Dec 2011 CFA candidate level 1 - Most and least time consuming sections 2011, background, registered, already, average

suxiaoxiao

Hi Everybody,
- I have registered for CFA level1-December 2011 and have no financial background. I wanted to know from people who have already appeared level 1 the most and least time consuming sections for them.
- Reason - I want to track my progress.
- I read CFAI introduction which says keep an average of 15 hours per study section with some sessions consuming more time than the rest. I have already spent more than 20 hours and still not through the Study session 1 of Quantitative Methods.
- I am following both Elan and CFAI guides concurrently as I am not able to understand concepts fully if I just follow elan study notes may be it is because I don't have any financial background.
- So here I am requesting all of you who have appeared to share their experiences. I would appreciate if people can list the approx number of weeks/hours they invested. Based on what - I have notice when I glanced through the entire material once and based on my research on some threads of this forum I have arranged the sections in the descending order of their time consumption/complexity as below :

1) FRA - Most time consuming - Weeks/hours?
2) Quant
3) Economics
4) Fixed Income
5) Corporate finance
6) Derivatives
7) Ethics - Least


Please please do share your experiences . I really appreciate your help.

Thanks a lot.
AN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 05:22PM by a.nayak.

cchang

@ Kiakaha thanks for the info. I moved to dubai for a job in an unrelated field, strictly for the tax free money and all. However, the lifestyle here can get pretty strenuous so I was contemplating going back, but like you have mentioned, and from what i have heard from countless others, the finance industry in NZ is quite small and its mostly connection driven. I was also thinking of moving to Sydney by the end of the year. Let say I drop my job and use my savings to move there and find work, do you think the job market over there offers good opportunites, especially if you dont have alot of 'relevant' experience? Its a gamble and i have been contemplating the move for quite sometime now..

thanks for your help

trogulj

Thank you anothercfainnyc and everyone. Feeling much better now. Hopefully will try to get through Quants by the end of this month.
AN

MonkeyBusiness

I was planning to post only if I pass Level 1 exam (I took it this month), but putting forth my study plan wouldn't harm I guess.

As a math major and a quants guy, 'Quantitative Methods' did not take too much of my time; but that was kind of expected given my background.

The following sections took a lot of time:
FRA/Accounting, Fixed Income

These took moderate amount of time:
Ethics, Quant (lot of theory to read), Equity, Economics, Corporate Finance

These took the minimum time:
Derivatives, Alt Investment, Portfolio Management

Ethics seems easy - but the questions are very tricky - usually, you are safely able to eliminate one answer choice and are left confused between the other two choices.

I never counted how may hours I studied/took per section; so cannot post actual time taken - but this is a good estimate.

Since you are starting a bit early, and are not a finance guy, it is okay to take time in some sections. Believe it or not - it takes time to understand and get a feel of the language/terms used. Most people here won't consider it jargon, but it is jargon to those who are new to finance. It is pointless to rush through any section (unless the exam is a month away or so).

After finishing 3-4 study sessions, take some time to review that material and see that you remember it well; you need to hit the 'Refresh' key in your brain!

MythosHF

Elan, schweser etc are good enough for all subjects except Ethics IMO. Do the CFAI EOC. Its a must.Quant and FRA took most of my time.Keep at it till you understand the concepts.You have time. I suggest doing CFAI EOC immediately after completing a reading to consolidate your understanding.

waldziuchna

@kiakaha may I ask how is the finance job market at new zealand right now? I graduated with a master in finance from massey around 2 years ago but never actually looked for work home, i immediately moved overseas, but i am planning to return home to look for work in anything related.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 20, 2011 at 07:13AM by mr_moose.

dontknow1987

I am juicing every section until I have an understanding of it and then will come back to it on my final month for review.

I'm in the same boat - very little to none financial background.

I am reading the CFAI book, reviewing the same chapter on Kaplan which is shorter and then go on the video and slides to finish. Take 3 tests and have so far done 75%, 85 % and 73%. follow the percentage that the CFAI gives out on how much each section weighs on the exam.

You have a lot of time, be systematic, don't do drugs, alcohol with moderation, red bull or coffee in moderation, get a girlfriend / boyfriend and study continuously while doing test exams (short ones on each chapter)...

dmar

The order of study of subjects is an individual choice. I studies Ethics off and on and revised in detail in the last 2 weeks. Any earlier and i wouldn't have remembered.For the rest i studied in decreasing order of topic weightage. where the weightage was the same i chose the subject i thought would be more difficult for me to study.

You choose your own method.

JRossSter

As someone without a finance degree, quant and FRA took the longest. Quant because of the process of getting my head re-engaged with math, and FRA because there is a truckload of crap to remember and a lot of small differences between IFRS/GAAP that really do just come down to rote memorization.  

You should make yourself a study schedule, you need to get through all the material with a month for review/mock exams.  

Good luck!

sdada

AN,

This is a good thread you have started. Even I come from a background other than Finance .. and even I was wondering the order of importance of subjects. The responses to ur post will help me too.
So this Elan's material is much in details is it ? Coz I am followinf on CFAI material ..and have to take help of google so often to understand lot of financial concepts and terminologies ..
How are going about it ?

Question to KrazyKanuck : is CFAI material enough to clear level I exam ... or do i need to refer to something else also ?