If you don't match that. Your CFA designation isn't complete.

There seems to be an interesting shift in what employers expect from finance candidates considering the current job market and rising use of AI tools.

The CFA does demonstrate a strong foundation in core finance but having the certification or being a candidate naturally doesn't mean a candidate has practical experience.

Plus, employers continously look for active work experience or internships, ability to make financial models, and basic AI knowledge and related skills among other things.

So, this raises an interesting question: Has the role of CFA in recruitment changed or does it still make a difference?

Do you think it will help a candidate get through the initial screening or will they only get the job if they have practical skills and experience?

Would be interested to hear from people who have completed CFA, are currently pursuing it, or work in finance!

My understanding is development cap and growth cap are the same.

Then the answer explanations seem to be explaining a different form for alternative investing (venture and LBO)

The curriculum mentions Microsoft Excel/Google Sheet functions in its 2027 Quantitative Methods. Should I consider these formulas to appear in the exam or are they provided as industry tool guidance?

Hey guys!

The answer key reads out A in its explanation, but marks B as correct.

From my notes, it says that Ve-P= (V-P) + (Ve-V). We want to focus on the V-P part rather than the error part.

So, will active managers focus on the Ve-P as a whole or the V-P part only?

Thanks in advance!

Its my first attempt in november, I am assuming that they will ask questions from different LMs within the same subject in a single vignette but do they also combine question from different subjects in a particular vignette?

Textbook Quote: Scarola's share price rose from EUR30 to EUR33 over the five-month period..

Correction: Scarola's share price rose from EUR30 to EUR33 after the entire share repurchase program was completed at the end of the 5 month period.

Coach's Explanation: The initial equity value is (2.5bn @ EUR30) = EUR75bn. The company issues EUR10bn in debt in order to retire EUR10bn in stock. Therefore, when the authors compounded the entire remaining amount of equity (EUR65bn) at 10%, they are implicitly assuming that the stock price must have increased to EUR33 after the entire share repurchase program was completed (at end of the 5 months).

I’ve signed up for the May 2027 exam for Level 1. The amount of information we have to retain is just absurd, but I’ve created a study schedule so that I allow enough time to go through the entire curriculum and dedicate the last 1.5-2 months to just reviewing and taking mocks.

As of now, I have not signed up to any other study source, I’m just using the CFAI and my dear friend Claude. As I approach the exam, I’ll probably be purchasing additional mocks to practice.

Here’s my study process so far:
I work full-time so I’m dedicating 3-4 hours after work to go over material/take notes and then 5-6 hours over the weekends. The process of reading/taking notes feels so time-consuming that I wonder if I’m just wasting my time because the material sticks and then is quickly forgotten as I move on to the next modules. It’s a little stressful to balance working through the material —> making sense of it —> finding time to practice on what I’ve reviewed so far while also trying to keep the momentum going so I can get through the whole curriculum in time.

Some people on here say go straight to the questions, which hasn’t been super helpful for me because reading the context helps things click for me. Others are just relying on Anki flash cards.

It’s silly, but not only am I overwhelmed by the amount of information, I’m also overwhelmed about everything I should be doing to make studying easier along the way.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I just really want to make the most use of my time and I feel like if I don’t take the right amount of notes then my review sessions won’t feel productive later.

What’s a waste of time? What actually works? What was your study schedule? How did you get through the entire curriculum so that it gave you a good foundational understanding to carry you through Level 2?

Looking for a CFA Level 1 study buddy!
Hey everyone! I’m preparing for CFA Level 1 and looking for a study partner to stay consistent and motivated with. Ideally, we can discuss concepts, solve questions together, share resources, and keep each other accountable.
I’m open to studying online, and preferably looking for someone around the same prep stage. If you’re also preparing, feel free to comment or DM me!
Would love to find someone who’s serious about studying but also makes the process a little less lonely :)

I am 25 days out from my 2nd attempt at Level 2 and have taken several mocks so far.

Areas to improve most on: FSA, derivatives, Quant.

