Ethical Standards Preparation

CFA Level I Ethics
#1

Hi,

Please give me some useful tips for preparing Ethical and Professional Standards. What exactly do I have to retain from the relevant curriculum reading? Do I have to memorize everything from Standards Name, Highlights along with their explanation and recommendations?

Thank you.

#2

I am interested in the response to this too. Just started reading for my June, 2019 exam

#3

I would read it over and take high level notes. If you have a external provider use their slides as your notes, schweser had slides with online videos that were detailed enough for me. Then do questions, CFAI case studies and focus your time on that. It is too dry otherwise. I got over 70% at level 1 on ethics.

#4

You do not need to remember the Roman numeral associated with each standard. Practice questions will often say something like "What does this action violate?

A (numeral), Market Manipulation

B(numeral), Knowledge of the Law

C) Nothing has been violated.

Just start taking practice quizzes for ethics on CFAI’s website as early as possible. The concepts are not difficult, it’s how they will weave them into questions. “someone takes on outside work at a charity with a lifetime friend and gets paid via season tickets to football games, does he need to disclose this to anyone?”

#5

My colleague took the CFA Level I last year. He said that for ethics it’s most important to remember what each standard means more than anything. For example, Market Manipulation means xyz. Once you get that, you don’t need to remember word for word. He said the practice questions in that section and in every mock exam should really help you prepare. So he said to me take notes and repeat taking those notes a few times. They’ll get into your head and you’ll notice that you do better and better on each retake you do of just those questions. His exact procedure that I’m following:

  1. Take notes.
  2. Do practice questions untimed.
  3. Take notes after a few weeks (study another section in the meantime).
  4. Do practice questions timed. Maximum a minute per question. If you don’t know it move on.
  5. Based on your weaknesses, take notes only those standards after a few weeks (again do another section in the meantime).
  6. Do some more practice questions timed. Maximum a minute per question.
  7. Repeat until you feel you have a hang of the section. He only did it 3 times, but each person is different.
  8. Reread and take notes a week or two before actual exam date.
  9. Do a final round of practice questions.

He said to do practice questions above and beyond the mock exams you take and this he says applies to each section, not just Ethics.