Introduction

[Kent Lee]

My name is Kent Lee and I have graduated this past June from UC Davis
in California with a B.A. in Economics. I am still trying to find my
first job in finance, regardless of position. I want to enter
proprietary trading or a hedge fund in the long run. I was considering
the CFA for about a year now, and finally made the execution to
register. I plan on going from Quantitative Methods and Financial
Statement Analysis first. I am planning on using the Schweser 2010
notes to study, and ignoring CFAI curriculum completely, except for
the ethics portion. I hope we can develop a study plan by this month,
and beat the CFA on the first try!

[Mahalingam, Vakeesan]

I am doing the same. I read CFAI economics book and found it very
extensive with too many examples and unnecessary wording, so since then
I've only been reading the schweser notes and that's what I plan on
doing. I cross references the info between both and it si very similar
but the schweser has only the IMPORTANT testable material that is
required without the other BS around it. Also, I am using the CFAI books
to study the ethics portion. I read it in schweser and it doesn't seem
that bad, but is very condensed and since ethics is very important in
level1 it makes sense to read the CFAI version as it is more in depth. I
have completed the economics book and I am halfway through the
quantitiative book right now, reading about statistical concepts and
hypothesis testing, which semms kind of confusing at times. The
probability concepts and formulas look very hard to memorized so I will
have to re-read this whole SS 3 all over again at some point.

Regards,

Vakeesan Mahalingam

Client Administration, United Financial | CI Investments

15 York Street, 7th Floor

Toronto, ON M5J 0A3

Tel: (416) 681-4149 | 1-800-268-3200 ext. 4149

vakeesan....@ci.com

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[sandrina]

Do you know anybody who ignored the curriculum and passed? just
curious ..

[Costin Traian Tira-Radulescu]

Hello Kent and welcome!

About the Schweser 2010 books, you will find that there are some differences between 2010 and 2011 LOS's. Here is the link:

http://www.finquiz.com/cfa_level_1_curriculum_changes_2010_2011 

so you probably should acquire the new books, or get the additional info from CFAI notes.

I also wanted to enter the trading business through prop trading at first and hedge fund management in the long run. The problem is that in my country there aren't too many prop trading firms.. actually there is only one and I failed at the recruitment tests. So now I am trying to do banking and later on move towards hedge fund and wealth management.

Best of luck!

Costin

[sandrina]

Kent

I participated at a CFA local chapter meeting today and one of the
curriculum's L1 author (Barry Sine) was present. I asked him if I
should purchase 2010 notes or go for 2011 notes and he told me that it
doesn't make too much sense to save few bucks and study from out-dated
material, considering the complexity of the exam.

On Nov 9, 2:34 pm, Costin Traian Tira-Radulescu

[Costin-Traian Tira-Radulescu]

Hello Vakeesan,

How is it going? Have you finished SS's 2 and 3? What do you think
about the quantitative sessions?

Regards,
Costin

On Nov 9, 3:56 pm, "Mahalingam, Vakeesan" <vakeesan.mahalin...@ci.com>
wrote:

> I am doing the same. I read CFAI economics book and found it very
> extensive with too many examples and unnecessary wording, so since then
> I've only been reading the schweser notes and that's what I plan on
> doing. I cross references the info between both and it si very similar
> but the schweser has only the IMPORTANT testable material that is
> required without the other BS around it. Also, I am using the CFAI books
> to study the ethics portion. I read it in schweser and it doesn't seem
> that bad, but is very condensed and since ethics is very important in
> level1 it makes sense to read the CFAI version as it is more in depth. I
> have completed the economics book and I am halfway through the
> quantitiative book right now, reading about statistical concepts and
> hypothesis testing, which semms kind of confusing at times. The
> probability concepts and formulas look very hard to memorized so I will
> have to re-read this whole SS 3 all over again at some point.
>
> Regards,
>
> Vakeesan Mahalingam
>
> Client Administration, United Financial |  CI Investments
>
> 15 York Street, 7th Floor  
>
> Toronto, ON M5J 0A3
>
> Tel: (416) 681-4149 | 1-800-268-3200 ext. 4149
>

