Quants before FSA and Equity

S

sgupta0827

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Finally I am starting my studies from today. I am planning to start from FSA followed by equity. The only doubt I have is that do I have to study quant before I start FSA or equity? In other words, are there any concepts used in FSA or equity from Quants?
 
Doing the sections in order of the book numbers. Finished quant a few weeks ago, and did not notice anything specifically from FSA or Equity.
 
@El duque I think my question was polar opposite. I asked if I need to go through Quant before I start on FSA or Equity. Thanks though!
 
Ooops…that’s what I get for posting so late. Fair enough. :)
 
@sgupta0827 I’m a re-taker this year. There is no problem starting with FSA and Equities before Quant. Last year I started in Quant and went straight through the books in order with Ethics tacked on to the end. This time around I’m concentrating on my areas based on where my weaknesses were last year.
Overall I don’t think it really matters what order you go through the readings. However, I do recommend that you leave plenty of time for review. The key is reviewing prior sections as you go along to keep the material fresh.
 
@greyhound86 Thanks for the information. Since I don’t want to spend 7-8 months studying for CFA, I try to study smartly, focusing mainly on heavy weights and skimming other areas that don’t have as much weight. I followed the same strategy during CFA level 1, studying FSA from CFAI text books and other areas from Schweser. I am planning to follow the same for CFA level 2, studying FSA and equity from CFAI textbooks and others from Schweser notes. However, while studying for level 1 I did feel that I would have understood the concepts faster and better if I had started from Quant. Yet, this may not be the case during CFA level 2 as now I am one level up and I have some knowledge of finance. During level 1, these concepts were latin and greek to me.
 
No problem. And while you will likely spend the most time on FSA and Equities don’t neglect the other areas. As much as they are low weighted areas, it still pays to know them. You may not have to read the chapters if you have Schweser, but make sure you can do all the problems at the end of the chapter. You don’t want to have to waste time on a simple options question and take time away from something else.
Good luck studying!
 
Yes definitely I agree with you that one can’t afford to ignore any areas. In fact during CFA level 1 some people paid price by ignoring Alternate investments. The questions from this section were was purely based on theory and the level of questions was easy. Problems, schweser and EOC questions should be good enough for other easy areas.
 
I honestly don’t think it matters what topic you start with or in which order you do them. Quant will supplement portfolio mgt when discussing capital market line/CAPM/SML which are related to regression analysis, which is what Quant covers. But in general, I don’t think any one topic precludes you from learning and understanding another. As a side note: I think Quant, albeit one of the less heavily weighted topics, is actually one of the hardest.
I get confused when people argue for doing FSA or Equity first - as though it’s foolish not to. Sure they’re more important and I guess that strategy can’t hurt, but doing them first changes nothing in my mind. Perhaps its bc people assume you are fresher and more committed bc it’s still early in the game, but if anything, I’d probably suggest making them some of the last topics that way they are fresher when you do your review. That assumes of course you allot yourself an equivalent amount of time to study them.
In the end, I don’t think it matters. Sure, the topics are all connected in a way, but none of them stop you from learning anything downstream.
 
The reason why people argue for doing Equity and FSA first is that if one masters these sections, one has good chance of passing the test. However, if one tries to master the hardest topic such as quant, it’s not at all likely that one is going to pass, unless other heavy weights are mastered. Although I agree that foundation for some of the other topics–such as the one you mentioned, PM–lies on the concepts from Quants, one doesn’t need to be master of Quants to ace these topics. For example, I didn’t get 70% on Quants but I got this band on all other areas that were using concepts from Quant. This correlation may just be coincidental and may not be true for level 2, but somehow I don’t think you need to be master of every single topic on CFA curriculum. Other who are experienced and have aced level 2 can weigh in their opinion.
 
I’m not suggesting you don’t master FSA or Equity nor am i suggesting that mastering Quant is more important than mastering FSA - the question is when you study them. One can master either topic in April or January. My point is, if it takes 3 weeks to master equity, why not spend those 3 weeks towards the end prior to reviewing everything as opposed to spending those 3 weeks in January.
Granted, I can forget something it seems in two weeks as easily as I can forget something after 4 mos, but there is a far greater likelihood of retaining more the closer you are to test day. So why not wait to do the most important topics towards the end ? Assuming you have enough time to master them.
 
Your last statement is the one people are most scared of. What if one runs out of the time to master the most important topics? Your approach may be good if one has allocated enough time for the studies and everything goes as per plan, but reality is always different–Life has so much in store for everyone :). If this happens, at least you will have heavy weights in your bucket.
 
there is really nothing in quant that you need for FSA and Equity. Just a buncha regression crap!
 
@troxel317 so you do suggest that understanding of regression is needed for FSA and equity. Considering I am a naive to Finance and I have no idea what regression is, do I need to go through Quants before I start FSA and equity?
 
I agree with you sgupta, but I’m assuming that time will be available. Also, I don’t care how much time I spend on something or how well I’ve mastered the information, if i study something in January..i will forget the details, if nothing else, by test day; it’s inevitable. So it doesn’t do much good anyways. This is obviously why one reviews. That’s me, of course. Perhaps others can master something in Jan/Feb and not lose a thing by June.
 
Retaker here. I am a big believer in leaving quant and ethics for last. For me, I really enjoy, as much as one can, learning about equity and even some FRA. I find quant to be a bit boring and less useful in my everyday life so I will leave it for last and try to learn as much as possible when I feel confident with (most) of the other material.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top