Purposive without Foresight

On June 6th I took the CFA Level 1 exam in the test centre in Shanghai. First of all, the level 1 exam itself, to be honest, was not extremely difficult. I finished reading volume 1 and 2, and about half of volume 3 of all the CFA L1 curriculum, and worked all the exercises after each reading shortly before Kai was born. After his birth, I did not manage to pick up the curriculum again until after I came back to home in China. My parents helped looking after Kai, nursing might be the only thing I had to do for Kai. I still have to get up about twice every night feeding Kai, but it is already a lot better compared to 5 or 6 nursings a night when he was still small. We visited relatives and had a lot of visitors during the first two weeks when I arrived home. So I had totally about one month for reading the remaining 3.5 volumes. I studied about 12 hours a day. About several days before the exam, I finally finished the readings, made my own study notes with LaTeX, worked most of the exercises after each reading. It was a very tough job. The study material itself is actually grokable, but the amount of knowledge is really too huge for such a short study time. I could not manage to learn every page by heart. In the exam, there was no single concept I have not met during my study, but I did not answer everything right. Ah well. I’ve done my best, my parents and my husband have done their best in supporting me. There is really nothing to regret.

I know there are various shortcuts for preparing the level 1 exam. Some said they passed it without touching the curriculum. There are “notes” one can buy, such as Schweser notes, Stalla notes, etc. After the exam I also learnt that in China there are many cram schools which state their only goal is to help you pass the CFA exams. But I do not like to take these shortcuts. My current job is decent and my employor is very nice. But I am really interested in the investing business. During my pregnancy, I enjoyed reading the CFA curriculum as much as reading E. H. Gombrich’s or Ray Huang’s works. The CFA curriculum brought a better understanding of the modern world to me. Reading through the curriculum is a very fulfilling experience to me. Compared to the theoretical computer science curriculum I took in the college, the CFA curriculum is much closer to the real world and everyday life. Besides, many readings are very well written. The only reading I felt really difficult to grok is the “Reading 38: Income Taxes” in volume 3: Financial Reporting and Analysis. I liked Keith C. Brown and Frank K. Reilly’s writings so much that right after the exam, I ordered their book “Investment Analysis and Portforlio Management” and want to read more. While I fully understand that many CFA candidates cannot or do not want to do more than “cracking the exam”, I think it is really a pity if the curriculum is not read through (If one is already in the investment business and already knows everything in the curriculum then it is another story).

Now something about the exam event. The CFA Institute rent 7 floors in Shanghai International Exhibition Center. Several thousands candidates took the exam there. I have not taken part in such a big exam event my whole life, and did not imagine how many people there were. When I saw the 70-meter waiting queue outside the toilet, I was really scared. During the lunch break, my chest hurt a lot and I urgently needed a toilet to pump away my milk, no, but it was impossible to do it in the test center’s toilet. I ran out, all the restaurants near the test center were full of candidates. I almost cried. At the end I ran in a furniture mall and finally started pumping away my milk. But many female candidates kept coming to the same toilet and some could not wait and kept kicking my door. It was so terrible. Next time if I take the exam in Shanghai again, I should book a room in a hotel nearby and have my lunch there. The tables in the exam hall are very low. Doing exam at such low tables for 6 hours is hard. Maybe next time I will take my CFA exam in Frankfurt or Munich merely because the tables there must be higher. The proctors and security staffs were very friendly and help-ready. The storage for personal belongings were not locked, but apparently there wasn’t any thief. Many drank red bull during the lunch break. Kai is still having my milk, I cannot drink red bull. But I do not think red bull could really help. In the after session, I was so extremely exhausted. During the last hour, I almost no longer knew what I was reading, had to go through every question for 3 or 4 times in order to figure the issues out. This exam is also physically very challenging. Next time, I will definitely take some grape sugar with me. All in all it was unforgetable experience.

After the exam my cousin sent me out of Shanghai and my father picked me up. Kai was very well-behaved during the night without mama. My mother fed him with formula milk twice. To be honest I really wish I could pass the exam. My whole family have paid so much effort. If some day I really get the CFA charter, they should be awarded half of it.

Tags: cfa, China, education, finance, investment, life