Tag Archives: Chartered Financial Analyst

My Experience Of CFA Level 2 Exam Day at Singapore Expo

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Last Sunday, I just had my most “awesome” exam ever. It was the CFA Level 2 exam. The stress level was so high that even on the way towards the exam center I felt nervous. So what did I do, I tweeted (to de-stress) :D

When you are on the train and you see someone reading the CFA notes, how would you feel? I would be thinking, hmm did I miss anything, oh what is that formula for this/ for that. That feeling sucks. Than you start to think, if there are so many people taking CFA, has it become a commodity? (Trying to comfort myself if I failed)

 “The CFA is still a really valid credential. It’s still as hard as ever to achieve it, and I think it still adds a lot of value,” says Sandy Gross, managing partner and founder of Pinetum Partners LLC. She even likens the designation to “an MBA on steroids,” due to the program’s focus on investment knowledge. - efinancialcareers.com

She says its MBA on steroids.I couldn’t agree more. 

When I see others continue to read the study materials, I get even more nervous

If case you found this article towards the CFA Exam Day here’s a little guide from CFA Institute.

Planning For Exam Day

  • It’s important to eat breakfast on exam day. (Totally agreed, you need all the energy you can get. you are allowed to bring in sweets too to keep you awake!!!)
  • Plan to arrive at your test center at least one hour before your exam is scheduled to begin. (See photo above)
  • Before you leave home, be sure you have the following items:
    • Valid international travel passport
    • Exam admission ticket
    • Approved calculator(s)
    • Approved writing instruments (pencils for Levels I and II, pens and pencils for Level III)
    • Any additional permitted items you may need during the exam such as pencil sharpeners, erasers, loose calculator batteries, lunch or money to purchase lunch (Don’t waste time, Pack your own lunch :D ), etc.
And before I end, I like to thank Jun Kang, EZ, Kelvin & Edmond. The last 2 weeks of revision together wouldn’t be so fun without you all!
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Everyday in life, you have a choice to choose.

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IRIS XV • learning to fly

I have a choice, recently I have been thinking of the possible routes to upgrade myself. Many of my friends have been uping up courses or certification such as CFA, CPA, CAIA.

So in a moment of fire, I borrow the used books from my friends to see which are the ones that interest me caused I was also planning to take up certification. So I narrowed down to 2.  CFA or CAIA. Which one should I take, both cost quite a bit of sum and most importantly they takes up a bulk of my time.

After begin in school for so long…

Primary school – 6 years

Secondary School – 5 years

Poly – 3 years

and finally University – 3.5 years

Do I really want to hit back to the books again? since I just graduated in Dec 2009. So I been thinking and pondering should I take CFA or should I take CAIA.

Which is better? if you do a search online with “which is better CFA or CAIA” you will have tons of answers.. which is good or which is better, or which one you should take first. So I decided to do up a comparison chart to help me in my decision process.

CFA level 1 CAIA level 1
Currently from my financial perspective it is slightly cheaper as compared to CAIA More expensive
Passing Rates – CFA is well known for its low passing rate thus allowing it to be the Gold Standard of Finance Compared to CFA, CAIA is much younger thus only as “powerful” as CFA despite it growing presence
Amount of time spend – CFA have much more quantitative details that I believe for me required much more time to understand.  Moreover I am very much into sports …the key question here is to ask if I am willing to give up my time for CFA in turn for a better career perhaps? I am not saying that CAIA required less time but I find CAIA content much easier to absorbed , maybe it is due to the way the study guide are constructed or because there are more strategy related topics. Eg, convertible arbitrage hedge fund (how it work and all)  it is much more interesting and since there are more hedge funds moving into Singapore now.
3 papers for CFA 2 papers for CAIA
Should I take it this Dec or Next Jun – if it is this DEC I have only 3 months to study. Do I have enough time with my current work commitment plus I have to forgo training/ running If I am taking CAIA, my plan is to complete it on 2011. Thus maybe it will help give me an better opportunity
Learning materials, CFA is widely available online While for CAIA I have to spend more and the texts changes every term thus it may not be helpful if used the old materials from my friends

But the last and most important to ask myself is am I taking this because I have a interest in this or am I doing it because all of my friends are doing it?

hmmm I will soon have an answers.