I am an Engineering grad. I am thinking of taking the CFA level I in June 2011. I am looking for advice on a few issues: 1. How much time does one need to put in to prepare for Level I assuming zero Finance background? 2. Which books would you recommend? Is the CFA material enough (assuming one has time to go through it)? 3. Would you say that CFA material is much more detailed and hence a better source for someone who has no background? 4. Does one need to cover all the topics given in the CFA material? e.g. I found it tough to wrap my head around Monte Carlo Simulation and all the steps involved. Would you say I should go back to it and try and understand it again? 5. CFA material has limited practice questions/examples based on each concept. From where would you suggest I do more practice questions periodically so that concepts stay fresh in my mind? I will highly appreciate any insights/tips…
This is my take on it. 1. This depends on how well you study and how easily you can grasp the concepts. If you have no grounding in economics or accounting, you will probably need to spend a little more time at these. It may be an idea to do an economics 101 if you have not studied this at all. However, even if you have done high school economics, you will not be troubled with the material. I spent 450 hours for level 1. However, I think I could have passed easily with 350 hours. I have a general business undergrad. 2. For level 1, Schweser should be enough without need to reference the CFAI material. However I used both. 3. CFA material covers a broad range of topics useful to people working in finance, but particularly investment analysts and portfolio managers. 4. You should cover everything on the curriculum. Everything. 5. Prep providers such as Schweser (I used this for level 1), Stalla and Finquiz (I used this for level 2) will sell you question banks with thousands of questions. Hope this was helpful!
Thanks. This helps a ton. I have also heard that Elan has good mock tests. Are their question banks good too?
You fail since you can’t conduct your own topic research effectively.
^ I agree. Do your hw.
Anish, I didnt have any finance background when i took level 1. I started with cfai but after covering quant, i switched to schweser as i had problem retaining the material from cfai. Just keep this in mind and dont let lack of a finance background wastes your time with the cfai books. For level 1, schweser or elan should be enough. Just make sure you do all end of chapter questions from cfai books.
anish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am an Engineering grad. I am thinking of taking > the CFA level I in June 2011. I am looking for > advice on a few issues: > 1. How much time does one need to put in to > prepare for Level I assuming zero Finance > background? > 2. Which books would you recommend? Is the CFA > material enough (assuming one has time to go > through it)? > 3. Would you say that CFA material is much more > detailed and hence a better source for someone who > has no background? > 4. Does one need to cover all the topics given in > the CFA material? e.g. I found it tough to wrap my > head around Monte Carlo Simulation and all the > steps involved. Would you say I should go back to > it and try and understand it again? > 5. CFA material has limited practice > questions/examples based on each concept. From > where would you suggest I do more practice > questions periodically so that concepts stay fresh > in my mind? > > I will highly appreciate any insights/tips… Use the CFA Material…if you don’t have a finance background go with the CFA institute 6 Volume set, you need the background info the CFAI provides. Only use Schweser as a supplement. I recommend buying the Schweser package that gives you the supplementry notes, Q-bank software for extra problems and the Practice Volume 1 and 2 Exams. You definitely need to do the problems at the end of every reading from the CFA text. The key to the exam is getting through all of the material…and allowing 4 to 6 weeks for a review prior to the exam. This will be the hardest academic exercise you’ll ever experience. You might be able to get through the level 1 exam with just using Prep company material. But what happens if you want to take levels 2 and 3. Don’t think you’ll make it with just using prep a company especially if you don’t have a finance academic background and finance work experience. W
Here’s the advice I followed courtesy of the lovely search function on this board. Elan’s videos are a lot more detailed than Schweser’s so given your limited background you could definitely use those. Re: CFAI and Elan Posted by: SeeEfAye (IP Logged) Date: June 14, 2010 08:22AM I used Elan’s Ultimate Pack for the June exam. I would make notes on their handouts while I watched a video and then read their study notes. Then I would read the summaries from the CFA texts and do the EOC questions followed by practice questions from the QBank. I was very well-prepared. Their notes and videos cover pretty much everything. I did not see any surprises on the QBank and maybe just one on one of the practice tests so I guess their materials cover 99.99% if not all the materials that the CFA texts cover. One thing that I did not do, but would definitely recommend for future Elan users is to read the study notes with the Eleventh Hour at hand, and to make notes in the Eleventh Hour itself. Most of the stuff is very well summarized in there, and there’s more than enough space to make any figures/notes that you feel you should jot down. In sum, their stuff is awesome. Just do what they advise you to do and you should be fine. Good luck anish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am an Engineering grad. I am thinking of taking > the CFA level I in June 2011. I am looking for > advice on a few issues: > 1. How much time does one need to put in to > prepare for Level I assuming zero Finance > background? > 2. Which books would you recommend? Is the CFA > material enough (assuming one has time to go > through it)? > 3. Would you say that CFA material is much more > detailed and hence a better source for someone who > has no background? > 4. Does one need to cover all the topics given in > the CFA material? e.g. I found it tough to wrap my > head around Monte Carlo Simulation and all the > steps involved. Would you say I should go back to > it and try and understand it again? > 5. CFA material has limited practice > questions/examples based on each concept. From > where would you suggest I do more practice > questions periodically so that concepts stay fresh > in my mind? > > I will highly appreciate any insights/tips…
Warren and Omid: Thanks. It helps to get differing opinions. I thought that without finance background, detailed CFA material would be better but after going through the Quant, I was wondering if Schweser or Elan might provide the same information in an easier format. I thought the concepts were not tough, but their representation was. And yes, if the only way in level II and III is to go through the CFA material, it might be better to get used to their style right away. Thanks for your time guys. Thanks Amalj: I think I will check out Elan, if not to study from it, at least to get their material for practice. @ above: In my opinion, online forums are one of the most effective methods of research because no other method can provide one the insights and opinions of people who have already experienced the process… the most reliable insights… no surprise then that these forums are extremely popular…
I’m in a similar situation ie sitting level 1 in June 2011 with no formal finance education (albeit i work in a related field so have picked some stuff up along the way). I have bought the Elan guides. My strategy, seeing as there’s plenty of time left, is to go through each chapter using Elan first, then following that up by reading through the same chapter in the CFA textbook and doing all the end-of-chapter questions. This is working pretty well so far - although i guess i’ll find out in June if it’s a winning approach! good luck.
