6/4 Ask Me Anything with Marc LeFebvre of LevelUp Bootcamps

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Have questions about the Level III CFA exam? With just 11 days until the exam, Marc LeFebvre of LevelUp Bootcamps will be answering your questions on AnalystForum throughout the day. Be sure to stop by to see what other Level III candidates are asking and to ask your own questions.

If you’ve never taken the Level III CFA exam or if you’ve been struggling to complete the final level of the CFA exam, Marc is an expert on the Level III CFA exam curriculum with over 20 years experience in teaching what they need to focus on to pass the final hurdle between them and the charter.
 
Out of the possible things to be doing in 11 days. What should be the focus.
Blue boxes > White text > Past Essays > EOCS > TT?
Would you advise just resting the Friday before the exam?
Also how was Parkers Prom.
Thanks.
 
For essay, If running out of space and u write outside the answer box but on the same page, will that still be graded?
 
Parker survived. He actually had to dance. Oh my. He was tired and ready to go home by 10pm. Thats my BOY!
Nearly 50% of the essay morning questions come from the white text examples and the curriculum reading (exhibits, tables, etc..) so the Core Slide book you have is very helpful in revising the curriculum quickly each day. Pick it up maybe twice daily and read every bullet in every box and do this twice daily (like brushing your teeth). The recognition on exam day will be amazing.
Keep working the harder Blueboxes or the ones you struggle with. Same holds for the end of reading practice problems.
Please know that white text, bluebox and past exams are in BOTH the morning AND afternoon.
The past exams are EXTREMELY helpful in learning how to answer the essays, quick review of topics and speed of execution.
As in any competition you don’t change what you do two weeks before the big event, you simply stay on track, keep doing what you have been doing
Most importantly get your rest, eat well and keep plugging away.
 
First try and stay inside the box. I can’t believe I’m saying this. We are always saying “think outside the box:” but in this case its a guide NOT a hard and fast rule. If you go outside the box the graders will grade it.
 
Regarding the revamped Equity section, is there any formulas or calculations that we should pay specific attention to that you could see being tested? In your opinion, which concepts have been heavily tested that we should focus on the most.
 
Whats amazing to grasp with new curriculum is the CFA Institute doesn’t go too deep at first with new material. They certainly can but over the 25 years I’ve been doing this the CFA Institute goes deep on stuff they tested several times before. So…where do I think they will go…some question on shareholder activism, they love that stuff (reading 26 section 6 specifically coupled with reading 27 section 6.3), I’d know how to calculate the effective number of stocks (Bluebox 1 in reading 27), and most importantly how to interpret it. Another topic covered in both fixed income and equity is passive portfolio construction so methods like Stratified Sampling (Reading 27 section 4.2) and optimization (section 4.3) are likely. In the active mgt reading I’d put money on the pitfalls in fundamental investing (reading 28 section 4.2). In the last reading the section 2.2.4 on investment breadth, information coeff, ect in section 2.2.4 or pages 455 and 456 are my guesses. This section does have formula 4 and lots of white text examples. .Mooah!
 
Hey Marc,
I’ve gone through the old exam binder 2 times already. Do you think there’s a benefit to taking the old exams in the exam format (i.e not sorted by topic)? Or, should I just stick to topic by topic.
 
Good job on the 2x! I think of this two ways (1) by doing all the questions on that topic you can see the trips and traps and ways they can ask those study session topics and (2) jump around the book and topics to simulate a three hour exam. Both ways are helpful. As in any growth exercise stimulating the brain in different ways helps. So working on the specific really dee (step 1) helps and then randomness (step 2) helps grow further.
 
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Can you ride a tri bike at 125 mph?
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The white text examples seems important but they’re easy to overlook (snd not emphasized) because they arent blue or other color ! Wish someone would highlight the page numbers of all the white text examples.
 
I used to tri…Ironmans, after I passed the CFA exam of course.
I actually point out all the white text examples and page numbers in a matrix for every reading coupled with exhibits, tables and blueboxes sorted by study session. They don’t call me Bobby Flay of CFA for nuttin ;-)
 
In your opinion, has the Individual IPS Calculations become tougher in the last couple of years. Has the institute strayed from just asking the Return calculation for the following year (usually in retirement) or the IRR requirement down the road (IE 4 years from now until retirement). Specifically, I am asking about the Hildalgo IPS question from last years exam, I was confused on the type of calculation they were asking when I did the practice exam this year
 
That is a tricky question. I actually think the Elizabeth Yeo in 1995 and Rondolpho Serra in 1996 spending needs questions were the hardest. In recent years the CFA exam has actually laid out the data clearly for the candidate. What I mean is that the income items are listed in one paragraph, the expenses in another and the assets in a separate paragraph.
The challenge in the Hildalgo case was you could not be a “Pavlov’s Dog” and simply salivate (calculate the return as before) but rather given the two variables (1) numerator spending need and (2) real return that was given then solve for the (3) asset base. In all previous exams you were given 1 & 3 and you solved for 2. It worked like every other exam.
The challenge for the IPS return calc is simply knowing whether they are asking the IRR multi year method or the spending need. Once you have that directional, then you search for the data and solve for the unknown variable.
 
Hey Marc. Just saying hi. Sat for the 2018 exam. Let me summarize.
Boston bootcamp. Legit.
Binder. Legit.
IPS workshop. Legit.
4 full-length days of review. Legit.
Free pizza on the 3rd night. Definitely legit…but you ran out of pepperoni though. Not legit.
 
Hi Marc, in what level of detail do you think we should know the carry trade? You know the blue box example I’m referring to…
 
Yeah I felt bad about the mis-estimation on the pizza. First time that happened. I think early adopters got greedy and took more than their share of slices. I need to manage those hungry expectations better and say one slice on first pass then go HOG wild after that. My apologies. Happened in Omaha so I ordered again the Sat night and only allowed those short on Friday to eat. This dog can be taught new tricks.
 
This is my 4th time taking the Level III exam and for the past 3 years I have been Band 10 (or the equivalent of it due to the change in the results structure). I have been diligent in studying predominately from the textbook this year and doing several mocks. Any words of advice on how to get me over the line? Thanks
 
Marc, thanks for doing this.
Concerning Individual portfolio questions: How should a candidate know when they should incorporate tax into withdrawal? Like when a problem specifically states that a sum of money came from the investment account, but the answer will not incorporate taxes on the withdrawal.
Second, is there a resource available that explains how an AM answer should be answered based upon the key word in the question? For example, “Explain” answers should be answered like this.
 
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