Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 Candidate

May 1st, 2011 § 2 Comments

I graduated college in June 2010 and started my first job as a consulting analyst a month after. I really enjoy the work that I do and find it very stimulating. I have learned a great deal about project management, delivery of complex technology solutions, budgeting, client relationships, among others. I greatly appreciate the skills that I have gained and always look forward to continue developing my leadership & communication skills in general.

However, there is one thing I have a very keen interest in that I do not get exposed to in my job, investing. I am extremely interested in learning more about how to analyze and evaluate the different investment opportunities out there, and how to optimize returns. As I have mentioned before, I am fascinated with the topic of passive income, and more importantly, increasing my own personal wealth and that one of those around me. Because I have this keen interest in finance and investing that is not being fulfilled by my job, I was pursuing it as a hobby during my spare time. Recently, however, I decided to be more serious about it and registered to take the CFA Level 1 examination this coming December (7 months from now).

I am a strong believer of pursuing your interests, particularly when they will be beneficial to you. Becoming more educated is one of the most important things I can do as a young adult, I think, and when my interests align perfectly with an area I can become more educated in, I think it’s a no-brainer to go for it. Here is a couple of reasons why I chose to enroll in the CFA program:

A structured approach. The CFA curriculum will give me a very structured approach to learning a lot of topics that I want to learn and never know how to most effectively tackle them. It will also give me a very big incentive to complete the studying by a clear deadline (failing the exam would mean that I’d have to re-register for it, a cost of about $1,000.)
Credibility. Completing the program will allow me to have the basic knowledge I would need in order to establish my credibility when discussing investments with other knowledgeable folks. It would also allow me to have more flexibility career-wise.
Practicality. I want to learn enough about the different types of investments available and how to analyze them in order to choose areas to which allocated my assets (as little or large as they may be). Getting some sort of title is a very nice added bonus to this.
Potential to help. I have a wonderful family that I believe deserves to be very happy and deserves to afford a nice retirement. I want to have the knowledge and tools to help guide them in the process of managing their money, increase their wealth, and retire comfortably.
Continuous education.Working full-time can be challenging and exciting and it can also provide me with lots of learning opportunities. However, there is always an intellectual part of me that has some interests that need to be fulfilled, and when those deviate with what work provides me, I need to find ways to fix the situation.

I’m not sure what other people think of the CFA Program, but if you have any opinions or tips on how to prepare well, definitely let me know. I would love to hear from you.

Omar

§ 2 Responses to Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 Candidate

T_bell2 says:

May 21, 2011 at 11:43 pm

Hi Omar,

I too am making the final decision to earn the CFA designation. I here the test is grueling with a miniscule 28% pass rate?? Nuts. Guess I thoroughly enjoy punishing my self. I currently am an investment advisor with a large wirehouse/investment banking firm so the concepts shouldnt be too though. How stimulating do you find the material to be thus far?

Regards

Reply
- Omar Eduardo Fernández says:
  
  May 22, 2011 at 3:02 am
  
  Hi -
  
  I must say I hadn’t heard of such low pass rates! The Level I pass rates fluctuate, but on average they are closer to ~40% I believe. Last time was in the 30% range, though!
  
  I think the material so far is good. Lots of ethics, time-value of money, and probability concepts in the first few weeks. I will be moving on to Economics tomorrow for the next three weeks. I think the material can be a bit wordy at times, but the concepts are well explained and they are not that difficult. I have no background in finance or econ at all, though, so I want to be thorough in my studying.
  
  Let me know if you do decide to go for it, and good luck!
  
  Reply