> vakeesan.mahalin...@ci.com

>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: june-2011-cfa-le...@googlegroups.com
>
> [mailto:june-2011-cfa-le...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
> Kent Lee
> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 8:11 PM
> To: June 2011 CFA Level I candidates
> Subject: Introduction
>
> My name is Kent Lee and I have graduated this past June from UC Davis
> in California with a B.A. in Economics. I am still trying to find my
> first job in finance, regardless of position. I want to enter
> proprietary trading or a hedge fund in the long run. I was considering
> the CFA for about a year now, and finally made the execution to
> register. I plan on going from Quantitative Methods and Financial
> Statement Analysis first. I am planning on using the Schweser 2010
> notes to study, and ignoring CFAI curriculum completely, except for
> the ethics portion. I hope we can develop a study plan by this month,
> and beat the CFA on the first try!
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "June 2011 CFA Level I candidates" group.
> To post to this group, send email to
> june-2011-cfa-le...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> june-2011-cfa-level-i-...@googlegroups.com.

> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/june-2011-cfa-level-i-candidates?hl=en.

[Mahalingam, Vakeesan]

Yes I have actually finished reading the ethics and quant book and I have just started the financial statement and reporting book. I found it ok, not so bad but I will definitely have to review it in depth and I will have to do man questions in order to keep the formulas fresh in my memory. The stats stuff was a bit confusing at times but hopefully after reviewing it once more it won't be as bad. I am having difficulty with the accounting stuff. I hate accounting so reading income statements and balance sheets is really boring and I keep confusing the accounts. How far have you gotten? I am only on income statement in the financial reporting book, have you started that book yet?

Regards,

Vakeesan Mahalingam

Client Administration, United Financial | CI Investments

15 York Street, 7th Floor

Toronto, ON M5J 0A3

Tel: (416) 681-4149 | 1-800-268-3200 ext. 4149

vakeesan....@ci.com

Hello Vakeesan,

Regards,
Costin

For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/june-2011-cfa-level-i-candidates?hl=en.

[Costin Traian Tira-Radulescu]

I am currently at SS 6, still in Economics. If I would have followed my
initial schedule now I would have been at SS 7, Financial Reporting
book, but some personal issues kept me away from the books for a whole
week so I am one week behind schedule.

I will finish Econ this weekend and start Financial Reporting and
Analysis book next Monday. From what I learned (and remember) in school
I'm guessing this Financial Analysis thing won't be one of my favorite
topics.

I'll have to review SS3 also. Maybe solving many problems will help
understand the concepts on a practical level.

Best regards,
Costin

>> Cette communication est confidentielle et pourrait �tre
>> privil�gi�e. Si vous la recevez par erreur, veuillez
>> l'�liminer sans en faire une copie et aviser l'exp�diteur.

>>
>> Lorsque vous soumettez des renseignements

>> personnels � Placements CI, vous nous permettez de

>> conserver, utiliser et divulguer ces renseignements

>> personnels aux fins d�crites dans nos Principes
>> directeurs en mati�re de protection des renseignements personnels

[FabianMHC]

Hi,

My name is Fabian Moa, from Malaysia. You can just call me Fab. I have
a BSc in Mathematics and an MBA. I passed the FRM exam in 2008 (but am
not certified due to lack of experience). I am more of a math and
stats guy. I am an application consultant with a software engineering
company that develops treasury, risk and investment solutions.

I just enrolled for the Level 1 (June 2011) about 2 weeks ago and I
have finished SS2, SS3, SS4, and SS5. I have touched a bit of Ethics
(I know it's important!!!). It's nice to join this online study group
and I hope that we can all ace Level 1 next year.

I am using only the textbooks from the CFA Institute. Schweser is too
expensive ($599) for me (tight budget).

Regards,
Fab

[Costin Traian Tira-Radulescu]

Hello Fab,

Welcome to the group! It's comforting to know we have a statistics
expert among us.

I saw you read a lot of stuff in a relative short time.. Is this because
you know most of it from the MBA and FRM materials and courses? I spend
about a week on each Study Session so I am pretty embarrassed by your
results :-P .

Regards,

Costin

[FabianMHC]

Hi Costin,

I have previously covered most of the readings in my Degree and MBA.
Some of the materials from the FRM certification do overlap with the
CFA program (though it's quite minimal). The reason I could cover that
much during the two weeks was because I do not have a heavy workload
(9 am - 5:30 pm). This gives me ample time to read in the evening.

