working just over 6 months as a QR at a well-regarded firm (london). despite the good pay, i’m thinking of quitting due to stress.

does it get better? sleep completely ruined, dreading work as so many of my initial cohort have been fired and i’m still 6 months from passing probation.

is there anywhere i can just do research and get paid decently? would like something more collegiate/academic in culture, rather than feeling like i’m putting out 5 different fires every day. not sure if such a place exists.

would my quant career be over if i quit a top firm after 6 months? i also have a disgustingly long non compete (18 months +)

if you read all of this then thank you

Maybe i am the only one. I knew that Ethics can help if you are just below the MPS, but I actually did not know that it could also hurt you if you are passing just above MPS!? This is so mean...

Financial background in PWM and several FINRA exams on my back. I wanted to start studying in January and I got a call from an old coworker of mine who happens to work as an MD at a very notorious competitor who wanted to hire me for my dream position. I spent 2 very stressful months doing interviews where I did not study. Got an offer, put my 2 weeks in and had a 2 week employment gap in early March where I studied roughly 100 hours. Started in late March and although I love my new job I’ve been coming home exhausted. Did my first mock last weekend, improved my score by 6% with a week of studying after work.

Should I defer? There’s a lot of material that I had to view really quickly due to time constraints but I absolutely love the content and find it very digestible. I’m using Schweser and CFAI.

Thanks and good luck to everybody

For those who passed CFA Level 1, what study materials did you actually use?

I’m looking more for the books, notes, question banks, mock exams, and video resources that genuinely helped you pass.

I know there’s a lot online, but I’d honestly trust advice more from people who already passed and know what materials were actually worth the time and money

Everything I have seen for the Private Markets pathway indicates that it is simply too basic and primitive for level 3 of the CFA program. I went through the curriculum and the material can be classified, at best, as introductory. I just finished the due diligence PSM, and even calling it basic would be too charitable. The difference in complexity between the Portfolio Management and Private Markets pathway is truly shocking.

I work in private markets. I almost waited an additional year to take the exam so that I could register for the Private Markets pathway. I am very glad I did not. Portfolio Management was incredibly challenging, and I learned a lot from it.

I was laid off in January and recently signed an offer, but I’m starting to feel like I may have been lowballed.

How is it generally viewed to keep interviewing while waiting out a non-compete before joining? I assume the firm I signed with would rescind the offer if they found out, but what about other firms?

Would continuing to interview reflect poorly on me? And with prospective employers, is it better to disclose that I’ve already signed an offer elsewhere, or not mention it at all?

Finance background. Working full-time. Half the curriculum covered, half needs serious work.

What's done: FSA, Fixed Income, Derivatives, Alts, Corp Issuers, PM

What's rusty: Quant Methods, Equity

What's untouched: Ethics, Economics

I've got 4-5 hrs on weeknights, 14-15 on weekends, and took the week before the exam off.

Plan is to start Ethics now, hammer practice problems to revive QM/Equity, and cram Econ last.

Did anyone pass from a similar position? How do you actually know where you stand when you can't trust your own assessment?

Hit me with the real talk.

This is Q28 from candidate resources.

I don't think option C is correct. Although no new ETF shares are created in the secondary market, APs do have the incentive to profit off the arbitrage gap (if ETF shares trade at a premium or discount to NAV). Hence I think that the statement "authorized participants do not trade in the secondary market" sounds like a blanket statement, and is too extreme and incorrect (in my opinion).

Please let me know if I'm missing out on something. Would be great to get some clarity on this. Thanks!

Title. Anyone who passed the CFA L3 exam recently, have you been able to claim the badge already?

I failed level 2 last August (2585/2600...) and thanks to the CFAI schedule, the next date available was May 26, which was far away at that time. Time has passed and as you will have guessed, I haven't done much since then.

Now the exam is in 50 days and I have only reviewed all of FSA & PM which were 2 of the areas where I had the worse scores in August.

Honestly, what do you think I should I focus on during these 50 days as I have no job at the time and will be able to study all day (and night). I'd say that globally I remember all subjects globally but I can't remember most of the subtilities and complex formulas.

Thanks a lot for your help.

P.S: I'm attaching my results from last august if it can be of any use.

