is the CFA the hardest exam on Earth?

CFA General
#81

I inserted PS in my comment above.

I don’t say CFA exams are stupid. Actuarial exams are harder, but this fact doesn’t mean CFA exams are less interesting or stupid.

I don’t even say CFA exams don’t have someaccording to PhD material :grin:

#82

ok i have come to an agreement. both tough exams and respected in their fields.

#83

Yeah, both tough, but for actuarial exams, people must be stupidly persevering to pass all exams. It’s the necessary and sufficient condition.

#84

Horses for courses

#85

What do you know – _ really know _ – about horses?

#86

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse of course That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous…

#MrEd

#87

let’s all agree that the 55% passing rate for level 3… is the hardest 55% in the world (band 10/9) retakers know what I’m talking about

#88

All I know about horses I learned from John McCririck :wink:

#89

Test of patience and perseverance? You better believe it!!! :sob:

The actuaries in my circle have respect for the CFA charter. A few of them are even charterholders!

#90

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with actuarial exams. I’ve met people who stopped after the first 1 or 2 exams or who decided after getting ASA/ACAS that that was good enough. In my darker moments in the actuarial exam system, I’d look over at the CFA exam system and marvel that they only had 3 exams!!! :grin:

#91

.

#92

I would say it is “one” of the hardest “to pass”

#93

I googled “hardest exam in the world”. These are the top hits. The CFA generally lands at #3, behind the “All Souls Prize Fellowship Exam” and the “Master Sommelier Diploma Exam”. (Ironically, the third hit is AnalystForum, who discussed this very thing two years ago.)

http://www.youthincmag.com/toughest-exams-world

https://listsurge.com/top-15-toughest-exams-world/

https://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-general-discussion/91341928

http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/career-the-toughest-exams-in-india-and-the-world/20170608.htm

http://listovative.com/top-12-most-difficult-toughest-exams-world/

#94

That’s the main difference between the CFA and Actuarial Exams. Someone could simply put in a lot of hours memorizing the material without really understanding and still pass (CFA exams should have been twice as difficult in my opinion). That would be impossible for Actuarial exams ; you need to actually have an in-depth understanding of the underlying concepts tested and cannot manage to pass by relying on memory only.

#95

I remember seeing a chapter in MFE - Stochastic Integrals. Granted, it might not be PhD level for Mathematics, but for other more quant. fields it is. Colleagues who have a Master’s degree in Finance are not even close to reaching that level. But then again, to echo some of the comments I read, CFA exams are much more relevant for Finance than Actuarial Exams. Honestly, those exams are just hard for the sake of being hard. However, they do cover options, probabilities, regression, bond pricing, immunization, and so on.

The main difference is that, for most CFA exam takers, an annuity or a DDM are just formulas ; to actuaries they would be geometrical series. The main difference, in my opinion, is that actuaries will quickly grasp the implications of quantitative issues, whereas people from a business background will blindly apply formulas. For instance, regressions are supposedly amongst the “hardest” parts of the CFA curriculum. Yet, the material taught was very basic for someone with a quant. background. Not that it matters, for I wouldn’t look for a CFA to be a regression expert. Moreover, “soft subjects” taught in the CFA are arguably more important anyways and also more relevant anyways. Just my 2 cents.

#96

The hardest exam in the world is the Mega Test. Passing it gains entrance to the Mega society. The Mega Society contains IQ percentiles of 99.9999 or one in a million is required for admission.

Megalogo.jpg

#97

I would think the Master Sommelier Diploma Exam would be the hardest exam.

So, basically make every question like the Level 2 Ericson topic test?

#98

my wife is in the mensa society, which requires 98th percentile IQ score. People say GMAT is more or less like an IQ test (but still studyable), my wife studied for ~2 weeks for fun with me and scored 740…while I was struggling to break 700.

#99

def in finance.

dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

#100

^^This