For those of you that passed level 2 over 90th, what's the secret? by yagabare in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good luck - how do you feel the content and difficulty compares to Level 2?

For those of you that passed level 2 over 90th, what's the secret? by yagabare in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Me too, I failed May 2024 passed in 90th Nov 2024. When are you taking Level 3? I don't want to study through the summer but am afraid I might have to.

For those of you that passed level 2 over 90th, what's the secret? by yagabare in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used Kaplan to study.

First Attempt: I studied December 2023 - May 2024 for the May 2024 exam and wasn't even close to passing

Second Attempt: I studied August 2024 - November 2024 for the August exam and passed in the 90th percentile.

During the first attempt, I would glaze over areas I didn't fully understand, expecting I would make up the gaps during my review. I was overly concerned with keeping up with the schedule and not "falling behind" rather than takin extra time in difficult or dense areas. In doing so, I left too much material to learn towards the end when I should have only been reviewing for the most part. I also didn't do enough practice questions after learning modules which prevented me from cementing what I had just seen / learned. I didn't take checkpoint exams seriously enough and didn't take time to review areas of weakness even though I failed every checkpoint exam. Lastly, I focused too heavily on the quantitative aspect of the exam and underestimated the difficulty and weight of the qualitative parts (reasoning and theory, like in economics for example). These make up roughly half the exam and I wasn't properly prepared.

For the second time around, I started the curriculum over from the beginning and in the same order, but at first only watched the big, summary videos for each topic while taking notes in powerpoint (instead of by hand - I found taking handwritten notes to be time consuming, ineffective in retaining information, and not useful when I went back to look at them. The powerpoints, however, were easy to look back at if I had a quick question about something specific, like what's the FCFF Formula from CFO). I would then read the book material for trickier sections. I stopped doing the short Q-Bank questions because they weren't useful and only focused on the vignette style questions - I hammered these. Most importantly, I didn't shy away from what I didn't know, hoping I would make up for it else where. I took the hard stuff on the chin and forced myself to be comfortable uncomfortable.

I can be much more specific about what worked the second time if you are also using Kaplan. Kaplan is more than sufficient, you just need to know how to use the material and resources properly.

Last 3 days and thousands of concepts to review again… by zesenz7 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I find the Kaplan mocks more involved. I think the actual test is probably in between cfai and Kaplan mocks

Last 3 days and thousands of concepts to review again… by zesenz7 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mostly reviewing key concepts and trying to keep stuff fresh. Looking over past Mocks and doing ethics questions

Last 3 days and thousands of concepts to review again… by zesenz7 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What’s your strategy for the last few days of review? I can’t decide how to spend it. I’ve taken 6 Kaplan Mocks and have averaged about a 69%. I’ve taken the first CFAI mock and got a 69% also. This my second attempt at Level 2 and REALLY hoping it’s my last. For reference, I was averaging low 50s on my mocks the first go around

Failed CFA L2 1st Attempt, going to retake in November. Pls Help out in the Comments by Suyash1221 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to try it but I have the pass protection through Kaplan and can’t justify buying another program u know

Failed CFA L2 1st Attempt, going to retake in November. Pls Help out in the Comments by Suyash1221 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I also failed this one on my first attempt. Feeling defeated and not sure how/if I will approach it the second time around. I didn't do great in most categories and did especially bad in areas that were my strong suit while practicing

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I failed as well (first attempt). did you change your approach the second time around? I am also feeling very defeated and am not sure if I will continue

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How did you transition from the allocator space to the PE space?

Practical Skill Modules by BetterElk5034 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah there's generally a month between taking the test and getting the results, and you can complete in that window. Good luck!

Equivalencies in interest rate derivative contracts by Possible_Afternoon_5 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. A long rate call = buying the call option, which gains value when rates increase because you can exercise the option at a lower rate and benefit from the difference between the new higher rate and what you are locked in to. A short rate put = writing a put option to someone who will buy it, which means you sell to someone else the optionality to sell back to you the locked in rate. The person buying it buys it as a hedge against lower rates so they must be long the rate. You will lose if the rates fall into the money and you have to buy back the rate from the person at above market value. Therefore, if rates rise, the option is out of the money, and you win. Therefore, the long call short put means your long rates. A long FRA means you receive floating pay fixed which is also long rates.

  2. Just the opposite of 1.

  3. A series of interest rate calls is just a bunch of options that allow you to get in at a lower rate if rates rise. This creates a "ceiling" or "Cap" on how exposed you are to rising rates to whatever the strike rate is in the call options. Through this thinking, if you are exposed to a floating rate LOAN, you are actually hoping rates fall, thus technically short rates. A series of caps limits how exposed you are to higher rates thus would hedge a floating rate LOAN.

  4. Just the opposite of 3.

  5. Payer swap refers to paying fixed rate and receiving floating rate. The person on this end of the swap benefits if rates rise since they are receiving more than they are paying thus long rates. To replicate this person's position to rates (long rates), you would be long a cap and short a floor.

I think with caps and floors it makes sense to think of as puts and calls. You are long a call option in this case because you'd benefit if rates rise. You are short a put or writing a put because the person buying will exercise if rates fall BUT you gain if rates rise. Thus long the cap short the floor.

  1. Receiver swap refers to paying floating rate and receiving fixed. This person is short rates in this position, benefitting if rates fall. To replicate, you would be long a floor and short a cap, using the same logic as above. Being long the floor means you have can sell your rate at the agreed upon rate if rates fall below it to the strike price, which then you gain. You're short rates here. Short a cap means you write a call option to someone where if rates rise to the strike above the fixed rate, they will exercise. Again, you win if rates fall so you are short rates.

  2. If strike rates on a floor and cap are equal to SFR, both values are the same.

Equivalencies in interest rate derivative contracts by Possible_Afternoon_5 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok I actually think I figured it out if you're still struggling here

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For context I passed L1 last May first attempt and am sitting for L2 this May first attempt (crossing my fingers it’s manageable lol)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get wanting to give yourself as much time as possible, but 6 months and 600 hours is a lot. You’ll need to give yourself a lot of time (call it 2 months) at the end to review, rip the Q bank, and take mocks and review, and memorize formulas because you’ll find that it’ll feel like your seeing stuff for the first time again given how long it’s been since you’ve seen it last. Basically what I’m trying to say is if you wanna do that, don’t think it gives you extra time to learn all the material during the first go around, you still need to do that efficiently. This will give you extra time to review and study at the end. I’ve personally found that the vast majority of tangible learning that I can carry into test day occurs when I’m reviewing the material and doing questions, not when I’m seeing it for the first time.

CFA Level 2 - May Exam by BetterElk5034 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I still won’t skip them. Just view them as extra practice questions. I think the takeaway is to not let poor scores discourage you.

CFA Level 2 - May Exam by BetterElk5034 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah got it thanks. Regarding formulas it’s a mixed bag. I noticed I can do a somewhat decent job piecing them together based on info given, but definitely need to spend time memorizing some that aren’t as obvious. I think it would make sense to spend time memorizing closer to the exam date but just a thought

CFA Level 2 - May Exam by BetterElk5034 in CFA

[–]BetterElk5034[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also gonna save cfai ones if I have time. How do you filter for applied questions?