Hi all, I am about to start a MSc Program and have to choose courses. Since I plan to sit for CFA 1 and 2 next year, I want to take courses that have a great amount of overlapping material with CFA. Could you please advise me on which classes I should choose? I wanna know material from which classes could be covered in which CFA level. Thanks!!!
-Bank Financial Managment
-Banking Strategy
-Valuation
-Banking and Capital Markets
-Banking Regulation and Resolution of Banking Crises
If you want to take L2 in 2014, you need to take and pass L1 this December. I don’t recall what is on each level anymore, but you’ll want to be sure to take fixed income and derivatives too.
The topics on L1 & L2 which can be found online btw:
Ethics Quantitative Methods Economics Financial Reporting & Analysis Corporate Finance Equity Fixed Income Alternative Investments Derivatives Portfolio Management And yea, you cannot take L1 & L2 in the same year because they are not offered that way. As mentioned, you would have to pass L1 this December if you want to take L2 next June.
-Valuation - tested at Level 2, especially DCF modeling
-Banking and Capital Markets
-Banking Regulation and Resolution of Banking Crises
-Corporate Finance - tested at Levels 1 and 2
-Risk Management - You’ll have to be more specific. Are you talking about ORM, derivatives, life insurance, or something else?
-Macro Policy and Financial Markets - tested at all levels, but pretty scant coverage in the whole curriculum.
My .02 - the best classes you can take are Principles of Accounting 1, Intermediate Accounting 1, Intermediate Accounting 2, and Accounting for Business Combinations.
Risk Management - This class examines the techniques and the foundation of risk management in corporations. It covers the use of derivatives, portfolio allocation, the value of risk, and the management of credit risk and operations risk. The module includes cases and applications.
I think RM would be very relevant for CFA level 2. Correct?
Personally, unless your MSc program is from a good, full-time school, I don’t know that I’d do it AND the CFA. CFA is as good as (or better than) a hacksaw degree. I learned almost nothing in my MSF program that wasn’t also covered in the CFA curriculum.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide what constitutes a “good” school and a “hacksaw” school.
Actually, I am planning to do the MSc or MBA program at the Univeristy of London (distance learning program though). I believe UoL has a bigger name in Europe more than in the US. I got my masters in social scince from an ivy league school. Right now, I am working on my phd in social scince also at an ivy league. I will go on the job market in 2015 (I will be 29). The biggest problem for me is having zero finance-related experience. Starting out as a first-year analyst doesn’t look attractive to me. Any advice? Getting a summer intership at a small firm is a must for me?
You went to a US Ivy League fora Master’s in Social Science, and are doing a PhD in Social Science at a US Ivy League school? While concurrently taking an online MBA from U of London, and studying for L1 then L2 of the CFA exam? All of this by the tender age of 27? (Since 29 is still two years away…)
I change my previous advice. You need to pick one and stick with it. Either do social science or finance. And you need to stop going to school and get a job. Even if your statement is true, nobody will want to hire a Master/PhD in Social Science who has an online MBA and CFA Level 2. It sends too many mixed signals.
Don’t get this the wrong way, but have you worked a single day in your life?
I am not saying you can enjoy studying but if you are planning on using your knowledge in the future you need to really understand what’s going on in the job market or in the world in general.
It’s hard to belive you make make use of the CFA program on top of everything else going on for you, not to mention you will unlikely to be considered for most entry level jobs in finance when you are 30, no work experience at all, and have a non-finance background.
I just find it a bit confused, why you want to do the CFA program in the first place? if you want to switch fields, then why do you want to pursue a MSc?
The program I am considering is either MSc in Finance or MBA in Finance with the Univeristy of London. Although I am working on my dissertation, it turns out I don’t want to do research or stay in acadmia for the rest of my life. I took a lot of finance and econ classes over past few years. Real Estate is the focus area for my dissertation. So, finance fascinates me. And quitting phd is out of question since I am very close to getting done with it. Between now and 2015, all I can do is branding myself and working on my profile to make it more attractive to the employers. And I have done lots of internships, part time jobs, and volunteer gigs. It’s just that none of them is related to finance.
I am leaning towards doing MBA in Finance (distance learning program) which should be completed in 2015 - the same time as my PhD program. hopefully, I can sit for CFA 1 in Dec. And I am doing fieldwork resaerch in Vietnam. There are a couple of small IB/PE firms. Maybe I need to find a summer gig with them.
If I can choose 2 out of 3 (MBA, CFA, summer internship), which 2 should I choose?
CFA + summer internship. A part-time online MBA is probably not going to get you anywhere. And you’ll learn all of that material in the CFA program anyway.
What if I don’t get a job at an IB or PE or HF firm and end up joining a consulting firm or an international organization like World Bank? In that case, I would feel all my time and effort invested in CFA would become a waste. I would get greater return on investment from a MBA degree.