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Financial Services Guide Note: Recruiters work with many candidates in order to identify the best resources for clients. In the search for new rising CFAs, Ronnie Eng has offered to share his experience about preparing for the last step of earning the CFA credential with us. He's outlining study plans and areas of special emphasis. CFAs remain in high demand by the alternative investment industry.
Who: I am a 2011 Level III CFA candidate; albeit a very untraditional one.
Having began my career in Equity Research (MS), I passed Level I in my first year out of the NYU Stern School of Business's undergraduate class.
With that success -- atop having taken graduate level classes in Finance with some of the best professors in the country, participating in the training programs at bulge bracket investment banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan), and subsequently shifting to a career in Strategy -- I did not feel any urgency to complete the program.
Years passed before I decided that attaining the CFA designation would give me the credibility to return to an investment role.
I am now ready to begin my final step, and welcome you to join along.
What:
For those of you who only know the CFA charter as a finance industry accreditation, I would like to shed some light on its basic structure, importance, and reputation / role in the industry.
Firstly, the CFA program is a graduate-level self-study program [that] combines a broad-based curriculum of investment principles with professional conduct requirements. What this really means is that you need to be a proactive professional, taking the initiative to immerse yourself in a wide variety of topics necessary to succeed in the investment industry.
In order to prove your mettle, there are three examinations -- each must be passed before moving on to the next level. There are, of course, other requirements such as four years of qualified investment work experience, relevant memberships, annual pledges of ethical conduct, etc. However, these can be gleaned from the CFA Institute's materials in relatively straightforward fashion, and I will be focusing between the lines on the examination process.
Level I:
Tools and concepts. You need to get up to speed on all the asset classes, various instruments, and the markets where they are traded. Most of all, you begin to realize the overwhelming significance of ethics that underpins the entire program. (I can not insert enough hyperbole or overstate this crucial fact. Many have been pushed to the wayside because they assume that the CFA Institute's testing of ethics is the same as their company's elementary compliance evaluations.) This is the first gate, and many bright-eyed, bushy-tailed do not pass because they do not take it seriously.
Level II: Valuation. Now that you've proved yourself worthy of being in the program at all, you get the real test. Many find that this is the hardest of the three levels. Why? Simply because you not only have to memorize qualitative concepts, but you have to be even stronger on the quantitative side of the equation. And that is not to say that it's not all basic math when it comes down to it. It just means that a substantial amount of preparation is required -- a key message for those gifted enough to get away with studying a few days before Level I.
To give you perspective: I cruised through the top specialized Mathematics high school in New York City (Stuyvesant), the #2 Finance undergraduate program in the U.S. (NYU Stern), and studied with the most renowned guru in investment valuation circles, and I was still forced to lay down the law. For the first time in my life, I had no choice but to study -- not cram last minute like in Level I -- and was rewarded for my hard work. You will invariably need to as well. Oh, and don't think that the emphasis on ethics is lessened because you did it already. It's harder than ever at Level II.
Level III: This is it. Portfolio Management. Where it's all tied together. I will be discussing the intricacies at length over the next month as I myself prepare. The only thing that I know right now, is to not take anything for granted.
Where:
I am partnering with Donna Rodgers. Our canvas is a field of international alternative investors with whom I plan to meet in order to identify next steps for my career. The CFA is an integral credential for entry into many of these firms.
When:
Every week until the exam, and after, I will provide an update on what I've learned. This will not just be a summary of Level III content, but more on insights to what I have prepared (frameworks), how I am preparing (process), and what I am looking towards (vision). There should be some applicability to all three levels.Why:
I believe in what we together can achieve. For those in investment banks or major financial hubs, you may have a built-in network already. For all others, it may be you and a bunch of books from the CFA Institute or prep course providers (more on that next time). But we all need support, and I stand ready to provide it.
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