Will Warren Buffet pass all levels without opening a single book?

CFA General
#1

What do you guys think?

And if not, do you think CFA knowledge is necessary to be successful in teh finance world?

#2

  1. No. I doubt anybody could pass all 3 levels with no preparation.

  2. No.

#3

No.

/end thread

#4

He would fail the first level, miserably.

Buffet was an investor and businessman, not an academic.

#5

What is this B.S.?

#6

We have already had this discussion for four pages a little further down on the first page.

There are two contigents- Some will swear that it is possible for a few select people to pass all three levels without studying, and then a larger percentage that say its impossible to even pass level 1 without opening a book

#7

#8

Conclusion: Troll.

move along people…

#9

I should think that any half-decent engineer would be able to answer the second question.

#10

L1 is definitely possible to pass without prep, especially a genius coming out of undergrad. As for the ethics part, getting a 50% score on that section without any prep with only 3 multiple choice options is not impossible.

#11

I don’t think Buffet can do it. It would take a great mix of professional experience and academic achievements. If I had to choose someone, my pick would be Mohamed El Erian.

#12

i agree. But quite a few in the other thread said even level 1 couldn’t be done

#13

^ I wouldn’t be surprised if I got 100% on L1. I will never know for sure, but if I didn’t I got real close. To me, L1 was a joke and I am no where close to being a genius. Yes, I was prepared but I am not cocky to the point to believe others can’t accomplish things I couldn’t do.

#14

formertrader, how’d you study for L1? did you have a background conducive to doing well on the exam?

the Buffet question reminds me of my triathlon days when guys used to love hypothetical questions like how would Michael Jordan do at the Hawaii Ironman. In my opinion, NO ONE could pass all three levels with no preparation–I don’t care who you are or what you do-- you don’t just pick calculating covariance, etc.

#15

Someone that is not somewhat familiar with ANY of the subject matter covered in the curriculum has never been successful in finance from the time that boulders were being used as currency. Too strong? I don’t think so.

#16

I started early and studied every single day.

#17

How much time and energy is wasted trying to get the right answer to the wrong question.

Warren Buffet doesn’t need to prove anything by passing these exams.

But, since he did study with Benjamin Graham, who was one of the founders of AIMR and what would eventually become the CFA program, I’ll bet he’d do pretty well on a lot of the material, just not all of it

#18

Sitting straight for three hours and using a tiny calculator; flipping pages back n forth with athritis stricken fingers?

It makes me sad, but I think he would have no fking chance. next!

#19

He would fail simply because the procters would ban Diet Coke from the test center. Uncle Warren can’t function without at least 1 soda drink per hour.

#20