Alphajunky
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
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I hope some candidates find this helpful but I used Schweser on my first attempt and switched to Élan for June. I can’t contribute my success directly to Élan. However I can say Peter Olinto deserves a ton of credit from me. I watched all of his FRA and Fixed Income videos. I went from trying to memorize all the minutia in FRA to somehow conceptually understanding it. I honestly feel like his videos turned FRA into my biggest strength. He’s also pretty hilarious at times which keeps it interesting and he does a great job of tying in other areas to the material (Corp Finance, Equity, etc) .
I also think the Élan practice questions and mocks are the closest thing to the actual exam. Their mock exams were not easy and they only give you three.
I am no way bashing Schweser. I also didn’t buy their videos the first time around so I can’t compare. The other level one instructor for Élan (Basit) is brilliant but extremely dry and pretty much reads from the material 80% of the time and I didn’t really use him that much (full disclosure before you go out and buy Élan haha).
If you are retaking or sitting for the first time and are struggling with FRA I can’t sing this guys praises enough. He also does CPA prep courses for Becker and seems to be popular with the CPA crowd. Just wanted to share and hopefully it helps someone!
I also think the Élan practice questions and mocks are the closest thing to the actual exam. Their mock exams were not easy and they only give you three.
I am no way bashing Schweser. I also didn’t buy their videos the first time around so I can’t compare. The other level one instructor for Élan (Basit) is brilliant but extremely dry and pretty much reads from the material 80% of the time and I didn’t really use him that much (full disclosure before you go out and buy Élan haha).
If you are retaking or sitting for the first time and are struggling with FRA I can’t sing this guys praises enough. He also does CPA prep courses for Becker and seems to be popular with the CPA crowd. Just wanted to share and hopefully it helps someone!