Hello, I just started preparation and am trying to find out the best order. btw. I have no finance background whatsoever. Do you think the following is a good order ? I plan to read only CFA curriculam with 2006 scheweser notes. === Quantitative Analysis Finanacial statement analysis Corporate Finance Economics Ethics Fixed Income Investments Equity Investments Derivatives Alternative investments Portfolio analysis ==========
With no background, I’d still start with Ethics to get an overview and feeling to how CFAI thinks. FSA and Equities are big on the test. Start with the sections with largest weights, like the previous two. Ethics, FSA, Equities, rest of material would be my suggestion.
i left ethics and FSA until the end… so that it would be more “fresh” in my mind come exam time…
IMO start with what ever topic interests you the most, so you enjoy it and get into the habbit of regular study early on.
if you have no finance background i suggest you do ethics about 70% in to your studying. i felt there was quite a bit in ethics that required prior knowledge of markets. don’t leave it to the end though.
Thanks guys !!!
I can’t tell if cielito is joking or not.
probably that is what he is doing 
studying ethics 70% of the time…
That’s not what cielito was saying. He was saying that once 70% of the time has passed since you have started studying you should then do Ethics (i.e. closer to the exam date). He’s not saying to spend 70% of your study time on Ethics.
>i felt there was quite a bit in ethics that required prior knowledge of markets. That is what I am refering to. I didn’t feel that way whatsoever.
ooo…my bad
With no finance background, I would suggest the following order Ethics Quant FSA Corporate Finance Fixed Income Investments Equity Investments Derivatives Alternative Investments Portfolio Analysis Economics Ethics
Thanks Manav. what do you say about just studying from CFA curriculum and doing extra questions from 2006 schweser >
BullPow Even I am from a non-finance background and I spent the last 3 months (approx 10 hours per week; 120 hrs in total) going through CFAI text and could only complete ethics, quant, and fsa. CFAI is just taking up too much time. So this is what I have decided - I have started all over again and will follow the following - CFAI - Study Sessions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15 and the rest from Schweser 2007 notes. I don’t know if Schweser 2006 would be appropriate. I have the 2007 notes and have compared the 2007 readings to 2008 here - www.geocities.com/manavsachdeva
questions are supposed to reinforce what you have learned. If you do questions from 2006, the questions will pertain to old information. Granted, most information from '06 is tested in '08, but its those nit and gritty questions that people get wrong on the CFA…those tend to change. So, my advice is to study '08 texts and review '08 problems. Would you study a two year old text book for a college final that was 100% of your overall grade? Probably not…unless you were too poor to purchase the newer book. However, I bet that you have enough money to purchase the correct CFA material if you can pay enough to take the exam. If you don’t have enough money to purchase the correct information, than perhaps you shouldn’t have signed up in the first place and should learn about the importance of saving money!
I started with economics, as that is what my undergrad was in. This helped me “ease” into the routine of combining work with study once again, with a subject that I was naturally a little bit confident with. This has stood me in good stead to discipline myself for the more hardcore stuff, such as FSA and equities, etc.
Jalmy Your following comment is absolutely uncalled for - “If you don’t have enough money to purchase the correct information, than perhaps you shouldn’t have signed up in the first place and should learn about the importance of saving money!” Not everyone who has aspirations and who signs up for CFA may be of the same financial status as you are and may not be able to save enough money (even after having just 2 meals a day) to sign up for both CFAI and Schweser material. This thread is about how to use older Schweser notes as supplement to CFAI text. People like me who had to borrow money to sign up for the exam have received the CFAI text (CORRECT INFORMATION) on registration and have the right to choose for themselves whether they want to fork out another grand for Schweser. Anyway, no hard feelings. Will appreciate if you could avoid posting such wreckless comments. Cheers
Manav, Thaks. I am going to use the CFAI sessions that you quoted "CFAI - Study Sessions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15 and the rest from Schweser 2007 notes. I don’t know if Schweser 2006 would be appropriate. I have the 2007 notes and have compared the 2007 readings to 2008 here - www.geocities.com/manavsachdeva " Well, I’ve gone through the website and I assume that you have pretty much figured it out… So instead of reinventing the wheel again…will follow your suggestion …
Bullpow mate, please make sure that once you’ve completed a reading from Schweser, you go through the summary at the back of CFAI corresponding reading to make sure you have not missed out any topics. do the CFAI questions as well. its not going to be much of a trainsmash as for the Schweser study sessions i have mentioned above, nothing much has changed.
Thanks Manav. Thats helpful.