Rydex Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why wouldnt you promote the ideas of free markets? Essentially there are degrees. So, for example, environmental regulation is less likely to come about by way of the free market than a fair price for a TV in London. The CFAI promotes a free market that is a lot less regulated than the majority of free market writers agree with. I feel they go a little to far and fail to present the alternative arguments - and I’m not suggesting there is a communism study session! For example, at level II, the curriculm teaches that removing regulation on industries leads to lower prices. That’s the correct answer in the exam, but I’m not sure it is empirically true.
actuaryalfred Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Risk neutral can be understood without Girsanov’s > thm, unless you want something rigorous and > continuous. Risk neutral can be illustrated > through a simple binomial framework. The problem > though, is that people fail to understand that > risk neutral (probability) is just a by-product of > no arbitrage pricing. I said many people misuse > it and the evidence is that many people start to > price exotic options by starting with a risk > neutral dynamics of stock prices but when they > come up with a price, they don’t provide a > replicating portfolio, which is very dangerous. And that would be a fine outline for how this could be taught in CFA studies.
you had me at hello.
the difference between global vs international investing according to CFAI, international investing you invest based on the country global you invest based on the country and industry my opinion: international = foreign markets, global = domestic and foreign markets (i.e. home country is fair game) sometimes I don’t where they come up with this sh!t
also the whole ethics thing where they make you determine what standard/code you are breaking…who cares what they categorize it as…knowing right from wrong is all that should matter econ coverage is weak. alternative investment coverage is weak. the series 7 covers mutual funds and ETFs better. meanwhile i’ve spent most of my time studying topics that I have no use for and will soon forget (i.e. most of quant, FSA, GIPS, etc.) i better get away from this thread…
Agree. Screw CFA and all we need to know is how to become the most greedy bloodsucker in this business.
hmmm…although i havent started CFA but few things i’d criticise too: - use of calculators and memorisation of formulas it is seriously so outdated. couldnt they administer exams using Excel? and who on earth would memorise and then remember all the formulas…in real work, you can have formulas in front of you and work without much fuss…so why waste time memorising formulas? - 6 hours exam too stressful…dont know why they had to make it 6 hours - not much coverage on credit a chartered financial analyst who doesnt know much about credit? oh plz! why are they called ‘financial analyst’ then? - ethics who applies it anyways? and this subject is too subjective to be given as MCQs…i’d rather recommend having short Q&A section so students can explain their point of view with respect to codes they learned… - amerocentrism yes, it is meant a global exam so why they are focusing so much on US. fine the program is US-originated but i really hope they are giving candidates a global perspective too
Is it the CFA exam that is amerocentric or is it just that the articles they use have come from (primarily) american sources? If you look at the liquidity and size of the us securities market in relation to any other country, I think one might be able to justify an amerocentric bias (note, I’m usually on the other side of this argument, arguing for better world representation, but given that a Taiwanese asset manager would probably add the US market first the moment he/she wants to diversify away from Taiwan, it is not so crazy to have a bias there). I also wish that, as I get ready to take L3, I had a better feel for the credit side of things from the CFA curriculum. Compared to what I’ve learned about equity valuation and duration and stuff, I feel like what I know about credit is more or less what I could have guessed about it before I even cracked an L1 book.
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is it the CFA exam that is amerocentric or is it > just that the articles they use have come from > (primarily) american sources? > > If you look at the liquidity and size of the us > securities market in relation to any other > country, I think one might be able to justify an > amerocentric bias (note, I’m usually on the other > side of this argument, arguing for better world > representation, but given that a Taiwanese asset > manager would probably add the US market first the > moment he/she wants to diversify away from Taiwan, > it is not so crazy to have a bias there). > > I also wish that, as I get ready to take L3, I had > a better feel for the credit side of things from > the CFA curriculum. Compared to what I’ve learned > about equity valuation and duration and stuff, I > feel like what I know about credit is more or less > what I could have guessed about it before I even > cracked an L1 book. Man, have a look at Europe (as a whole country as you also consider USA one contry) and let me know…
But why should I have to know that ETFs are more tax efficient than mutual funds in the US? There’s no difference in most other countries. There are plenty of examples of non-transferrable US only information. How about “a problem with ADRs is that they don’t eliminate country risk or economic risk” - what, and Sarbanes-Oxley does? You are buying the ADR, GDR or whatever precisely to gain exposure to those risks.
a higher percentage of CFA candidates will at some point work with ETFs than need use for the durbin watson test IMO. i see most topics in the curriculum as most candidates will never need to know this but some will. hopefully for some of the topics you will be amongst those that need to know.
- knowing how to calculate Macro, Micro and Global attribution. This is absolutely unnessesary as we have spreadsheets for that and it’s just pointless at L3. I agree that one would have to interpret the drivers of performance when presented with an attribution, but to calculate it??? Come on… - calculating implementation costs. Again I think it is pointless given the scope of the exam. Are we learning how to be effective traders? - STRONGLY agree on the GIPS. I am not even going to get into it cause I can go on and on about it…
Look, if you guys think the exam is too US-centric, then drop out of the program. No one put a gun to your head, so you have no legitimate complaint. Come up with something in your own country.
Is the CFA program respected in other countries? England, Canada, Singapore, China? I mean is it like getting a masters degree or something?
joemontana Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Look, if you guys think the exam is too > US-centric, then drop out of the program. No one > put a gun to your head, so you have no legitimate > complaint. Come up with something in your own > country. Seeing how there will be more charterholders in China and India in 10 yrs…
CFA_Halifax Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > joemontana Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Look, if you guys think the exam is too > > US-centric, then drop out of the program. No > one > > put a gun to your head, so you have no > legitimate > > complaint. Come up with something in your own > > country. > > > Seeing how there will be more charterholders in > China and India in 10 yrs… And may be Joe will need to take a professional qualification in Chinese! Enjoy…
strangedays Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFA_Halifax Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > joemontana Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Look, if you guys think the exam is too > > > US-centric, then drop out of the program. No > > one > > > put a gun to your head, so you have no > > legitimate > > > complaint. Come up with something in your > own > > > country. > > > > > > Seeing how there will be more charterholders > in > > China and India in 10 yrs… > > > And may be Joe will need to take a professional > qualification in Chinese! Enjoy… I passed a professional exam in Japanese once (my Japanese has all but left me).
> > And may be Joe will need to take a professional > qualification in Chinese! Enjoy… No, I definitely won’t NEED to take an exam in Chinese. I may CHOOSE to take an exam in Chinese. However, unlike many people on this forum, I guarantee that I will not voluntarily take a Chinese-originated exam, and then b**** that it is too chinese-centric, or that is written in chinese. That would just be ridiculous.
Then why has the CFAI trademarked CFA in every country bar India and the UK? Because it has aspirations to being a globalised qualification. Joe, if you don’t want to read people b**** about the CFAI curriculum, don’t click on a thread is titled “Things that irritate me about the CFAI curriculum”. It’s not good for you.
Good advice.