do a good job at that…
Quite the rant. 1 sentence probably would have sufficed. 