anyone can help too?

INTI vs KASTURI?

i am final year and finishing final exam on may. however i would think to work first before taking the cfa.

questions:
- i need to work for 4 yrs then only can take the exam, or within the 4 yrs can take it?
- i like to take cfa, however the jobs that said to qualify during the 4 yrs job, can be front office or back office? (any type of job also can, whether related or unrelated? anyway i taking banking and finance course, planning to work at banks)
- wat is the longest duration allowed to finish the cfa? (exp: passing lvl1, then wait 1 yr to lvl 2, then wait 2 yr to lvl3)

these are the confusion i get when reading their terms. hope u can explain to me. thanks alot =)

This post has been edited by Chisinlouz: Apr 14 2011, 01:59 AM

Guys, just so you know, there's another thread in Education Essentials about the CFA papers, with people asking pretty much the same questions :

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/359541

According to my 'interpretation' of the entry requirements for the CFA program,

- if you have a degree, you don't need to prove you have working experience;

- if you don't have a degree but a diploma, then you have to prove your work and college experience all together should be at least 4 years, and the working experience should be professional related;

- if you don't even have a diploma, you need to prove you have qualified and professional working experience;

- if you registered for CFA Level I during the last year of your degree program and subsequently you pass Level I, you may not proceed for Level II if you fail to earn your degree later, unless you can prove you have obtained the relevant qualified working experience that meets the entrance requirements.

- the 'qualified and professional experience' should be referring to the financial professional related experience. According to the CFA Institute, working experience should be "at least 50 percent directly involved in the investment decision-making process and engaged in responsibilities and/or producing a work product that informs or adds value to that process. Part-time positions and managing your own investments do not qualify as 'qualified and professional experience'. For my opinion, back office job might not be able to expose you much to the experience of "at least 50 percent directly involved in the investment decision-making process".

- previously I heard from other friends that candidates need to complete the CFA program (from Level I till Level III) within 7 years, but now it looks like there is no such restriction in time to complete the program.

Hope these can clear some of your doubt.

For more information, indeed you should email your queries to the CFA institute and we are pleased if you can share what have the CFA institute revert back to you.

This post has been edited by kinwing: Apr 14 2011, 10:03 PM

@kinwing
My friend is currently undertaking CFA and the time to pass the exam apparently is 10 years.. (for level 1 - 3).

However, this is all based on his words. Someone may want to verify it.

Ya, this also recalls me a friend of mine who failed level II twice and 3 or 4 times for level III but he is still eligible to sit the next coming CFA exam .

Does anyone have the photocopy of the CFA books that they are willing to part with? I am thinking of doing CFA. I am currently pursuing wawasan's banking and finance degree

Not likely.
Getting a CFA is only useful if yr a fund manager or an equity analyst or maybe some investment banking corporate advisory side. It just gives you a little bit more credibility that's all. Other than those stated CFA is of little use and yr promotion is due to yr hard work rather than yr qualifications. Besides banks always likes engineers for some reason.

I have CFA books for level 1 (2008), level 2 (2009) and level 3 (2010). If you want to refer the latest version, the old version might not be what you want and you should then go check the latest topic outline from the CFA's website.

why banks like engineer?
my CFA level 1 passed on the yr 2005. even extend to 10 yrs, i dun think i will complete it

^

Because Financial engineer creates dreams, they build the dream, create the innovative financial products since people are greedy, and they make the disaster since people are fear, they can achieve double returns. Then banks prefer the engineering graduates. Then you should take up degree in Financial Engineering.

Nonsense. Engineers are more fond of number crunching and are meticulous enough to make sense of the numbers which is what banks are looking for. It also offers an alternative viewpoint (engineers viewpoint and a finance people viewpoint may be different, influenced by their background). Bank's also like people from chemistry, biomechanical, etc field for the same reason above

^

my friend graduated in hotel admin Cornell univ , working for barclays, got S$7-8K

Financial Engineer has nothing to do with engineering graduates. To be exact, Financial Engineering is a Finance course instead of a Engineering course.

yup

Financial eng study investment model, create model to earn money

would like to ask, if I have CFA besides investment bank or research house, where else can I utilize this certificates?

currently working in FMCG company and I was told the nearest possible position could be is in treasury team which handle all sort of investment for the company.

hi peeps,
I need some advises here.
I am a finance graduate and i am planning on doing CFA Level I in June 2012.
5 months of self-studying time will be enough for me to pass the exam?

will CFA guarantee me a position as an analyst and above average salary?
Thanks peeps.

try trading companies. im working in a palm oil refinery and they have a trading desk, trading some commodities, perhaps it suits u

No la. My friend completed it in 4 years time.

---

Added on December 29, 2011, 11:33 pmu just need to be a degree grad to take CFA.

level 1 exam is held twice a year and level 2 & 3 once a year. However i would strongly suggest that you take 1 year to prepare for level 2 for those who wants to reduce their study period by taking the june level 1 exams and december level 2 exams subsequently.

This post has been edited by T3N5AI: Dec 29 2011, 11:33 PM

+1

why not enroll for dec 2012? more time to study....

5 months? depends on lots of factor... like whether you are working, how fast you can learn and also the time you willing to spent to study ?
not a guaranteee but slightly more advantage compared to others when compete for analyst position...