Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) showcases charter holders as a valuable asset to the financial industry as traditional investment advisory services are not adequately equipped to manage equities, fixed income, and other derivative products. CFA, one of the global financial certifications equips charter holders in three core areas namely – budgeting, cash flows, and risk management, and helps them stand out as competent wealth management and investment professionals in the business world.
Holding a CFA charter demonstrates you as a trusted financial analyst if you are aspiring to be one? Here are some 5 key preparation tips that will help you ace your CFA exams and obtain the CFA charter!
Original Study Package
Preparing for a high-stake global certification like CFA involves a huge commitment and dedication. But to achieve this goal, many CFA aspirants take shortcuts in downloading online material or photocopy materials from websites. One of the hidden dangers that they do not see in the process is the downloaded materials are not updated with current methods, curriculum, and preparation strategies. This might narrow down the chances of success in scoring high in the CFA exam. To overcome this challenge is to get access to original study materials by leading CFA institutes that give you better insights and updated trends and strategies to gear your CFA score.
Time Strategy
Cracking global CFA exams is not easy, but requires a lot of effort! As CFA comprises 3 levels, every level requires a minimum of 300 hours of preparation and over 4 years to complete the requirements. Since the CFA syllabus is extensive, you can use question banks, flashcards, and mock exams to distinguish yourself in the finance industry. According to a study, it is advised that candidates who take 6-8 mock tests with spaced intervals are more successful in acing the exams. If you are scoring consistently 70% in every mock test, it is a sign that you can crack your CFA exams confidently.
Study Groups
One of the motivating factors in studying for a highly competitive exam like CFA is to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who share the same goal. A study group is one of the silver bullets to overcome study blocks validates your doubts/concerns on the exam and helps you navigate the challenges in the course of your preparation. As CFA is more intensive in the syllabus, you can have the opportunity to share and learn new perspectives and ideas to crack your CFA exams more creatively. If your group study is scheduled on a regular basis, it brings discipline and accountability into study habits and keeps you on the right track to score high.
Memorizing and Understanding
CFA exam preparation is a long process and hence memorizing strategies helps candidates to recall complex concepts for many days. Storing information can help you crack CFA exam sections more quickly as it also stimulates comprehension abilities correspondingly to solving critical problems and concepts leading to new insights. One of the positive effects of repeating the exercise/concepts is that it makes you more familiar with the exam pattern, focuses on the gray areas, and breaks complex concepts into simpler patterns to improve your scoring strategy.
Learning style
Learning style is one of the most influential factors that contribute to cracking the CFA exams as the syllabus is more comprehensive and loaded. Academia after years of research have found Video, Audio, Reading, and Kinesthetic (VARK) learning styles producing high results in processing learning information. CFA deals with investment, budget, risk and, wealth management curriculum – multisensory skills are more complementary to score high in CFA exams. Active learning methods can be optimized to enhance your chance of success in cracking the CFA exams.
