[QUOTE=espelirS2K,Jan 26 2010, 12:31 PM]OT:

 

And that's what I'm after. I think I've told you some moons ago... but I'm fairly well connected in the silicon valley to get unpaid internships (maybe even paid?) for VCs, start-ups, and some tech companies. I'd love to be a Financial analyst because I'm a number cruncher by nature. I crunch numbers for everything. But I know you work 80+ hour work weeks and pay is generally so-so (I was told starting around 65-70k but goes up exponentially after that).

Interesting! I didn't realize the CFA had that much impact as this day in age the BS/BA is the new High School Diploma, and Masters/PhD's are the real only way to get in to upper management.

[QUOTE]
It will in most of the positions I outlined above.

 

Hey Magician,

I am thinking about taking the exam. One question though. After passing the exam, is there a time frame of when you must become chartered, or does passing the exam carry over indefinitely until you apply? I am asking because I do not have the work experience, but would like to switch over to more of the investment side. Also, I am thinking that prepping for this exam would be a cheaper alternative than going to pursue my MBA.

also, how many hours would you say is needed to prepare for each section? and what would be the best approach. I recently passed all my cpa exams, and didn't find them particularly that difficult (i also have a CIA, and that was a joke). 2 of them i would say required 2 weeks 10 hours of day of studying, the Financial exam required about 3 and a half weeks, and the easiest one only 8 days. I used the cram approach, would you say it is better to space out the studying or load up weeks before the exam?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

I believe that you have to be in your Senior year or already have a Bachelor's degree to sit for the Level I exam. I have many candidates in my review courses who are Seniors; I'd say that if you can handle the load, that's the time to do it (when you're in the frame of mind to study rigorously).

I don't know anything about SJSU's Finance department, but if it's anything like CSU Fullerton's (where I matriculated), it'll give you a solid, practical finance education.

 

thanks for the info, sir! I think you have swayed me back towards the CFA rather than Masters in Finance

 

As far as I know, once you've passed the exams (three of them, not merely "exam"), it carries on in perpetuity.

I know a woman who's passed all three Levels of the CFA exam, but will never get her charter because she'll never get the work experience: she's an accountant (CPA). It's a shame because she's incredibly sharp.

Remember that your work experience has to be in a position where you make investment decisions, or else the product of your work is used to make investment decisions. (I developed models to value mortgage-backed securities at PIMCO, so the traders used my work all the time to make investment decisions.)

It's almost certainly cheaper if you pass each exam the first time you take it. If you have to repeat exams - and that's the norm (last June's pass rates were 46% for Level I, 41% for Level II, and 49% for Level III) - it can be very time-consuming and commensurately more expensive.

CFA Institute recommends a minimum of 250 hours of study for each exam. Unless you're really, really knowledgeable, I'd up that to 300 hours.

The best approach? Start early, review constantly, and practice answering tons of questions. These are 6-hour exams; they're as much a test of your endurance as a test of your knowledge. The material you know well you have to be able to apply instantly: the Level I exam has 240 questions, so you have only 90 seconds on average for each question. Some will take a lot longer than 90 seconds, so you have to be able to answer many of them in less than 90 seconds to be able to finish.

Most CPAs to whom I've talked have said that the CFA exam is an order of magnitude harder. The problem is that there is so much more material to cover: Ethics, Quantitative Methods, Economics, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Corporate Finance, Equity Analysis, Fixed Income Analysis, Derivative Securities, Alternative Investments, and Portfolio Management. And you have to know all of it in depth, and how the various topic areas interact. They won't ask you something mundane like What's your year three interest expense when you issue $1,000,000 in 5-year, 6%, semi-annual coupon paying bonds having a yield-to-maturity of 5.4%?; instead, they'll ask you how that issue would affect your CFI and debt-to-equity ratio compared to having issued bonds at par.

Trying to cram for the CFA exam in a recipe for disaster. Start early, study a lot, review often, and take as many practice exams as you can (under conditions as close to those of the actual exam as you can create).

My pleasure.

 

Wait--so you can take, and pass all three exams. But if you aren't in a position to make investment decisions for 48 months then you aren't considered a charterholder and it becomes pointless?

 

Here are the official requirements, straight, as it were, from the horse's mouth:

http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/...der/index.html

(Follow the "Work Experience" link.)

If you pass the exams - even though you haven't the work experience, so you cannot get your charter - you have something very worthwhile and tangible to put on a résumé. Having passed the exams - heck, even having passed only the Level I exam - will help you land the job that will get you the work experience.

 

Ah--makes sense.

Thanks! And I would like to keep this thread alive for future reference

 

One more question.

You mentioned you taught for Stalla, do you believe that the official program materials are not enough and that a 3rd party review course is necessary/worth it?

also, do you know any teachers in norcal that are especially good at their job and that you would recommend?