How much study time is required for Level I of the CFA? There is an exam in dec, which i am thinking of doing.Has anyone here taken it, I am wondering if 1 week full time + some weekends etc till then would be sufficient?Is it of use to people working on the trading desks - only one guy here has it, and not the tradersthanks!

It depends on your background. I did not have a BCom or MBA but had been through a credit training program and several training courses, so the material was not unfamiliar to me since I also had an economics degree. CFA I is deceptive because many people will look at the material and think "I know this" yet exam day pressure will force silly errors because of the time constraint, about one to two minutes allowed per question. Accounting and Ethics are exceptions. You either know accounting or you don't and it is a lot to learn. People are surprised that Ethics the CFAI way is not easy either. I'm usually a firm believer in reading the texts, but I know most people use notes such as Stalla or Schweser. There are sample exams all over (I think) so see where you stand. There are software test banks that people like a lot, I've gathered. The key is to do at least several tests under exam conditions. In alll likelihood, if you go into the exam with only the attitude that "I've seen this stuff before and I'm a bright fellow" you will fail. People all over the markets are taking the exams now, so you can expect it to be some sort of discriminator, to a greater or lesser degree, in the future.

250 hours. Test day you will be glad. I did in 220 and while I passed all of them, I wished during the exam for just a few more hours studying.

I studied about 250 hours for Level 1 and passed. But just barely. This was 6 years after getting my MBA and after having seven years oftrading experience. I had seen almost all the material before but it was a huge amount of materialto review. I took a 1 week review course, I took a week of vacation from work off to study,and I studied in the evenings and on weekends for about the 6-7 weeks before the exam. I still felt unprepared. I almost did not return after lunch since I was so depressed about howI thought I did. The exam questions were much harder than the practice exams and questionsI had seen in the various review courses. It is almost useless for trading. Traders I know who have it think it is useless. The CFA is useful for equity research and if you are doing equity or fixed incomefundamental research on the buy side.

Studying for CFA-I is not a light task unless you have a sort of Phd in Finance or an MBA and that too very recently. Bulk of quantitative finance leaves Accounting/economics and that is a major part of CFA-1 like almost 40%. You may want to start preparing at least 3 months in advance... but even that you will find towards the end [is less]. I would suggest to take at least 6-7 sample exams in one sitting like you would prepare for GRE/GMAT etc. and if you score on an average close to 70, you can feel confident.

Everyone that I've spoken with says that the test is much harder than you would expect. 20 hours/week for a couple of months appears to be about normal for people who passed and I don't know anybody that passed the exam easily -- they all just squeaked by.The major things that people point to when trying to describe why the exams are difficult are:1) Time constraints -- no time to think, only to answer, so unless you just graduated from an MBA program, you'll have to basically start from scratch.2) A lot of material -- there are so many different topics that it's tough to accurately plan a study strategy.3) Much more difficult than the prep materials make it out to be.As far as usefullness, it's a good overview and introduction to finance, but there are varied opinions on how helpful it really is. Many of the Schweser students that I met are developers who are trying to make the jump to finance, not true quants.

well, as usefulness, I agree with some who say that most of the CFA takers are people who are trying to make into Finance or sort of trying to have a leaverage for their non-finance background. I happen to be a quant and I think CFA is of not much use [learning] but on resume it has its weight!

I agree with duffman- his three points are a good summary of why these tests are so difficult. to me, the CFA program is really designed1. to give an overview of finance, and 2. to demonstrate that you are willing to put in the hours. Yeah, you do learn quite a bit, but 5 years after the program, how much are you really going to remember about the 3 stage dividend growth model? The only thing you'll remember is there is one, it relys on lots of assumptions that are questionable at best, and where to look it up if you need to provide someone with a wildly inaccurate estimate of value. In addition, you need to put in 250 hours of study between middle of Jan and June 1st. If you are working or in school, well say goodbye to your wife, kids and friends and hello to Stalla and Fabozi. If you are willing to do this for a test, employers think you might be willing to do this for actual pay.But as an overview, the program is truly awesome. It touches every area of finance, and gives a decent introduction to the basics of each of these areas. Its not designed for traders or quants, but tons of people in private equity take the exam - look at any webpage. And while it is not a quant program, its massively more technical than most MBA programs.

That depends on your background. If you need help, Stalla is pretty good.

How about FRM, if one's goal is working in Risk management or trading. I know for trading FRM might not be of that use, but is it good to write FRM or CFA for risk management(for entry level).

I passed level 1 as I said earlier and I am now likely to take the FRM Exam. The CFA is just not that useful unless you are doing fundamental based equityor fixed income research.As a review of your MBA finance, stats, and acctg, and comp. strategy, it is useful.But I dont think you actually learn mcuh new material unless you haven't done thismaterial before. I havent decided yet to take the FRM exam, but I might.QuoteOriginally posted by: gtgHow about FRM, if one's goal is working in Risk management or trading. I know for trading FRM might not be of that use, but is it good to write FRM or CFA for risk management(for entry level).

I am still in school. never worked for any finance company. Yeah will be doing part time work in market risk management.EVen I feel FRM might be better. Whats the differenve between FRM and PRMThanksQuoteOriginally posted by: FxislanderI passed level 1 as I said earlier and I am now likely to take the FRM Exam. The CFA is just not that useful unless you are doing fundamental based equityor fixed income research.As a review of your MBA finance, stats, and acctg, and comp. strategy, it is useful.But I dont think you actually learn mcuh new material unless you haven't done thismaterial before. I havent decided yet to take the FRM exam, but I might.QuoteOriginally posted by: gtgHow about FRM, if one's goal is working in Risk management or trading. I know for trading FRM might not be of that use, but is it good to write FRM or CFA for risk management(for entry level).