Honestly one of the coolest parts of the CFA so far has been realizing that all these weird symbols and concepts that used to look intimidating are actually things people use and talk about in the real world.

Like a year ago if I saw Σ, I'd just think "great, another math symbol." Now I immediately know it's just summing a bunch of values. Same with Π for multiplying a series of things together. Δ for change. Stuff that seemed super abstract at first is becoming second nature.

What's even cooler is I'm starting to hear these concepts in meetings. I'll be on a market outlook call or talking with advisors and someone mentions delta, expected returns, risk factors, etc., and I actually know what they're talking about. Not because I'm an expert, but because the CFA curriculum has exposed me to so much of this stuff.

It's kind of a weird feeling when something you're grinding through at night suddenly pops up at work and you catch yourself thinking, "wait, I actually know this."

The knowledge feels way more practical than I expected going in. Anyone else have those moments where something from the curriculum randomly shows up in a meeting and finally clicks?

Started studying a bit late as there were too many things going on in my life and kind of underestimated Level 2.
So I am still left reading alt inv, portfolio management and ethics.
And about other subjects i havent got the chance to be thorough and havent practiced the vignettes that much.
If i need to be thorough i need to atleast revise all the topics again and solve all the practice questions in the official LES.
Should i defer or go for it?

I am appearing for CFA level 1 in May 2027 and till now I have completed Economics, Corp. Finance and half Qants and starting with FSA. Honestly the whole routine feels very tiresome - I study from video lectures, then skim read Kaplan Schweser, read CFA curriculum and then solve EOC questions and study platform questions. I need guidance with whether I should refer to curriculum as well? As it is very lenghty and time consuming but gives clarity though. I am a working professional and bit short on time, so people who cracked it ! I would appreciate your help.

Thank You.

This sub helped me a lot stay motivated for the last stretch of studying after I bombed my mocks and managed to pass L1 in August so here I am again seeking advice and maybe a little comfort from my fellow CFA hopefuls and current charter holders.

For context, I’m a senior at target school. First-gen, always been about middle of the pack. Never stellar, and grades are decent. Did summer internships in markets and asset management, decent firms, as I always leaned more towards macro and credit. But, a series of misfortunes and a lot of naivety on my part led me to rerecruit every year and miss important pipelines.

Now, I’m recruiting once again for full-time and the landscape is now worse than ever. My plan was hopefully secure something and then get to studying L2 for next August.

But I’m barely even getting screeners and Round 1s, let alone progressing in interviews. Got a single superday, failed that too. I know some of you will say “skill diff.” And yeah, it is. And it’s getting to me pretty badly this semester as I’m taking my full course load, working part time, recruiting and getting immense pressure from my parents who just want me to be a doctor because they view it as the slowest to be “automated.” There’s also this immense social pressure and shame too not having a job yet at my school in particular being a popular target school as everyone mostly has an offer in IB or consulting.

I just want to know things will get better. I really thought things might start to trend upwards once I passed, but it really only got worse. Maybe also some grounding advice on how to keep moving forward. Thanks.

m feeling very tensed abt my scores as it s only one month for my attempt now, can anyone tell what is good passing score estimate in premium prac mocks

Can I prepare for CFA 1 - Feb 2027 Window in 19 weeks????

If possible, please help with recommended resources for same.

Here I don’t get it why it’s -ve price risk because mac duration> 4(investment horizon) therefore 5.86-4 is +ve, can someone pls explain how should I think about this

Guys… I asked Zoltar and he said I passed! Anyone else have a similar experience asking Zoltar?? Retaker from 5 years ago if that matters.

Can somebody explain the last line of the para above factor based strategies. Specifically the adding trading liquidity and short availability constraint?

I'm officially 1 month away from my L1 exam and I'm yet to pick up Fixed income and it feels daunting, since the exam is so near and I'm having this feeling that I won't be able to grasp it in a month. I'm seeking ways to approach it so that I can go through it in 3 days so that I have ample amount for other subjects and revision. It'll be helpful if someone can suggest a strategy or approach to complete fixed income in 3 days, not polished by just enough for a first reading.

Now that we are getting closer to the results, it seems time is no longer moving! What is everyone doing to stay busy?

What advice would u give to someone studying in the fi al year of university (BS Accounting & Finance hons) and is planning to appearfor L1 exam in August, 10 months from now? He can devote 3 hours per day for the prep.

