I agree with you if I was advising a candidate. But, I don’t believe it was the point of the thread.
exactly. We aren’t inspiring others. We’re discussing the plausibility of a bold claim
Yeah I’d hope nobody reading this is foolish enough to take their chances based off one dude managing to wing it through the exams.
Maybe we should put a disclaimer in the subject line.
Reach out to this guy and make a little bet with him using a L3 mock (must get above 70%). It would be interesting to see that.
Trolls don’t call themselves trolls do they?
no way it’ll happen. First off, I haven’t talked to him in a few years and really don’t even know him. 2nd, since he isn’t interested in taking the exams anyway, id have to pay for each test in order for him to take them
If you knew the guy, you could just bet 300 bucks he can’t pass a mock next saturday, then throw one of those bizarre FinQuiz L3 mocks at him. If he refused you could call him a chicken - it used to work with Marty Mcfly.
I think he would pass Level I on zero prep – but would not pass Level II or III on zero prep.
Show him this thread.
Well, there’s Ethics and GIPS. And then there’s getting the funny wordings that CFAI uses, and then there’s answering all the questions in approximately 90 seconds.
The guy might pass L1 without having to hit textbooks, but I doubt he’d pass it without at least doing a few practice exams.
You guys really think that Mohamed El Erian wouldn’t pass the exams with zero prep? Even if he didn’t look at Ethics, he’s bright enough to find a way to get most questions right.
agreed. These people that think NO ONE on earth could do it are delusional
He may not have the accounting background to do well in FRA. That’s not a matter of smarts; it’s a matter of experience or memorization.
°I do not think he would pass the exam with zero prep. I cannot imagine he knows all the nitty gritty of the formulas and the details in FRA.
Thats different from saying that someone who confidently states they can do it on no preparation knows what they are talking about.
Aside from the specifics of the exam format, the mental energy to answer question after question for six hours (which takes training and practice regardless of how much you know), the fact at most finance Ph.D.s haven’t done accounting in ages and maybe don’t remember the strange little differences between IFRS and GAAP that change year after year, the problem that most Ph.D.s have on the exam is that they bring in too much extraneous information to the problem set. The CFAI wants a simple answer, but PhDs are trained to answer more complex questions with greater use of available information. When PhDs fail a level, it’s often because they’ve talked themselves out of the right answer or added information and assumptions at the CFAI doesn’t think are needed. Or - in doing so - they take too long to get to the official answer and can’t finish.
Long term practitioners also have similar problems if hey don’t study or prepare. They Analyze things he way they do in he office, which may make money but don’t get the CFAI approved answer.
None of this means they aren’t smart, or even good analysts or investors. And one might say that this shows that the CFA exam is overly academic and theoretical, which is not necessarily untrue (but, for many people, still valuable). But the question at hand is whether having a PhD means one can confidently say you’ll pass (I think the claim was all three levels) without any prep at all, which is a different issue.
I don’t believe having a PHD necessarily means someone can pass with no prep. I do believe though that there are people out there (PHD or not) that can pass with zero prep, especially L1 and 2. Someone with a good education/experience balance.
this. Bchad, I’m not saying just because the guy has a phd he would pass all three .
Really? Because the way you named the thread suggests that is what you’re saying. (At least if you’re in the “He probably can do it” camp)
I passed L1 with close to zero prep thanks to 4 years of working in business valuation and being a year removed from MBA with finance concentration. I tried the same for L2 and got my ass handed to me big time.
Take it as personally as you want, but you are not Mohamed El Erian.