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- Topic: The problem with CFA and ...
| Author | Topic: The problem with CFA and ... |
|---|---|
| Buffet @2003-05-17 11:27:07 |
all these other credentials is that they promote mediocrity .....there is NO way in hell that a person working full-time can possibly fully understand (and retain) even 70% of the entire CFA curriculum (L1 to L3) by the time he finishes with L3.The only way to study the concepts and appreciate them fully (ex know WHY homoskedasticity occurs and WHY g=RR*ROE)is to study full-time. Personally I don't see the point in memorizing and spitting out .....and let's face it, a person can easily get by just doing that.In the long-term, with all these medicore CFAs being churned out, what will end up happening is what we see happening to acct incorporate America today - a bunch of idiot accountants discrediting the entire profession. |
| lifesaver @2003-05-21 12:39:33 |
Are we to believe the real Warren Buffet has the time and inclination to post the same lame message on this and multiple other boards? If one is applying material, they will retain it, regardless if knowledge is gained from full or part time study. |
| MMilken @2003-06-03 23:16:53 |
So the only true way to get a post-graduate finance education is to shell out the jack for an MS in Finance? I don't think so. Warren would be very disappointed in this mis-representation. Maybe you should spend more time playing bridge online and less time wasting ours. |
| bigsam @2003-06-18 10:29:03 |
somewhat disagree with your view! Don't really agree with your logic and argument.
1) We (finance professionals) use the tools and theories in our jobs, and we find it easy to understand and retain the materials that we've learned from the program. NOTE: i believe a candidate has a very good chance of passing only if he/she understood the material well. 2) Many finance professionals that I know have successfully achieved the designation while working full-time (about 60 - 90 hours of work per week). 3) There is no such thing as a mediocre finance professional. Either you are a professional or you are no. If you think you are not, then get your butt out and do something you are good at (hopefully you will enjoy it too!). Otherwise, please don't step in and bring us down the drain with you. I think we should watch out for ppl like you who don't use proper judgement and argument and try to point fingers on somebody else. |
| armanaziz @2006-03-07 05:46:57 |
My limited personal experience says how much a person would retain from his studies depends on the person's aptitutde and focus - not on whether he or she is studying full time or part time basis. |
| ncfa @2006-03-14 13:01:46 |
ya and even after retention of whole syllabi u can ezly leav small topics automatically while in practce or n e jobs u havg tahts all |
| BertS @2006-05-04 08:36:28 |
Agree that curriculum is out of date to the extent that after 15 years of being an equity analyst with a Finance/Economics degree of a good university, the useful parts of CFA are too easy and simplistic (fin.statements/valuation), while stuff like Statistics are too detailed to be useful as very good tools are cheaply available for Excel. This silly calculator stuff is also something only to be used during the exam and never elsewhere. Then a more important thing: The focus on the US world of things leaves out a lot of IFRS accounting which is a serious omission. Also I believe that much more Technical analysis should be added. |
| 0is4eva @2006-05-04 18:53:21 |
If you had been a statistician for 15 years, you would probably have found that material too simplistic. You do have a point re IFRS, though. Why do you believe that technical analysis should be added? |
| BertS @2006-05-04 19:19:52 |
after raised with the efficient market hypothesis and MPT at my university, I hardly used technical analysis for many years. However, as valuations got so far away from fundamentals during those great bubble years I was badly burnt and believe a good dose of technical analysis would have prevented me from entering at Nasdaq 3000. Also, with so much program trading one needs a good feel of system trading and stuff like TA. Also, investors often get so short sighted and want to outperform every month. Fundamentals don't help here at all, and TA often is the only way to determine exit and entry points. |
| BertS @2006-05-04 19:22:59 |
I agree that memorizing all those formulas is kind of unproductive. Also, the level is always not more than what my professor called 'text book level'. I only learnt to truly think scientifically by doing lots of scientific papers and projects, debate about them etc. This CFA thing is so much lower in level, but the wholy Institute makes it sound like it is such a great thing to have by simply turning up the memorizing and time pressures during the exam. Big deal guys. |
| AAJJ @2006-05-19 06:06:10 |
I don't understand how can you simply understand(and do not memorize anything) and pass the exam. There are different ways of looking at it. While I am just trying to enter into financial field, it does not appear that the cirriculum is simplistic. It has its value. I agree to some extent that it may produce mediocre CFAs, but they will suffer one not the other way. But if someone who is truely interested, this can give a good platform to enter into financial career |
| TRIK @2006-05-19 08:38:30 |
Surely CFA is one way to know further about financial world.It could be very helpful for the one who want to know the basic and theory;however,to develop in real business one should be more creative than only rely on the basic.Especially the one who want to be very very very rich; creativity is the way to reach it. |
| carlo8 @2007-05-26 04:22:23 |
The CFA designation belongs to those who are willing to take on the sacrifices that it takes to earn it. If you believe that memorizing formulas and fully understanding concepts is unproductive, this should not be your career path. When you are going to college for either your BA or MBA you are expected to memorize a lot more material. This process is not for the purpose of keeping formulas and calculations in your brain, but to estimulate and enrich your learning curve on a particular area. |
| Smittdawg @2007-05-31 01:31:43 |
I agree wiith Carlo8. As I am studying diligently for the exam (level 1). I am focusing heavily on actually understanding the material, not just memorizing formulas. If someone wants to dig deeper into the material, simply get away from the notes and open the textbooks, or even go online and do some searching for case studies and more detailed examples. Of course, with any test, you have to "game" the test so to speak. You can't avoid that, but you truly get out of it what you put into it. |
| Lund @2009-10-10 20:02:26 |
I bet that Buffet will be on top of the list "Idiot: non-CFA" |
| SDCFA @2017-12-10 13:29:40 |
I work in a big Investment Bank in London and currently preparing for L1 with my full time job. Trust me guys information i am getting through cfa material is exactly same why our traders use in daily trading. They have the tools to get all the curves/rates but its the application which is interesting and CFA is testing that... It make a lot of sense to do CFA if you want to be in a good finance job. |
