But what you've learnt in CFA will definitely add value to your job. I know you'll move up the ladder fast.

thanks for being so supportive I believe U'll do good in your job as well.

What make you to think CFA can add value and one to move up the ladder fast in a management consultant firm? I think MBA would be more relevant for a management consulting job.

Can feel the pinch of the USD325 . Maybe you can ask your company to sponsor you.

Btw, I think the CPE courses with discount for CFA members are useful as what you mentioned as I need to maintain the SC licence .

This post has been edited by kinwing: Oct 5 2012, 02:38 PM

And what makes you think it can't? Of course 100% of the syllabus won't be applied in the job but what you learn from the equity portion can, i.e industry & competitor analysis, valuation. He can even use his knowledge to advise on corporate finance issues (not on expert level at the beginning, but he can do the job). If he can pass his level 2, I don't think it'll be difficult to pick up strategy, operations, etc.

No doubt doing an MBA will give a better all-round view to the business but at this stage he won't have time to do it.

I must clarify my sentence. I did not imply that CFA will help him move up the ladder fast, but i'm saying it in terms of his own individual capability.

Oh ya, aaron, if you're going to be in this field, take a good MBA, it will help you progress even further.

Employer paid everything, L1-L3 costs + Kasturi fees + 7 days paid study leave per level + CFA Charter annual membership. I think most IBs / SC licencee firms provide significant support to staff pursuing CFA.

Upside = FOC .... downside is bosses will know if you don't clear!

Hey thanks! I'm in one of the Big 4 advisory.

Whilst MBA would be more relevant, CFA does come in handy in many areas like what fino elaborated earlier. It was too early for me to do MBA without any prior working experience and so I chose CFA for my post grad last year.

Thanks fino, I've definitely factored in MBA in my future plans. What about you? Plan to do it as well?

Maybe not. Still a long way to go. After completing level 3, planning to do the PRM exams first then perhaps do a MSc Financial Engineering/Risk Management.

hi i am doing CFA level 2 for 2013. i like to get some advice whether i should self study or enrol d workshops at kasturi/noesis/sunway.I self studied my lv1 but i am not sure if it will be tough to self study for lv2 hence like to hear ur opinions.

it appears to me that noesis has a pretty good feedback at this thread because of its relative small class size(appx 25 ppl)+ career services. however the cost is also d most expensive among all (RM5.5k if i am not mistaken).

I personally think sunway's package might be attractive as it provides the Schweser notes at a cost lower than noesis (about RM4k not sure d exact amount) plus I am not actively hunting for jobs and thus might not need d career service at d moment.

From my understanding kasturi is the most reasonably priced but the class size is quite big(i am not sure how big).

It would be greatly appreciated if someone would kind enough to share the pros/cons of kasturi/sunway/noesis, even though i personally tend to sunway a bit more, but i just can't find much review about it...

looking forward to your response!

Hi Hegolas,

First off, congrats for having moved to the next level. I'll give my take on Level 2 classes at Noesis. for Sunway, perhaps aaron1kee can give his review/opinions. Don't know anyone who did Level 2 at Kasturi. I think kinwing did self-study on his Level 2, so maybe you can PM him for advice.

General:[U]
The decision of either to self-study/go for classes is a combination of multiple variables. If you are a disciplined fellow and you find the materials in Level 1 quite easy to handle, you will be fine with self-study in Level 2 if you can spend adequate time on your studies (which means finishing your first reading at least 1 month prior to exam, leaving the final month for revision & mock exams. I do know a PwC auditor who took a month off to study in May and still passed Level 2 ). Yes, Level 2 materials will be more in-depth (harder as well) and sometimes you will get lost with the readings but as long as you can spend the time studying consistently, you'll be fine. If your work is long hours in nature and you find it hard to focus on your studies during weekends/free time, then going for classes is advisable.

Pro(s) on Noesis:
1) Experienced lecturers from the industry (ex-BCG Consultant, Corporate finance, private equity, fund management, fixed income, etc)
- Build your network with the lecturers. My coursemate got into CF through the recommendation from one of the lecturers.
- Get to know more about the industry that you are interested in (first-hand), and we also like to consult the lecturers on career change.
- Off-site support: If you have a question, you can always e-mail the lecturers.

