Chalk & Board is a boutique company focused solely on Chartered Financial Analyst exam preparation. Our courses provide the highest-quality learning experience, ensuring that CFA Program candidates are best positioned to acquire the CFA designation. To date, our method has helped thousands of candidates become Charterholders.
THE RONEN METHODOLOGY IS CHANGING THE CFA® PREPARATION GAME
The Ronen Methodology, “Master the concepts - don’t memorize,” is transforming the CFA test-prep landscape. Our philosophy, developed by Nathan Ronen, CFA, eliminates the use of PowerPoint slides and scripted presentations. Nathan’s unique approach to the CFA® material, at all levels, allows candidates to absorb and truly understand each topic - not just memorize it. The “secret recipe” behind the Ronen Methodology is Nathan’s deep knowledge about:
● CFA curriculum content and updates ● CFA exam structure, topic materials and strategy ● Exam-taking "best practices" (what works, what doesn't)
Hello! Thanks for your question. The best way is to contact the CFA Institute about where the readings are located within your Learning Ecosystem. CFAI says these materials are made available to for registered candidates on CFAI's website at no additional charge.
Hello! Level 2 was a challenging exam when I took it because I realized afterwards that the Level 1 study approach I used for Level 2 didn't work as well. Chalk & Board mocks are designed to help prepare you for the types of things you could see on the exam without going "overboard" and being intentionally difficult. If you take a range of high quality mocks from good mock sources, including current CFAI mocks, you should be adequately prepared. Don't worry if you get low scores at first. Focus on learning from your mock exam mistakes and you will be stronger on exam day due to this. Good luck on your exam!
Some questions are ungraded "trial" questions that the CFA Institute adds to test questions for future exams. You won't know which ones they are. The number can vary and the CFA Institute is the best source to ask questions about your particular exam's trial questions. I would not think too much about them because it can be a distraction. Good luck in your studies!
There typically are some "trial" questions that will be ungraded, because they are being experimented on for future test content. This often can include up to 20 questions for Level 1 based on past CFAI announcements about their CBT testing. If you want the best answer, you should contact CFAI directly to ask if they can clarify what the actual number is for your exam. If they fail to clarify, then you can probably assume somewhere in the 20 question range, but not more than 20 questions probably.
Hey Nathan, thank you so much for sharing this video. I have my L2 in 3 days and was feeling nervous, seeing your video gave me immense confidence. I have a small doubt, how many mock exams would you recommend is sufficient for clearing the exam? I have already completed 7 mocks, is it sufficient? Thanks again 😊
There's no magic number for mock exams. If you have taken 7 high quality mock exams, preferably from MULTIPLE prep providers so you get to see different ways of wording questions (definitely including the CFA Institute exams among them), you should be fine. Good luck on your test!
And in furtherance to my earlier response, if you need more last minute mocks you can always visit our website to add one or more of our specialized Level 2 exams to add to your studies. May the odds be ever in your favor on exam day.
Please see the CFA Institute's calculator rules here. Do not trust other advice: www.cfainstitute.org/en/about/governance/policies/cfa-calculator-policy
I can say it varies, sometimes so much easier, sometimes not! Lvl 3 Aug 2024 was nothing like mocks or CFA learning ecosystem, so much more difficult/ or rather designed to fail more candidates. More recurring revenue for the institute! Answering the grey area questions does not make you a more learned professional, just saves you future exam fees.
Good luck on your Level 3 exam! Hopefully you will pass, but if you didn't then reach out to us and we're glad to potentially help. Level 3 is a tricky exam if you prepare for it a similar way as for Level 1 and Level 2.
This is a question we're often asked by candidates in your position. Check out our video addressing your question: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q16oofR0aYs.html
Thank you so much for the advice! I will go for the 18 months approach with full time job, studying the weekends starting level 1 in february! haha even thouth it is not recommended. (starting to study this september ) Not that interested in the badges.... but i only function in life with hard challenges and adrenaline. If people say is hard that drives me forward. if i dont put on myself enough pressure, I cannot study. Nice video! Ill have a look at all the rest you have
2nd tip is huge . But I think you have to be prepared for this from your learning progress.In other words u got to dive deep in these concepts don’t try to replicate , have a reasoning behind everything is key
How does an answer like this give full points? The question asks about the "best" which implies a comparison. How is the barbell portfolio justified as the "best" when you don't even compare it with the other options in the justification part of the answer?
CFA exams are not like school exams, there is a method to answering constructed response questions that you should master if you want to seek maximum points using minimal time.
