Strategy for Tackling Quant and Material Going Forward

CFA Level I Quant
#1

Hello everyone. Just looking for a little insight on the best way to tackle the material on the first go round. I’m sure this has been posted about many times before.

My background is probably a bit out of the ordinary. I haven’t taken a math class in 10 years, since my senior year of high school. I did not take any kind of business or finance course in college, but now I have a couple years experience trading various debt instruments. Series 7, 63, and 52 were laughable compared to this bohemoth.

Well, I started with Ethics and Quant last month, and I feel like I have been wading through this quant material at far too slow a pace. My plan was to get through all of the material by the end of January then begin reviewing and practice testing from there, but I’m not sure I am going to meet that deadline at my current speed. I am getting a decent grasp of the concepts, but only after spending a lot of time on them. I was wondering how I should approach the material going forward. Are there quant sections I should be paying more attention to than others in terms of their relevancy to the rest of the material? Are there some I should just skim through, or should I be trying to just get through everything at a brisk pace the first time no matter how well I understand the concepts?

Really just trying to find a helpful strategy. I am currently just using the CFA issued material. I’m not keen on spending money on suplemental products if I don’t have to, but I know I might break down and do it if it is REALLY, REALLY worth it. I have read that the Kahn academy stuff is pretty helpful. Any other helpful, free resources? Thanks

#2

I think you should concentrate the high weightage course such as FRA, Ethics, Quant at the start. Then fixed income, equity, economics and corporate finance.

I have taken portfolio, derivative and alternative investment to study them at the end. After 15th of Feb, then I will start solving the excercises + mock +ECO etc.

#3

If you haven’t signed up for the June exam and actually want to learn (I’m all for learning), then take your time to go through and fully understand the material. If you truly learn the material, it won’t fade away very quickly, especially with some practice. If your purpose is only to pass because you think the designation, rather than the knowledge, is important, then try to go through the material more superficially to pick up the pace.

The advice should depend on your goals. A lot of people will tell you just to pass, but if you want to learn, take your time (however long you need) to learn. I’ve yet to see someone who truly understood the material fail an exam (in general).

The quant section is fairly important. You will use a lot of the TVM material again, and hypothesis testing/confidence intervals will be helpful also.

#4

I have a similar doubt - how to tacke Quant part. At what point should I learn to use the calculator properly? Before reading, during reading while practicing problems, after? I have signed up for June exam. Is there any free tutorial on how to use the calculator? Thank you!