2) Small class size (25 ppl max)
- My batch in Level 2 (2012) had only 15 people. We get to interact and build our small network (there were those in CF, Treasury, Equity Research, Private Equity, ALM, etc)
- A month before exams, Noesis will allow students to study at their centre (till as late as you wanted to, 1 guy did it till 1 am once) with free-flow coffee (Marks & Spencer), water and biscuits. We planned a few group study sessions during that period and had some crazy times.

3) High passing rate
- 67% (8/12) passing rate for Level 2 (2012) batch (I'm part of that statistic, 8 passed, 3 were not contactable, suspect they failed). The other 4 got within band 6 to band 10, so they are going for classes again in December (FOC).

4) Career Service
- Since you are not actively hunting for jobs, then nothing much to be said here.

5) Staff Support
- Staff are friendly and will always help when possible. They will send reminders on classes and books to bring, make sure your notes are printed and ready in class. If you are not able to attend the class, they will record a video of the class for you to view later.
- On exam day, they will book a section of PappaRich for lunch (eat-all-you-want) if the exam venue is at the Sunway Convention Centre. If it's at PWTC, they will also arrange a buffet lunch for the students). You do not need to even worry about where to have lunch (but of course, you may not have any appetite after the morning session grilling). Books will be prepared by the staff if you want to do some study but we usually just have our fun during lunch.

6) Other Courses
- Noesis provides courses for SC License holders throughout the year and Noesis's students get to register for only RM30 (whereas outsiders will be charged few hundreds of RM for the course). More opportunities to network and it's not that expensive if you want to get more credit hours for your CPE (I think most employers will pay for your CPE course, so nothing much here).
- They will also provide a professional development course (advising on matters from what career suits you, resume writing, soft skills, etc.)

Con(s) on Noesis:
1) Price
- Undeniably, Noesis's price is the highest among the three, and justifies the premium through value-added services. Lecturing hours comes close to 90++ hours (not including the Intensive Course Review), 20++ hours on Intensive Course Review, and 3 mock exams (not including the mock exams from Schweser)

Wrap-Up: It does look like I'm over-selling them and I admit it. Great place to be at and I have made some very close friends there. If cost is a concern for you, then I would not recommend Noesis for you. Hopefully my review helps.

Hi hegolas, first of all congratulations on passing your level one. I believe fino has given a fair assessment of Noesis.

On a general basis, I think self-study for level 2 is still practical, given the right discipline and effort. Now that you aren't actively seeking for jobs, I do suggest that you do self-studying, with reference materials from Schweser.

I'll try to be objective in giving you a fair assessment of Sunway. But I might be biased because I've been studying in Sunway for the past four years. I did my undergrad there as well.

PROS:
1. Relatively cheaper pricing. I think the main selling point is its package of weekend classes and schweser materials, all at just 4k. IMO, having schweser saves me a lot of precious study time as they know which part to emphasis and it's very helpful when you're under time constraint to complete the syllabus. Else, please do go through the textbook if you do have the time to do so. Especially the case study, they tend to examine the examples, albeit in a different manner.

2. Professional lecturers imported from Singapore AB Maximus. All our weekend classes are taught by working professionals from Singapore, and they have accumulated enough experiences in the working world to be able to integrate the syllabus with practical examples. AFAIK, AB Maximus itself is quite renowned in Singapore and the present collaboration between Sunway and AB Maximus do allow us to access to such talent base.

3. Progress test. Sunway has a system in assessing students performances every now & then. After every few lessons we have internal assessment, a full mock up simulation of the actual test, along with a discussion after the assessment. This is of particular importance to me personally as it keeps me in line with the syllabus and also an effective way of assessing your level of knowledge.

Cons:
1. Relatively young education provider. Sunway has just started its CFA program last year, whereas Noesis has been a local leader for a number of years. The lack of experience may be a turn off to some, but I can assure you Sunway is learning through the collaboration with AB Maximus.

2. Limited lessons. There are just 18 lessons per level. It's insufficient to cover the whole syllabus so often the lecturers may have to rush through certain parts. It can be mentally tiring sometimes to absorb so much in such a short time.

Again, I might be overselling just like what Fino did. But it's your personal effort at the end in passing the exam, choosing Sunway/Noesis/Kasturi makes not that much of a difference because I believe everyone has a competitive edge in the courses they offered.


