What would you say are the top 3 hardest topics in the CFA Level 2 Curriculum?

CFA Level II
#1

[original post removed]

#2

FRA, Equity, and Derivatives

These three will constitute 50-60% of the entire exam.

#3

For me it was the currency swaps in derivs, pensions and most of the PM calcs.

#4

Currency swaps, econ, and the Treynor-Black calculations.

#5

i feel that not one topic is Hard in terms of understanding…

in Quant, FRA and Equity, pretty much easy if you had your concepts were clear in level 1.

but there are some readings in these section that are kind of hard at first time reading…I guess as you re-read material, it will be much easier…

#6

Very true, I find that when I go back and read, things become clearer, but less so for certain subjects like Pension accounting. Thanks for all your input guys. Reason why I asked is that I do plan to spend about 50% of my time on the most difficult sections.

#7

I really hate intercorporate investments. Long chapter with A LOT of information.

#8

No one mention about credit analysis model ?

I’m shocked with too complicated formula.

#9

Hard, as expected:

  • Active portfolio management
  • Intercorporate
  • Options/Swaps

Did not expect to be hard

  • Economics and investment markets (portfolio)
  • Regulation (economics)
  • Corporate Governance (corp fin)

I think those 3 are not as difficult as the worse 10, but still. L1 had all these “filler” readings you could sort of spend 15 minutes on.

#10

i’m by no means an expert on the pensions piece, but something that really helped me move a bit forward on it was to build some of the blue-box examples in Excel, and then actively play with the numbers.

I could sort of see how and why things affect other things the way they do.

#11

In my opinion, there is not entire topic which I would highlight as hardest by certain chapters from many topic are more difficult to catch for me than other:

  1. SWAPS - All

  2. Pensions (because in place where I live there is only DC, not DB system neither I have any experience with DB)

  3. AR models in Quants

  4. private firms in Equity and RE valuation in AI (not as hard to understand as easy to make an error in calculation)

  5. Ethics - hard as usual to read and concentrate to read those blanket novelles

#12

I’d say the most difficult topics are:

  1. Active portfolio management.

  2. Economics and investment markets.

  3. Pensions.

  4. Theories of economic growth.

  5. Valuation of bonds with embedded options.