What future financial analyst should know about CFA?
After you have cleared the CFA Level I exam, your next aim should be the CFA Level II exam. The CFA Level I exam basically deals with questions regarding the basic knowledge, concepts of investment valuation and comprehension of tools. The CFA Level II exam deals with questions regarding the application of the concepts that you studied for CFA Level I exam. Your knowledge regarding the application of the studied concepts in real life case is tested. Since not many people can pass this exam, the people who can pass this exam and get certified as charter holder will prove that they are worthy to work in financial investments or company.
So, before you sit for the II level of exam, you should have some basic knowledge about it. Here is a list of things that all future financial analysts know about CFA level II.
Areas covered by exam
Each level of CFA exams covers different areas. So, if you think that by studying for CFA Level I, you can easily pass the Level II and Level III exam then you will be in for a big surprise. The CFA Level II exam covers the practical use of concepts studied for the CFA Level I exam. The topic areas that the future analyst must cover are Investment Tools, Wealth Planning, Asset Classes, Ethical and Professional Standards and Portfolio Management.
Minimum score required is different each year
The minimum score required by the candidate to pass the exam is different for each year. The CFA Institute Board of Governors decides what the passing score would be for that particular year. How they decide the minimum score is not known. But, many people have assumed that the pass score must be based on the difficulty of the exam.
All the three level exams are connected to each other
Many future analysts might assume that once they have passed the exam they can just forget about all the topics that they have learned for the exam. Are they right about it? No. They are absolutely wrong about it. Why? The first reason is that all the three level exams are connected to each other. The topic areas that are covered in the one level of the exam are interrelated with the topic areas that are covered in another level of the exam. The second reason is that all the knowledge that you have accumulated for this exam will come in handy in your future career as well. So, do not make the mistake of thinking that once you have finished your first level of CFA exam, you can forget all the things that you have learned so far.
Question structure
Each level of the exam has a different kind of question structure. The Level II exam contains 120 questions. These questions will contain 20 items sets that will asked in the two exams- morning and afternoon session. 1 item set will contain one case statement and 6 questions related to that case statement. You will basically have to extract required information from case statement. However, the information will be engraved in the case statement in such a way that the test takers will be very confused. This is to ensure that the test takers who will pass this exam will be worthy of the 'certified charter holder' title.
More difficult questions than the level I questions
The Level II exam will contain questions that are more difficult than the Level I questions. The questions asked in this level will have more depth to it. The test takers aka future financial analyst will have to use the knowledge that they have in practical manner to answer these questions.
Another thing that you might want to know about this level of exam is that the passing rate of this level is higher than the Level I exam. So, if you prepare well then there is a high chance that you might nail down this exam.
