In CFA materials, quant intensive topic is somewhat general, such as Monte Carlo Simulation, Black Scholes model so forth. CFA exams only require “describe” instead of "calculate"or “thoroughly understand”. I am wondering, as a real equity research analyst, are these topics a requirement? Or it would be a plus, if one understand it more profoundly?
u trying for ER?
Yep, it’s my career goal! I know it’s tough.
i recommend working on your grammar, thats very important too
no, for ER in the real world, quant topics like monte carlo sim. are not used.
Thanks. I will.
For ER you need to be fluent in accounting, valuation and basic statistics. You do not need extensive quant skills or knowledge. I’ve worked in ER for almost 8 years and went 3/3 on the CFA exams, and I have never once used Monte Carlo or Black Scholes – I seriously doubt I could “calculate” either if my life depended on it and I probably don’t even “thoroughly understand” them either at this point.
Ok. Then what’s the quant topic used most often? Anything require higher level math such as calculas or liner algebra?
No, none of that. If you passed 3rd grade math and can still remember your arithmetic, you are good to go.
Yep… I’m not in ER but the most complicated things I do with math is high school level algebra. I remember struggling through pre-calc in high school and looking back on it, taking classes like that and AP Calc are 99% likely to be utterly meaningless for most jobs. Unless you’re a bonafide quant there is no reason to know stuff like that. The use of Excel and other modelling tools have really taken away the need to know how to crank through the numbers.