Overview for an idiot

[svi]

I signed up to take the test in June 07, pretty much because I know it will advance my career, however I don't really know what im getting myself into, except that it will be a ton of work, Anyone care to give me a quick overview of what im jumping into and is it really worth it? I asked 4 high level execs at various companies what they preferred a CFA or MBA and without thinking about it they all said CFA, so thats why im taking it. What should i expect?

 

[skahammer]

That's quite a way to introduce yourself.

But since it's not so different from my situation at one time, let me take a crack at answering.

The CFA is a very thorough introduction to a wide range of finance topics.

It's very unlikely you'd have a job that relies on all the necessary knowledge. Thus no matter what your current position, you'll probably have to study several topics that will be unfamiliar to you. This means book-learning, not necessarily experiential learning.

So the first thing you should probably consider is, How good am I at learning topics from a book? If you doubt yourself here, your other option is to sign up for a review class -- but it seems to me most successful candidates (ones who eventually earn charters) do it themselves, without a class.

The second thing you should consider is whether you intend to make a minimum 2.5-year commitment to studying, along with the requirement to gain the necessary work experience.

I'm not saying you shouldn't give Level I a test-drive. But I'm not sure what kind of return you can earn on your efforts if you don't intend to follow it through. And people who *do* get significant return are the kind of people who can make it a top priority in their professional lives for at least a month or two before the exam.

That's a starting point I could recommend. Ask some more questions if you're still curious.

 

[svi]

I do plan on dedicating myself for the 3 years. Im fully aware of this time frame, I also fully recognize the challenge that I am giving myself. Did I mention i really went to school to play golf, and I think on the way out the door they gave me a degree in History? Does anything from the 7 and 63 get overlapped on this exam? because I already took those.

I did factor in the difficulties i might face in preparing and thats why I signed up for the 07 exam instead of Dec.

Thanks for your early feedback.

 

[skahammer]

7 & 63 -- no idea personally, but someone here will know.

And good that you've at least considered the 3-year commitment. I mistakenly thought there might have been a bit of a knee-jerk quality in your decision-making. My bad.

I should mention one thing in your favor: There is NO reason why someone who puts in the time with the books shouldn't do well on the exams. There are no magic secrets that one can only get from working in the business. My biggest concern about the Level I exam was whether it was a fair representation of the curriculum -- and in my opinion, it was.

I guess I would just emphasize that to do well on the exam and not drive yourself crazy, you need to be the kind of person who enjoys sitting at a desk for hours at a time figuring out how to solve problems or apply concepts. Anyone who doesn't enjoy that, I feel bad for in the CFA program.

 

[StealthPlanner]

I have the Series 7 & 66.

These securities licenses have little- actually nothing- to do with financial analysis. Yes, there is some material (e.g. options) that may be on the CFA, and there may be some items from compliance/ethics/legal areas that might cross over, but it's not much of a match. The Series 7 essentially makes it legal for you to sell securities. The 66 (which combines the 63 & 65) is where you get into more of the legal/ethical stuff and a VERY small portion of suitability and strategy.

So, having the 7 may will not help much because all it did was introduce you to how options work, what stocks and bonds are, and maybe a question or two on exchange rates, but that's about it. The CFA is much more rigorous.