1. EF5603
Insider’s Approach
For CFA Examinations
Dr. LAM Yat-fai (林日辉博士)
Doctor of Business Administration (Finance)
CFA, CAIA, FRM, PRM, MCSE, MCNE
PRMIA Award of Merit 2005
E-mail: quanrisk@gmail.com
2:00 pm to 3:15 pm
Saturday
15 March 2008
2
Why CFA?
Be one of the best
Certified by the most reputable international
finance professional organization in the world
Community of finance professionals
CFA Hong Kong Chapter http://www.hksfa.org
Around 4,000 CFAs in Hong Kong
Career promotion
3
CFAs in Hong Kong
HSBC 150
UBS AG 120
Morgan Stanley 68
Goldman Sachs 61
Merrill Lynch 59
BNP 48
4
To be a CFA
Pass 3 levels of 6-hour full day exams
Minimum 2.5 to 3 years to complete
Passing rate ranges from 3x% to 6x%
On average 4 years to complete
20% candidates completed 3 levels within 5 years
4 years of recognized professional experiences
certified by your supervisory and another CFA
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources

2. 5
CFA Exams – Level 1
Exam twice a year – June and Dec
General topics in finance
3-hour AM PM – 120 mc per session
Relatively simple and straight forward
Should be easy to pass with reasonable
preparation and previous finance study
Passing rate 3x% to 4x%
6
CFA Exams – Level 2
Exam once a year in June
Around 50% concentration on accounting
3-hour AM PM – 10 cases x 6 mc per case
per session
Lengthy description of cases before mc
questions – read fast and memorize a lot
Most difficult among 3 levels
Passing rate 4x% to 5x%
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CFA Exams – Level 3
Exam once a year in June
Heavily focus on portfolio management, e.g. how to
design investment portfolios for customers
3 hours AM – 12 to 15 essay questions
3 hours PM – 10 cases x 6 mc per case
Structured answer format for essay type questions
Passing rate 5x% to 6x%
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Why CFA Exams so Difficult?
Too many exam topics to be studied within a
limited time frame
Traditional finance topics – corp fininvestments
Difficult finance topics – fixed income,
derivatives
Emerging finance topics – hedge funds
Accounting, economics and ethics topics
Too many questions to be answers within 6
exam hours

3. 9
Exam Topics
Unrealistic to read all text books assigned by
CFA Institute before exams
1,600 pages of study notes, reasonably to be
completed within 17 to 18 weeks
A number of exam topics you hate
A lot of items you need to memorize without
understanding
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Exam Techniques
Exam techniques as important as exam topics
Structure of common questions
Format for answering essay questions in Level 3
Fast location of key information in case studies
Speed calculations with financial calculator
Order of answering questions
Exam techniques can only be acquired
through continuous practices
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Exam Psychology
Arrive at least 45 minutes earlier
No unnecessary personal belongings (no
mobile phone, no study material)
Complete easy questions first
Noisy at beginning, silent in the middle,
waiting at the end
Faces of proctor, lighting, air conditioning
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CFA Study Program – Schweser
Most popular program provider
Most comprehensive set of
study aids
Study notes, sample exams,
revision booklet, summary sheet
Classroom lectures, classroom
sample exams
DVD, audio CD, CD-ROM,
Internet broadcast
Local support in Hong Kong
http://www.schweser.com/produ
cts/packages.php

4. 13
CFA Study Program – Stalla
Second largest program provider
Major products available in Hong
Kong
Study notes, sample exams, CD-ROM
Adopted by
CFA Hong Kong Chapter
many other local CFA exam training
schools
http://www.stalla.com/cp/index.cfm?
CFID=9977056CFTOKEN=17016
469
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Useful MSc Courses for
CFA Exam Preparation
EF5042 Corporate
Finance
EF5142 Advanced
Corporate Finance
EF5052 Investments
EF5050 Derivatives
and Risk Management
EF5157 Fixed Income
Securities
EF 5342 Monetary and
Financial System
AC5815 Financial
Reporting and Analysis
EF5070 Econometrics
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MSc Programmes vs CFA
Exam topics spread across many courses
Lay the foundation of the CFA exam knowledge
BUT
Need further studies on topics
Fund accounting
Economics
Professional ethics
Need further practices on
Exam technique
Exam psychology
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I heard somebody passed the CFA exams
with just one week of study. How did they
pass?
A. So far, I only heard such heroes in the air
but never met one. If you meet such a
superman, I will be glad if you can introduce
to me.

5. 17
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I have a busy full time job. I can only reserve at
most 3 hours per week . Will I pass?
A. You should perform an assessment with the
sample questions on the CFA website to see how
good you are in answering the sample questions.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/courseofstudy/sa
mple.html
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. It has already been Ching Ming Festival
but I have not yet started my first page study.
What should I do?
A. You should
read the Schweser’s revision booklet ONLY;
memorize the summary sheet;
attempt three sample exams; and
pray.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. It has already been the day before exam
but I have not yet started my first page study.
What should I do?
A. Take a good sleep.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can a CFA qualification change my career
to the finance industry?
A. That should be the other way round.
Before you become a CFA, you have to get
into the finance industry and obtain 4 years of
recognized professional experience.

6. 21
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. The CFA program is too challenging for
me. Are there any other good alternatives?
A. Yes, you may consider other specialized
professional finance programmes, taking into
accounting your own career need.
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Specialized Professional Finance
Programmes
Financial risk management
FRM, GARP http://www.garp.com
PRM, PRMIA http://www.prmia.org
Hedge fund and alternative investments
CAIA, CAIA Association
http://www.caia.org
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Summary – You will success
An efficient and effective study program
Exam topics
Exam techniques
Exam psychology
Start study as early as possible
300 to 350 hours of effective study per level
50% for study notes
50% for sample exam papers
Keep a healthy body
Luck will have little help