Note: If anyone in the group has any questions regarding the
quantitative methods section, feel free to ask.

:-)

Regards,
Fab

On Nov 28, 4:07 am, Costin Traian Tira-Radulescu

[Laura Boyer]

My name is Laura Boyer. I'm 25 and graduated with a BS in Finance &
Marketing from Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) 3 years ago. I
goofed around playing soccer in Sweden for 6 months after that and
then decided to join the "Real World". Since then I've passed the CFP
(but like you, Fab, am waiting on the experience requirement). I work
for an RIA in Kansas and pulled the trigger on registering for the CFA
Level I in late October.

I'm a bit worried with my study-speed as I see most of you are downing
1 study session per week. I have been on pace for 2 study sessions
every three weeks. At that pace I will have three weeks of review
when all is said and done. However, I may go ahead and pick it up now
& leave more time at the end.

My other concern has been not using any other study materials. The
people I know who have passed the CFA did so long ago and were not
"forced" to buy the CFA curriculum when the registered for the test.
Therefore, most of them turned to outside sources like Schweser. Many
people recommend Schweser. I still haven't met anyone who has passed
with the curriculum alone, so that is what makes me nervous because
that is my current strategy. Do you all recommend making the switch
now to other materials?

I'm glad to finally find a group to talk about the test with! So far
I only know one other person in my city who is taking the exam in June
2011.

Best of luck with your studies over the holidays. I appreciate any
feedback.

[Mahalingam, Vakeesan]

I would highly recommend schweser, it will definitely cut down your study time as the material is condensed to the MOST important stuff which is based on LOS statements and is the focus of the level 1 exam. Also, you should buy a question bank and do practice questions along with the material so that everything stays fresh in your mind when you complete books. That Is my strategy. I started reading the CFAI books in October as well, I found it was very wordy and went into too much detail and storied examples, which I found unnecessary. You seem to be very smart as you have a BA and CFP so it should be no problem for you, I have a BA in econ n finance and I find it highly efficient to use schweser and save that extra 2 months on the back end to review and practice problems. Hope this helps. Also, I heard the secret sauce from schweser is an amazing tool and has been highly referred to me by many other associates who already have their CFA and/or are taking level 3 in june. They said it is definitely a MUST BUY.

Regards,

Vakeesan Mahalingam

Client Administration, United Financial | CI Investments

15 York Street, 7th Floor

Toronto, ON M5J 0A3

Tel: (416) 681-4149 | 1-800-268-3200 ext. 4149

vakeesan....@ci.com

-----Original Message-----
From: june-2011-cfa-le...@googlegroups.com [mailto:june-2011-cfa-le...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Laura Boyer
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:21 AM
To: June 2011 CFA Level I candidates
Subject: Re: Introduction

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personnels aux fins décrites dans nos Principes
directeurs en matière de protection des renseignements personnels

[FabianMHC]

Hi Laura,

Nice to meet you. :-) 2 study sessions per 3 weeks is still alright
provided that you are consistent with your schedule. Procrastination
can hold you back. For my case, I'm not using other materials, just
the textbooks because I do not want to spend US$599 for the materials
from Schweser (Converting to Malaysian Ringgit, USD$1 = MYR3.13).
Since you have a finance background, you should go for Schweser
materials. The most important part of the Schweser Essentials package
would be the Question Bank, as that's where you'll get the most
practice.

Although the textbooks are a bit wordy, I find it really enjoying to
read (my opinion, of course).

My manager just told me that I have to travel overseas for two months
next year (March/April), so I am rushing to finish by the end of
February. So far, progress is good, I have managed to cover Corporate
Finance and Portfolio Management. I'm just left with FRA, Equity,
Fixed Income, Alternative Investments.

[Laura Boyer]

Thank you both for the advice. I will most likely go ahead with the
purchase of the Schwser $599 package.
I look forward to studying with all of you :)

> > > and beat the CFA on the first try!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Noa Slup]

Guys I found excellent free "Guide for the CFA Exam" that can be downloaded as iBook (iPad) but is available in PDF here:

http://www.timeprep.me/free-cfa-ibook/TimePrep-Guide-for-the-CFA-exam.pdf