so what were the pass rates for L2 & L3 this year and who all passed or failed ?

found itL1 40%L2 48%L3 76%

i passed L3....now what? 4 years into the job this thing dont look so glamorous anymore...should have spent my time on a PhD.

QuoteOriginally posted by: Gmike2000i passed L3....now what? 4 years into the job this thing dont look so glamorous anymore...should have spent my time on a PhD.Agreed.

Can you guys expand on this sentiment? What is your current career?If you get a PhD. Instead of passing CFA? Would it take you to a different career path? Financially will it make a difference? Thanks,QuoteOriginally posted by: HyperGeometricQuoteOriginally posted by: Gmike2000i passed L3....now what? 4 years into the job this thing dont look so glamorous anymore...should have spent my time on a PhD.Agreed.

I'm a risk manager, CFA charterholder, non-PhD...It all depends on what you want to do...Honestly, CFA and PhD show different career paths and one can act as an enhancement to the other.If you want to be a hard-core quant, obtain a PhD and garnish your name with the CFA designation to show that you are very capable in other aspects of finance as well.If you want to be an equity analyst, portfolio manager, etc... obtain your CFA charter and pursue the PhD to show that you have very respectable research skills.This also goes in line with other programs like MBA, MS, FRM/PRM...BTW, do they teach ethics in PhD? pls. let me know...

Having suffered 3 years to get the CFA, I really dont want to talk too much crap about it.But I really do question its educational value. There is nothing, except ethics, which I did not learn in college or grad school. So essentially, 4 years into my job, I get just another credential proving knowledge of the same stuff. Why did I do it? Because in this industry, there is a lot of peer pressure to get it. When you are a young kid right out of school you dont know better. You want to impress your boss, so you sign up.I still think the time would have been better spent reading research papers that are directly relevant to my job. Things I ciriticize very strongly about the CFA: too much accounting (who needs pension accounting?), too much equity (needs to be balanced with more fixed income), too US centric (...pension accounting...dont need this in Europe). If you work in fixed income (like me), go get the FRM, it is much more relevant.Regarding ethics, this is the most useless part of all. The only reason they put this on the curriculum is because of all the financial scandals in the US. This is a very superficial (and hence very american) way of dealing with bad things....by putting ethics on the curriculum they make it LOOK better. But they do not actually make it better.

Think I have to agree with Gmike2000.CFA will not open doors for you, nor is it highly valued. At least, that's what I think. I know it looks really cool from the outside looking in, but once you are inside, you realize tens of thousands of people, every tom, dick and harry under the sun are taking it. Barriers to entry for taking CFA are non-existent, so that's not like going to help push up the value right? The amazing thing is once you get sucked in, you never want to leave till you're done. I am L2 right now, and will prob go for L3 next year. Pros of CFA: The knowledge is useful as I am from a non-finance background. Company pays for exam and grants examination leave.Cons: drains your time. Certain portions like Gmike2000 says not very useful and practical.

QuoteOriginally posted by: chicagotypewriteCFA will not open doors for youit can doQuotenor is it highly valued.and it is

Let me now say some good things about the CFA I do recommend every new kid in our firm to sign up immediately for it. One reason for that is because when you are fresh out of school you may still remember pension accounting and all that other crap that you will never see again in your life. So it is much easier to learn the material and pass the first 2 levels.The other reason is that CFA does have a lot of brandname value. I think that getting the CFA designation quickly when you are fresh out of school does serve as a career booster (not in all careers, but everywhere on the buy side it does), it gains you a lot of recognition and respect among the more experienced people in the firm (especially since, at least where I was working, the split between those who got it and those who gave up along the way was roughly 50 / 50). This recognition then translates into more bargaining power during the year end reviews.I studied accounting (then realized it was a mistake and switched to math and finance) in college and think the accounting part of the CFA is very very hard. I respect anybody who did not have acct as a major and made it through the CFA accounting sections (especially pension accounting). Anyone considering the CFA should keep in mind that it does require a LOT of preparation and dedication OUTSIDE of work. But still, in the end, you are just getting sth that has face value, but no internal value (it is substance vs form...the 13th (unwritten) accounting principle).

I agree with Gmike2000. I just passed the level 2 this year. And the accounting of the pension is really tough in the exam as well as in the study material.It is true that CFA is great for those who are fresh out of school. At least when your boss talked about some common term in the financial market, you will have a rough idea of what it is.As to myself, I do consider CFA as a complementary knowledge to my quantitative capacity. I only have a master degree of finance math. So I cann't make any comments on PHD.Hope to be helpful.