Ethics on L2 vs L1

M

mike0021

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
I just started my L2 reading… but so far ethics seems EXACTLY the same… anyone else feel this way?
 
GIPS will reapper in L3, so for L2 you don’t have to worry about it
 
I miss GIPS. Motivation to make it to next year I guess.
 
Performance when we actually get to do attribution it could get kinda fun but the dumb rules to remember from L1… hated it!
 
You are right that it is pretty much the same stuff. There are only 12 ethics questions on level 2 and they are pretty tricky.
 
I started the LII exam last year with ethics, I thought to myself that if all the questions are this easy, I’m going to ace this exam. I received a <50% and had a >70% on LI. bang44 is right, they are tricky. I did not take them as serious last year, big mistake. BTW, I think the differences are the case studies like Glenarm and Superfund.
 
how are they that much harder? just more vague information? or are they conceptually harder?
so you think spending a lot of time with the case studies is worth it?
 
I would say that that like the rest of level 2, a deeper understanding of the material is required. I used the word tricky but it is just that you will need a much more sound understanding of the material to catch why one answer is right versus another. I am sorry if that does not explain it but there is only one right answer and I usually thought 2 were right. I felt the same way you did and thought I was prepared given I had 6/6 on my last three qbank vignettes. In the actual test I was <70 for ethics.
I guess I should have gone through it one more time. I just think it is classic cfa to test the soft stuff hard and the potentially brutal subjects lightly. just my .02
 
the stuff in ethics is subtle, and you must know exactly what they mean to answer the q right, I think the key here is to do as many practice qs as possible to narrow down the concept!
 
BUMP
To recap:
- Codes and Standards are the same from Level I
- GIPS are NOT on the Level II exam
- Soft Dollar Standards are new to Level II
- Research and Objecitivity Standards are new to Level II
- Trade Allocation is new to Level II
- Prudent Investor Rule is new to Level II
- 4 or 5 new case studies are new to Level II
 
I’d focus on the “changes” and get a deeper understanding of the rest.
 
Conceptually Level II Ethics is very easy to understand after studying for Level I. However, it seems like the difficulty of Level II Ethics is differentiating between recommended and required compliance procedures.
 
I didn’t talk to anyone that scored >70 on Ethics, Level II last year. They kick the application piece into gear on level II.
 
so you think knowing the diff between required vs recommended is an important aspect.. for the test
 
I ended up at >70 last june on the L2, but I’ll admit that it felt like many of the questions came down to guessing between two. I felt the same after L1 though. Ethics is a little tricky, but the big challenge is keeping all the stupid names straight in the vignette
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top