UWorld Mock 1 and 2: ~60%

CFAI Mock 1 Session A: 61%
CFAI Mock 1 Session B: 84%
CFAI Mock 1 Aggregate Score: 73%

CFAI Mock 2 Session A: 68%
CFAI Mock 2 Session B: 80%
CFA Mock 2 Aggregate Score: 74%

Where do you think I stand? Plan will be to keep drilling questions this week and take another mock this weekend.

while I understand there might be more more to ethics in L3 (GIPS?), as I begin this material on MM’s videos:

Are MM’s ethics videos different…?

seems like a dumb question but, this first video for L3 seems to be a repeat of the L1 and L2 videos (which were the same essentially)

Title sums it up really. I’m interested in knowing how similar the mocks are in comparison with the actual exam.

I’m scoring pretty decent in the mocks, but I can’t take comfort in my results without knowing how similar they are to the actual exams. In my head I keep thinking the actual exam will be much more difficult

Textbook Quote: If a firm's multiple is well above those of similar firms, then it may be considered overvalued.. A multiple far below… conclude that a company is undervalued.

Correction: If a firm's multiple is well above those of similar firms, then it may be considered 'relatively' overvalued.. A multiple far below… conclude that a company is 'relatively' undervalued.

Coach's Explanation: When using a comparable approach to valuation (i.e. peer group comparison), the outcome is a 'relative' valuation. In this case, we can only conclude that Cheshire is undervalued relative to its peer group; but that does not necessarily mean that Cheshire is undervalued on an absolute basis.

I've just checked my email

Feeling expected: happiness
Real Feeling: relief

Just had courage to check it today. The charter is coming

Second attempt. Scored 2480 last time. I’ve quit my job to prepare full-time, and after 4 mocks over the last 10 days, my scores are stuck between 64–68%.

My biggest weakness is Quantitative Methods (QM). Formula errors and silly mistakes are also dragging my scores down. I genuinely think I can reach 70%+, but I’m starting to panic.

With November potentially having a lot of reattempters, I’m worried this attempt could be brutal.
For those who passed L2 or are reattempting:

How should I tackle QM at this stage?
Which QM topics offer the best return on revision time?
Are 64–68% mock scores enough to build on, or am I running out of time?

I’ve sacrificed my job for this attempt. I really don’t want to fail again. Any practical advice would help.

Like currently I am in articleship, how much time I have to give for clearing the cfa level 1 xam? Nd also i have limited time like I can give 3 hr max on regular basis.

Folks wanted to know who has already given the level 2 exam or ones preparing how good are the mocks, especially LES that and the premium pack resemblance with the actual exam.
What is the safe score? In percentage terms.

Just attempted an official CFA Institute mock. Got 75% overall (66% in Session 1 and 84% in Session 2).

With 17 days left, am I on the right track? What should I focus on now?

Would appreciate some honest advice

So yeah…
Haven’t touched PM and AI at all.
Just started FSA, FI and Ethics.
Other subjects aren’t done well either.
How cooked am I?
Just saw someone’s post that they cleared the L3 in 25 days on the CFA India sub. It kind of gave me hope. But then again, idk man…
Personal life’s gone for a toss too with my father just being discharged from the hospital and an impending breakup.

ATP what do I even do except for deferring?

Can it be pulled off?

The question asks us to pick an asset allocation. There shouldn't be a "loss greater than 20% over any 1 year period". Isn't this the definition of Var and not CVar?

If so why are we eliminating E, F, G as their CVar is greater than 20%?

Textbook Quote: The author is implying that using the company's historic Price-to-FCFE is wrong.

Correction: Relative comparison may either be made with a peer group (i.e. cross sectional) or the company's own historical average (i.e. time series). Consequently, Answer choice 'C' is plausible.

Coach's Explanation: If the author is referring to a peer group, then they should explicitly ask for a 'comparable' method. Otherwise, 'relative' can mean relative to other companies or relative to the company's historic average.