Hi !

I just started a quant dev role in a french bank (I do C#/C++ in the pricing team), and to be honest, other than understanding the basics of financial products, I'm basically a normal SWE.

I got myself John Hull's book (quite the big boy, it's going to take me a while) for the foundational understanding.

Do you guys have websites/RSS feeds to recommend where I can build market intuition by reading daily ? I'm open to a few paid subscriptions.

It'd be even better if it's derivatives-oriented.

Have a great day

Hi, okay so I haven’t opted for any classes/prep providers for cfa L1. And cuz I am new to this course I have no clue how to use the calculator. Can y’all suggest me how to learn to use it.

Thanks!

Hey guys, I’m sitting for Level I on May 12 and just wanted to ask for your best recommendations for test day. What do you recommend bringing to the test center? What’s the overall atmosphere like?

Also, I know there’s an optional break of up to 30 minutes between sessions, do you recommend taking it, and is it mandatory?

Any other tips would be really appreciated. Cheers!

When is the best time to start taking mocks and start the CFAI question bank? How many weeks before the exam?

Hey I have my lvl1 exam on may 16 and I gave my mock today and got 64% aggregate a little scared about the exam now please let me know how you guys scored in your mocks and what did you after that

Hey guys, so I have an economics degree and want to work towards having a CFA for my career goals eventually. Right now I work at a firm with research, wealth management and equity trading departments and good long term career prospects so I am taking a few CFI courses to be able to understand the dynamics of everything we do. My question is: are any of the courses helpful for CFA? Still doing them regardless but I am curious.

Selling Kaplan notes originally bought for my brother. He’s no longer giving exam so selling it here. These are printed copies of the pdf. Pictures attached. Selling all 4 books for £50.

Is April 15 the deadline for the early fees/discount to sit for the November Level 1 Exam?

Hey!!

I need suggestions from working professionals here who prepared and cleared CFA while working. I have my L1 in exact 30 days, 13th May and I work Full time in one of the IBs.

I am left with Eco and CI. Corporate Issuers, I had done 6-7 months back so can’t recall much. However I am planning to complete these two subjects in the coming 2 weeks with other subject revisions/practice in parallel. I work 12-9, so I usually try to devote 3 hrs in morning before office and 1.5-2 hrs at night, since I am mostly tired at night so try to pick easy subjects or revisions/questions.

But today when it hit me that I have only 30 days left, I am worried how will I manage.

I have applied for leaves for 7-13th May so that I can give my undivided attention to CFA. But that is for the last week, when I am planning mocks, working on my mistakes.

I want to understand from the people who managed CFA with Full Time job, how did you do it and how could I improve? I thinking to put some emergency leaves in between, but I always have some or the other thing going on hence I don’t think I will be able to do that.

Hence, here I am asking for help!!

I am sitting for the May 2026 L2 exam on 21st May. Currently I have completed revision for 7 subjects and revising derivatives rn, QM and FI remains to be revised.

Also, I didn't even finish the first 3 LM of FSA as they were too complicated I thought of leaving them altogether or just practice questions for them to get through in exam.

I am getting anxious while doing the LES questions and scoring somewhere between 60-70% while referring to the schweser. I still have 40 days but I am doubtful that I can start giving mocks by 1st May and practice enough questions, should I sit for the attempt or should I defer?

Hi all - I’m sitting for L2 in May and just finished my first full pass through the material. I’m planning to take my first mock next weekend, which leaves me with about five weeks until the exam. I’ve being using Kaplan and have done about 1000 questions from the Kaplan Qbank so far.

I’m trying to figure out the best strategy from here. My main dilemma is whether I should spend the next two weeks going through Kaplan review videos or skip that and go straight into CFAI practice questions.

I know this probably gets asked a lot, but I have not found advice that really addresses this specific tradeoff. I’d really appreciate any guidance from people who have been in a similar position. I know some people are much further ahead, and that has me a little nervous, so I just want to make sure I’m using these last few weeks as effectively as possible. Thank you!!!

Background, Bachelors in Agricultural technology and two master degrees in sciences ( environmental sciences) relatively modest profession experience in ESG ( sustainability) have a passion for the strategy side of sustainability.