PS: Fino, started my first day of employment today! now hafto juggle between studies and work. hahaha.

Great sharing, aaron. Better plan your study plan. Your work schedule is going to get filled up soon but I think you'll get the hang of it. After a 5-day week, you can easily feel burned out when you want to study so watch out for that.

Thanks Fino, I have been hearing positive feedback about Noesis and what u said is very much similar. I believe Noesis is fairly well-known with good reputation that's why many people like you recommend Noesis. Greatly appreciate your advice and the way u break down the pros one by one. very easy to read and understand, helps a lot!

I am just a bit curious: what kind of materials/notes are used at Noesis? are they in-house materials provided by Noesis/trainers associated with Noesis? I did not study the CFAI curriculum at all and merely relied on Schewer notes for my level 1 exam so I am curious about the materials used at Noesis.Anyhow I suppose the high passing rate does prove its quality to a certain degree..

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Added on October 8, 2012, 10:56 pmHi Aaron, thanks for your feedback about Sunway. I noticed u said u studied at Sunway for 4 years, did you take the CFA classes there?It was quite difficult finding reviews on sunway CFA coz as u said it's pretty new in d market. do you mind sharing more details about the classes? ie how many students, how helpful are the trainer/staff, can we study at sunway just like Noesis allows students to study on d campus, etc。 I am currently working full time and find it challenging to study after work. Schewer notes helped me a lot passing level 1( i was a full time student that time) hence I reckon it might aid me well for level 2. but yeah i am also starting reading d CFAI curriculum. but i guess with d help of trainers will do more help..

This post has been edited by hegolas: Oct 8 2012, 10:56 PM

The lecturers prepare their own notes but I still prefer reading through the textbooks. I feel more confident in tackling the exam that way. The lecturers' notes are in summarised form (powerpoint slides pdf), so you can view it on your smartphone/tablet. Good when revising.

As for the high passing rate, the students' are all strong academically and we motivate each other throughout the course. Anyway, it's very much on your part to put in the effort in order to pass.

Hello friends,

Just a quick check with you all, in the CAPM formula, does the expected return purely come from capital gain or does it include dividend as well? Pls advise, thank you.

Xuzen

Capital gains yield + dividend yield

Hi all, I'm relatively new to the financial industry and have come across the CFA qualification. I would like to ask what are the benefits of becoming a charterholder? I heard from a relative of mine that it will not increase your emolument and in her words "CFA is relatively useless".

Thank you.

Xuzen

Thanks for the heads up. I'm still trying to accommodate studies after work. Found a few colleagues of mine who are doing level 3 as well so maybe we could organise a study session after in the office.

Yeah I did take both level 1 & 2 at Sunway. We have relatively high passing rate as well. Tho I couldn't give you the exact percentage but we could definitely rival that of Noesis. The classes are pretty small, with a group of 10-20 and most are very engaging. Sunway provides a university environment and you can definitely have a good 'campus' feel here. With regards to the trainer, they are definitely willing to guide you provided that you take the initiative as they are busy with the careers as well.

But TBH, I think Noesis has a better admin support in terms of your preference of being helpful.

You have no idea how envious I am. No one in the whole Finance dept in my bank is doing the CFA program (what more to say Level 3, but I heard a girl in Risk Dept is doing Level 1/2 ).

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Added on October 9, 2012, 10:24 pmWhich part of the financial industry are you in? And your relative? Anyway, your relative is right in some way, the CFA program is relatively useless for those who are in accounting/operations/logistics/manufacturing etc AND it will not increase your emolument immediately. If you are in fund management, equity/fixed income research, ECM, DCM, Corporate Finance, having the CFA charterholder is valuable for your career in terms of the recognition it brings. Of course, if you are a freshie and you have passed 1/2/3 papers, don't expect employers to give you a fat paycheck for it (and one thing, doing the CFA program doesn't guarantee you a job in the fields mentioned above). You'll have to demonstrate it in your job that you are capable of contributing to the bottom line of the organization for you to command a high pay (which I'm very confident most CFA candidates who have passed all three exams can do).

Hope it helps

This post has been edited by fino_abama: Oct 9 2012, 10:24 PM