Kiakaha: Since you are actually working from both, would you say that Elan explains the concepts in an easier format or is it just an abridged version of CFA books? Also, are the huge number of footnotes in CFA material relevant to the exam?
Hi Anish. I’m definitely finding Elan really useful – it’s so much more condensed and yes, I think they do explain things better. When I try to read some of the CFA textbook stuff without using Élan first, I find it really wordy and difficult to pick out the most important points. But it makes way more sense coming to it after using the Elan guides, it’s like they provide you with the bare bones you need to pass, and then the Cfa textbooks add better depth to your understanding. My only negative comment about Elan would be that they have missed some of their own deadlines eg saying updated material would be available by a certain time, then it wasn’t. But overall I’m impressed. Cheers
I’ve said before and will say it again: The material will be expectedly difficult for anyone having no background in finance/economics/accounting. That said, already having good quantitative abilities from having studied engineering will put you ahead. As for prep providers, my feeling is that one is the same as the next, particularly with the largely introductory Level I material. In my opinion, you’re better off using them as supplemental material rather than replacement for the CFAI curriculum.
I’m in a similar situation as well. I am sitting level 1 in June 2011 with no formal finance education (I am from engineering background) , just received Schweser and I find them really good, but there is more reading materials in the CFACI curriculum so I am trying to go trough both of them, but I do not want to waste anytime and not be able to revise later on. I do not find the materials very difficult till now ( I am doing SS2 & 3: Quantitative Methods) my question is : would I miss anything if I only go with Schweser and CFAI Practices? any advise will be appreciated.
hassan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m in a similar situation as well. > > I am sitting level 1 in June 2011 with no formal > finance education (I am from engineering > background) , just received Schweser and I find > them really good, but there is more reading > materials in the CFACI curriculum so I am trying > to go trough both of them, but I do not want to > waste anytime and not be able to revise later on. > I do not find the materials very difficult till > now ( I am doing SS2 & 3: Quantitative Methods) > > my question is : would I miss anything if I only > go with Schweser and CFAI Practices? > > any advise will be appreciated. You will miss things if you go only with Schweser. Fact is that they condense the material to get you far enough to pass, but will not cover everything. If they didnt do that, there would be no need for them so they just focus on what they think will be the main topics covered. They may skim over some of the smaller things, but it wont be as comprehensive as using the CFAI materials.
I guess Elan is the material of choice for many though I have seen neither Schweser nor Elan yet… I am using CFAI books and while doing Readings 8 and 9, I felt a little overwhelmed… I haven’t made up my mind yet whether I should invest 100s of dollars in Elan without even one peek at their material vs CFAI… Though, the general consensus seems to be that Elan/Schweser are enough to pass L1… L2 and L3, not so much…
Check out Elan’s website, they offer a 7 day free trial – that should be enough time to decide if you like the material.
And PS: readings 8 & 9 are mammoth – took me a lot of repetition before it started to sink in and I still feel a bit shaky on parts! Am hoping it will all start to gel during the cram phase 
I am glad to hear that Kiakaha (and I apologize right away for the unabashed comment!) … I was wondering if my lack of previous knowledge is making me feel miserable about those readings… and was wondering if a test prep material could help me out on such readings. and thanks. I checked out Elan website sometime back but couldn’t find their 7 day trial link. After you told me about it, I registered first and got it. Thanks a lot.
Schweser and Elan will help you get through the exam, but they wont give you the detailed explaination of concepts. So, i will suggest you read CFAI books or take up some kind of training where in you will get to learn practical applictaion of the theory.