Give me a break, anyone who got this far know what it takes to pass these exams, why would anyone give any less effort than what they’ve done in the past. I hope you guys are right, but I think anyone who got to this stage know what they have to do.
UAECFA its not that simple. There are a lot of factors that affect your motivation. I will post something about this later tonight.
yeah, it’s not that simple. after two rounds of getting beaten up side the head on a nightly basis for 3-4 months, i finally realized “why the hell would i want to do this again?” the 3rd test is a joke anyway – this stuff is not useful for anything. i mean, seriously, is calculating the sortino ratio going to make me a better analyst? do i need to understand the cadbury report to become a portfolio manager? the answer is no. the reason that passing the CFA exams does not guarantee superior investment performance is because most of the curriculum is crap.
I found level II much more relevant and interesting… to me, this is just busy work and nice to know. About 30% of it was somewhat interesting, the rest was like pulling teeth.
I think pass rate will be like 40% this year, or is at least trending that way quickly. CFAI is turning this final exam into a way to control supply. The good ol days of 70% + pass rates are gone I fear.
everyone’s different as well… some have gotten their dream jobs along the way…and now it’s just a “nice to have” friend of mine is an exotic deriv trader and passed 1 and 2 with minimal effort and just doesn’t care… yet, he;s taking the exam…
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > yeah, it’s not that simple. after two rounds of > getting beaten up side the head on a nightly basis > for 3-4 months, i finally realized “why the hell > would i want to do this again?” the 3rd test is a > joke anyway – this stuff is not useful for > anything. i mean, seriously, is calculating the > sortino ratio going to make me a better analyst? > do i need to understand the cadbury report to > become a portfolio manager? the answer is no. the > reason that passing the CFA exams does not > guarantee superior investment performance is > because most of the curriculum is crap. I’d have to disagree on that …the world of Investment management is not just ER . Granted ER is probably one of the most important aspects however a lot of level 3 stuff is very relevant , the level of relevance to individuals just depends on what they are doing or what they want to be doing .
I know 3 people who said f*ck it after passing 2nd. If I fail I might be on the same boat.
UAECFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Give me a break, anyone who got this far know what > it takes to pass these exams, why would anyone > give any less effort than what they’ve done in the > past. I hope you guys are right, but I think > anyone who got to this stage know what they have > to do. True a lot of poeple know what it takes to get this far and that is probably why the pass rate is/ has been marginally higher than lvl 1 & 2 but there are a lot of other factors as well that influence the pass rate .
agree with data monkey. L3 is mostly crap. buy the index stocks and see if u get a percentage up over it and call it portfolio mngmt. a 50 year old man with $1 million doesnt know what to do with it. he is 50 years old, and managed to make a million, he should know better. if so important just freakin study SS 4-5 and do the asset allocation yourself.
I think what got to me was this whole Alpha focus - they go into so much depth on how you do this and that… standard deviation this, expected return that, corrrelation this and diversification that… Yada Yada Yada… then you get to selecting a portfolio manager and they talk about how in the long run, most managers net out to zero or something like that. My takeaway… Just go invest in some index and go enjoy life…
i’d hire a cfa charterholder only because i know the dedication it takes to get the designation. i do not think it has helped my portfolio management skills by any large degree.
Data_Monkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think what got to me was this whole Alpha focus > - they go into so much depth on how you do this > and that… standard deviation this, expected > return that, corrrelation this and diversification > that… Yada Yada Yada… then you get to selecting > a portfolio manager and they talk about how in the > long run, most managers net out to zero or > something like that. > > My takeaway… Just go invest in some index and go > enjoy life… Bingo
I’m a glutton for punishment, and I’m also stubborn as a mule. I won’t quit till I pass. No chance is this thing going to beat me unless it kills me. Took me 3 tries at level 1, 2 and level 2, and hoping to hell that trend continues for level 3. From the perspective of my job, there isn’t a lot of relevant material from level 3. Much more from level 1, and 2 standpoint. Can’t even remotely explain how much I owe my family when this is finally done.
Big - I completely agree - I dont need this for my job (I work in Finance / Sales Operations in the tech industry) - I came back after 10 years to finish this and I wont quit till Im done. THis sucker has been bothering me for years (not finishing it out). My wife is counting down the days till this is over… THe CFA is a nice thing to have to add to the resume (it cant hurt, thats for sure).
Big Babbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m a glutton for punishment, and I’m also > stubborn as a mule. > I won’t quit till I pass. No chance is this thing > going to beat me unless it kills me. > Took me 3 tries at level 1, 2 and level 2, and > hoping to hell that trend continues for level 3. > From the perspective of my job, there isn’t a lot > of relevant material from level 3. Much more from > level 1, and 2 standpoint. > Can’t even remotely explain how much I owe my > family when this is finally done. You could use your X-Mas bonus to put in a pool, and if there is enough left over fly in everyone to dedicate it!!!
I bet pass rate is 65-70%. I don’t think CFAI is going to lower it to the 40’s. Being that I have the cfa charter, I actually prefer that they lower the pass rates as much as possible. Yet, I just think it will be 65-70% maybe higher. In 2005, the pass rate was 55%. In 2006, the pass rate was 76%. The guys that failed in 2005 came back with a vengeance. I do find it interesting how many charterholders feel that L3 is easier than L2. It may be easier, yet everyone taking the test passed the “supposed” most difficult exam L2 therefore most everyone taking this exam is fairly bright. I do wish everyone the best in this exam. It is a beast. Remember to relax a little before the test. You already know the stuff and just need to relax to get it during the test.
JacksonSF Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I bet pass rate is 65-70%. I don’t think CFAI is > going to lower it to the 40’s. Being that I have > the cfa charter, I actually prefer that they lower > the pass rates as much as possible. Yet, I just > think it will be 65-70% maybe higher. In 2005, > the pass rate was 55%. In 2006, the pass rate was > 76%. The guys that failed in 2005 came back with > a vengeance. > > I do find it interesting how many charterholders > feel that L3 is easier than L2. It may be easier, > yet everyone taking the test passed the “supposed” > most difficult exam L2 therefore most everyone > taking this exam is fairly bright. > > I do wish everyone the best in this exam. It is a > beast. Remember to relax a little before the > test. You already know the stuff and just need to > relax to get it during the test. Thanks for the inspiration Jackson…I hope your right!