swinerton

i work for a US based hedge fund as an analyst.

To be honest, 80% of level 3 is useless, at least for my daily job.

As to ethics, guys, don't think US is paradise. Stricter regulation is true, but definitely still lots of insider information and rumors on the street everyday.

The criteria is: Don't abuse it.

Well, I work for a fundamental oriented fund not a quant shop, so those trading strategies such as VWAP, implementation shortfall are totally bullshit to us. Maybe useful for algorithm trading shops, i have no idea then.

Level 1 and part of level 2 are definitely helpful, but just very basic knowledge. You can not rely on CFA stuff to be a great investor.