Passing the CFA® Exam: Find the Right Materials and the Right People
When I first began pursuing the CFA charter, I was a lone wolf. I didn’t do any prep courses. I didn’t get any materials other than the curriculum books. I didn’t talk to other candidates. I didn’t look at forums. And despite not having had much background, I didn’t engage with my local society in any way except to apply for a scholarship (which was graciously—and somewhat mysteriously—granted to me). In fact, I had never even met anyone that had taken a CFA exam! I had always been a good test taker, though, and I thought for sure that I’d have no problem whatsoever with the Level I exam.
Not surprisingly, I failed.
If I recall correctly, it wasn’t even close. I blamed my failure on all the wrong things at the time: I blamed it on the fact that I took the December exam, and was working like crazy during peak season as a manager in an Amazon fulfillment center. I blamed it on distraction from the proctors who unrelentingly paced back and forth in their white shirts and black pants, giving a professional, but slightly cultish, vibe. I also blamed it on the challenges of taking the Atlanta exam in the Georgia World Congress Center, where we enjoyed the faint but incessant drumbeats from the marching bands at the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome next door. Of course, the truth is that I failed for a couple of other reasons.
Get the Resources
For starters, I failed because I wasn’t prepared. And the most important thing that could have helped was some study material. The curriculum that CFA Institute puts out is very good stuff, and it gets better and better every year. I believe you need the curriculum to be successful, but you also need additional review material to really put your best foot forward on exam day. Just like a spelling bee contestant needs not only a good dictionary, but also other resources that teach, for example, morphemes and root words to better puzzle out word meanings, techniques and drills to study more efficiently, and the most common and most challenging words likely to appear in future bees, a CFA candidate needs more than just the basic resources.
After my failure, third-party study materials became a critical aspect of my study program. I still used the CFA curriculum, but focused mostly on the end-of-chapter questions. After a few months of intense preparation, I proudly (but sheepishly) crushed the June Level I exam, in a Louisville classroom at the university rather than a cavernous event hall in Atlanta. The proctors were still dressed in their cult-like uniforms, but they didn’t seem to pace as much, there were no marching bands, and, more importantly, I was prepared.
Engage with Others
The study material was important, but it was only one aspect of my success. After failing at my first attempt, I realized I needed some real people while I was on my journey, and I began to engage with my local society.
In my first CFA Society (Louisville), I established very close bonds with my CFA candidate cohort and still feel connected to them. That bonding wasn’t unique to my local society, either. Every society I’ve gotten involved with has a committee to help candidates be successful, and I see candidates connecting at every meeting. And even beyond my fellow candidates, I made some great friends that opened many doors. If you get to know people in the local society in your city, you’re virtually guaranteed at least one first-degree connection at every investment-related shop in town, and you’re almost certain to have a second-degree connection to any investment professional in town! Those sorts of connections proved to be useful time and time again.
The Results
I went on to pass all three exams consecutively after that sad December day in Atlanta, and it’s hard to remember exactly what it was like being a CFA candidate almost 10 years later. But even as those memories have faded, the relevance of the CFA Program has become more and more clear. I came into the CFA Program for the knowledge, which I thought would lead to career opportunities. What I ended up getting was friends and interpersonal connections, which have led to opportunities as well, but not at all in the way I expected.
My advice to candidates is to get some study materials and make some friends. Being a charterholder is a great experience, and like everything else in life, it all comes down to people in the end.
About the Author
Gene grew up in Alabama and has been a submarine officer, Amazon.com manager, mutual fund PM, and CEO of a small industrial company. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and the Wharton MBA for Executives. Gene has lived in 10 US states and one foreign country, and is currently a writer and investment professional in Memphis, TN. He is interested in improving education in public schools and prisons.