Hello - this is a question best directed to the CFA Institute. They definitely keep copies of your PSM completion records for their own tracking, just like they keep your test results for their internal tracking. All of this will be linked to your CFAI member number. I don't know if they also offer public certificates of completion to show outsiders, this is a question they can answer for you.
i'd say more bcs of convexity Here's my answer: Barbell when investing in a barbell the investor is long in the ultra short (2Y) as well as in the ultra long end (30y). Because the barbell is the portfolio with the most dispersion between the 2 tenors, higher dispersion leads to higher convexity, which is positive for the investor because it makes him / her gain more when yield go down (30 years) and makes him / her lose less when yields go up (2 year tenor)
Hi Nathan, how does investing in Duration Neutral (given in the question) affect my answer?I mean what is the added value of this info? How is it possible to do a "Duration Neutral" Barbell portfolio without going short on the other side?
Another important point here is convexity.... Convexity is higher for barbell portfolio and it always favours investors.... Becoz of yield increased,highher convecity portfolio falls less and if yield decreases higher convexity portfolio increases more..
Duration neutral means bullet duration= barbell duration Basically money duration should be equal for both bullet and barbell In barbell portfolio Weightage of 2 yr and 30 yr bond would be different .... No short or long leg
@@rohanmetai6789 What you're describing is a duration match. Not a duration neutral trade. A duration neutral trade has, I believe, a net duration of 0 (similar to equity market neutral trade has beta of zero).
I’ve seen some talk on forums that the high pass rates from this May cohort are proof that the CFA program is getting easier or “watered down”. Curious what your thoughts are on this and if you think there is any threat to the value of the charter moving forward?
You will see this time to time online, when people hypothesize that the CFA Institute is making the exam harder/easier depending on the pass rate. Truth be told, the exam is the same level of difficulty year in and out. Sometimes candidates are more prepared (or perhaps there are more retakers who know their weak spots and fixed them). Sometimes candidates are less prepared. The higher pass rate is a credit to the candidate pool who took the exam in May and were overall very well prepared. Truth be told, these exams all could have higher pass rates each time, if candidates better understood how to prepare for the exam questions correctly and integrate topics.
Hello! It seems you are asking about our personalized study plans. We are a prep provider and this is a service we provide to all our students. If you would like to join our student team, visit us at chalkandboard.org
Everything is possible in this life, so this is possible. However it is not a great strategy if you want to avoid a retake and pass confidently. Because on exam day, the questions are often more integrated in nature than typical EOC questions. Our CFA prep materials focus on exactly this. Good luck in your studies!
On exam day, your prep center will provide you with material to do hand calculations. Often this involves a writing instrument and paper. You should ask a recent candidate in your city, because the rules can change a little bit year to year. But generally speaking, test centers have provided scrap paper and a pencil or writing instrument to make side calculations. It is not submitted with your exam however, it is thrown away.
Hi Nathan. Thank you for the valuable information. I passed May L2 exam and planning to take L3 in Feb 2025. I passed last two exams with second hand study materials of one year previous exam, but do you think it’s too risky to take February L3 exam with 2024 materials given new pathway policy even though I choose portfolio management…?
Hello sir, I would recommend using the materials that correspond to the exam year you are planning to take it. This is the safest way to protect months of your time and the cost of exam registration fees.
The majority of candidates came well prepared and took care of business! I agree it's an outlier and it's nice to see this sort of thing happen sometimes. Well done everyone!
Good question, the short answer is no. The longer answer is that the CFA Institute seeks to keep the same level of difficulty across exam periods. Sometimes candidates perform better overall and the pass rate is therefore higher, sometimes candidates perform worse, but CFA Institute tries to offer the same difficulty of exams each time.
Thanks, just received my passing score for May. I am going for November 2024 for Level 2, began studying after sitting for level 1, already have equity valuation completed
I needed a study plan for ethics!!! Prepped for the exam well, scored 70+ in 5 sections but scored barely 50% in ethics (even though I found it easy during the paper)!!
Congratulations on your strong score in those 5 sections, if you would like a study plan for your CFA exam studies feel free to join us as a student if you wish. Regardless, good luck in your studies!
Hi there. On the subject of ethics, I don’t actually think we’re allowed to say how well we did per individual topic but I will say that I passed the exam and what I used to prep for ethics was complete the guidance of standards readings 100 question bank twice and heavily learnt and studied the important sections of the GIPS reading. Worked really well for me.
Please buy the books corresponding to your exam year. If you're taking the exam in 2024, buy the 2024 books because they directly correlate to the 2024 testable content.
@@ChalkBoardCFAPrep thanks Nathan. Why does 2024 have 6 volumes and 2025 have 10? Does it matter at all? Is there more prep material in the 2025 or no?
@@emiliol.9431 The CFA Institute adjusts and amends the curriculum periodically over the years. Our prep videos will track the curriculum changes, we make annual adjustments and updates based on each year's testable CFA program material.
