Can any one list down the most difficult to study LOS’s in Level 2
I do not know as to which is the most difficult LOS in level 2 , but I can assure u it should be from Quants section.
difficult is relative
Quant is rough, IMO. Aside from memorization of pension accting and intercorporate investmentments I didn’t find any particular topic that difficult. Howeever, the challenge lies in the vastness of information and time it takes to get a firm grasp of all the concepts, in addition to questions posed in vignette format which adds another layer of difficulty. Given 5-6 months of consistent study you’ll have reasonable shot at passing. I put in about three solid months and feel 50-50 on chances of passing, had I started earlier I’d feel quite confident. Put in the time, don’t get bogged down, and do all CFAI EOC questions, several time for key areas.
I found the following difficult: -Time series analysis in quant (only b/c I didn’t feel it was worth memorizing the vast amount of info for at most 6 questions on the exam!) -Exchange rate topics in economics (esp. triangular arbitrage) Everything else wasn’t that difficult after you put in enough time. The two topics I spent the most time on though were pensions and intercorp investments in FRA just b/c FRA was so heavily weighted in the exam and you were sure to see these topics on the exam.
derivatives, imo. time series is easy once you have a good set of notes to work off.
currency swaps are nasty cousins.
Study Sessions 1-18
convertible bonds can be a pain
my opinions: -time series in Quants -intercompany investment in FSA -earnings quality -derivatives, eg: swap, swaption -CMO in fact, actually really many difficulities~
i think many topics might seem easy at first, and you might even cruise through the readings, but one you start solving problems, either in EOCs or in the mocks, you’ll realize there’s a lot more depth to it than just looking at some definition and mugging up a formula
In addition to the above, derivatives take time to master.
It really depends on what your background is going into the exam. Personally, I struggled the most with derivatives, pension accounting, and accounting for foreign subsidiaries (current method, temporal method, and adjusting for hyperinflation). It seems like anything where there is a clear distinction between IFRS and US GAAP accounting was a pain to keep everything straight.
I had all the swaps down cold but still couldn’t manage to answer a single question correctly when doing interest rate swaps in different currencies, there just seemed to be too many moving parts
Swaps are miserable, quant can be a moving target but it’s hit or miss.
i believe the most difficult vary depend on individual background & interest some people said derivative is tough, but i found it quite ok to me i spend lesser time in ethics, probably i found that no matter how much effort i put in, my score in this subject is still maintain at an optimal level, hardly improve from this, and you can never be very sure & confidence you are getting the right answer in the exam, relatively compare to others subject AI has the lowest examable value to me, the material that you need to study is wide, not easy to digest, various topics likes commodity, property, private equity, hedge fund… need to cover, and yet it has only one vignette i like economy, so i dont have pressure to study it even though is only 1 vig QM is scorable, as long as they dont ask so many question on time series & to pass, we must make sure we cover FRA and Equity well, coz these 2 add up can be 10 vignettes, 50% of the exam marks, i doubt someone can pass if he did poorly in these 2 subjects
Thank you all for the valuable inputs. Highly appreciate it ! Also take some time to check out these websites http://www.jamescox.com.au/how-to-avoid-failing-passing-the-level-2-cfa-exam/ http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/2009/02/collection-of-study-tips-for-cfa-level.html
If you need info on private equity, I think the best resource for me was the Private equiteer book (http://www.theprivateequiteer.com). It’s also good if you’re looking to score a job in PE, VC or M&A. Good detailed examples, inside knowledge that will impress in an interview and easy to read.
verena Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you need info on private equity, I think the > best resource for me was the Private equiteer book > (http://www.theprivateequiteer.com). It’s also > good if you’re looking to score a job in PE, VC or > M&A. Good detailed examples, inside knowledge that > will impress in an interview and easy to read. Can you please send a copy to oomaojo@yahoo.com… Thanks.
Well I went through *reading* 11 and I feel like most of it was pretty simple. I didn’t quite grasp the ANOVA stuff as well as I did the other stuff, but I get the general idea. Reading the blue box examples is very helpful to clear things up.