How many modules should he cover per week?

Is it achievable considering he has a 3.5cGPA in university?

Just registered for Level 2, but cannot access the courses, please help !!!!!

Hi, can somebody give me the links for CFA L2 study material and institute books, Schweser PDFs, please !!!!

Hey all, I'm a Level 2 candidate working in fixed income trading at a mid-large sized asset manager. I'm happy with my career so far, but lately I keep coming back to the idea of law school once I obtain the charter. I see a few older posts about this topic on this sub but wanted some fresh perspectives. Are there any lawyers here with the CFA who could provide some insight? A few questions I have:

- How valued is the CFA in the legal field? Including everything from your law school application to job applications to law firms (assuming it’s relevant to their practice area)? Is it a differentiator in any way?

- Does being a charterholder make you a better lawyer than you otherwise would be? (i.e. understanding financial concepts behind the scenes vs. only knowing relevant statutes, laws, regulations, etc.)

- What’s harder, L2 vignettes or the Bar Exam? ;)

I am appearing for CFA level 1 in May 2027 and till now I have completed Economics, Corp. Finance and half Qants and starting with FSA. Honestly the whole routine feels very tiresome - I study from video lectures, then skim read Kaplan Schweser, read CFA curriculum and then solve EOC questions and study platform questions. I need guidance with whether I should refer to curriculum as well? As it is very lenghty and time consuming but gives clarity though. I am a working professional and bit short on time, so people who cracked it ! I would appreciate your help.

Thank You.

Hi all, I’m sitting the CFA Level I exam and I’m in the revision phase. I’m using Kaplan Schweser Secret Sauce for review plus practice questions. I’ve noticed some mock questions test points that are in the Kaplan main books but not in Secret Sauce.

Questions for those who passed:

1. Is Secret Sauce enough on its own, or did you also review the main Kaplan books?

2. If you used both, how did you split your time in the last 4 weeks?

Another way to use chatgpt for your cfa prep
Upload the answer key and simultaneously answer each question(better than manually writing answer and checking each one of them and trying to make an error log)
This will help in faster execution and better understanding of your error log with revision you can verify the accuracy of answers too by doing this and not relying on chatgpt

I've got my L3 in feb, I havent studied anything what's the perfect strategy for me to be done with everything before Jan

This is for everyone looking at a previous post that said you can see ur result early by going in account, then profile, then right clicking and checking source code for "highest level passed"

As you can see in the image, it just means Cfa candidate: Level 3 and the highest level that you have passed: level 2, that is what highest level passed means.

Just wait 4 more days guys, everyone is already panicking.

Can someone please explain the answer - i think there is some inconsistency with the text.

First - Madisox stated the scope of hedging as just "small changes" in stock price - never said to cover major changes in stock price. AFAIK the small changes hedge is by delta hedging only (per book) and needs to be done continuously. Second - Madisox stated that delta + gamma from selling calls can achieve the hedge - like he suggests to literally add the two and that too of completely using just call options. This is grossly inconsistent with the text which states: neutralize delta first using call options (call this N0 calls). Then figure out the resulting gamma and how many how many options are needed for gamma neutralization (call this N1), then once gamma is neutralized, figure out how many shares are needed to eliminate the resulting delta from adding new set of N1 options used for gamma neutralization (call this N2).

Also, how can you neutralize gamma by selling just calls? Selling calls will give you -ve gamma, so to neutralize it, you need to either buy calls or buy puts. you cant buy calls again, because that will just eliminate the sell-call portion of the hedge, so you have to buy puts and make that part of the hedge. So that seems like another flaw in the delta+gamma logic shown in the correct solution.

Have I successfully explained the issue in this question or maybe just I confused myself more?

I gave my cfa L2 in Aug this year and despite of cfa institute website showing 45% passing rate I feel this time the pass rate was very low and when I exited the exam hall I was so sure that I will pass easily but I failed then I connected to all the other guys who were also there to give L2 with me and I found that everyone failed , no one from that center in that day passed and another strange thing is that there were approx 200-300 people in my prep provider's batch but obly 14 guys passed , even on linkedin i am not able to find many guy who scored above 1600s. I was scoring 85+% in mocks so I was very confident that I would pass so things are not making sense for me please help me find my problem because at this moment I am unable to accept that I failed because of me.

Currently planning to take my final mock 1 week before exam date. Is that too close too far? Thoughts?