How to Smash CFA Level 1 (90th Percentile - 2024)

[@loichelene]

Hi Haaris, I didn't have time to comment on your last video so I'll do it under this one. It's a wonderful event and it's interesting to be able to see your development as a man handling a great job in the high finance industry and personal life also. I think I speak on behalf of those who follow you when I say that you have our full support. I wish you a good day

[@hopeful806]

Your videos are really great and helpful. Your suggestion of buying IFT notes seems a good thing as note-taking takes a lot of time. Not many CFA KZbinrs talk about this strategy.

[@natashamadowainda6375]

Hey Harris. Your videos are great. Can you please share tips on how you practiced your questions and how you were able to memorise your formulas

[@HaarisZamir]

Sure I'll try and fit this into a later video!

[@mr.pinder5367]

@@HaarisZamir Im also looking forward to this video...my exam is in November this year :)

[@kalpshah777-i9q]

Thanks for the advice

[@BhagavadGita294]

Bro make a road map to clear CFA and how many time required to complete all the level.

[@HaarisZamir]

Sure will see if there's a way to fold this in

[@harshitsinha2174]

great video! after watching your videos i had started studying finance and wanted to study cfa but i was not sure if it was for me, so i enrolled to IFT's free quants videos and after completing 6 LMs i purchased MM's FSA module for $37 and currently am on 6th pre-read. I wanna register for the CFA L1 but im not sure as it took around 21 days to complete quats till 6th LM, do you think i should register for nov this year or feb-2025. P.S.- my accuracy while solving qbank was around 68% on average right after completing the LMs

[@HaarisZamir]

Nov this year is still plenty of time - enough I think. Feb-25 is easy

[@Lucas-be9th]

What isthe percentage of questions you need to use your calculator on the exam because I wonder if should focus more on theory or the practice. When doing curriculum practice question sometimes there are tasks when you need like 10 minutes to calculate so probably not possible to have the same on the exam.

[@HaarisZamir]

Don't worry about the ones that take this long to calculate - they won't come up in the exam. They're more for understanding. In the exam, any calculations will be simple and direct. Hard to say what percentage though

[@israelmg1749]

The goat🐐

[@mrmoney2249]

WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL SKILLS MODULES? Do they count towards the exam?

[@HaarisZamir]

They're applied modules, not included in the exam. Not tested either, you should have to complete a certain number of hours

[@abhaymahajan5829]

How would you recommend structuring my study 1) watching mm’s full videos on each topic first and reading through the notes. 2) then watching the review videos and start answering eoc questions. 3) then doing practice ques and referring to notes or review videos where I get stuck. 4) Doing mock exams after all this. Am i missing something or there is something you would change in this plan?

[@HaarisZamir]

That's a very solid plan

[@akhileshdatar]

Hey Harris can i just do ift package and watch mark meldrum vids to go through planning to give exam in Feb 2025, I've been going through ift for 2 months

[@HaarisZamir]

yes should be fine

[@SpartansPlaysGames]

How did you find Mark’s Q-bank? I recently started practicing with it instead of only the CFAI stuff and I got humbled very fast haha

[@HaarisZamir]

Difficult stuff but great prep - if you can do these you’ll smash the exam. Don’t get demoralised if you get them wrong though

[@abisagbobolarinwa9891]

Please can you give me link to the mark q bank

[@ravishitole6877]

Hi Harris, it was a great video, I am plan to take my CFA L1 IN MAY 2025 , I purchase full package from CFA Which has 1000 questions and 5 mock AND planning to read CFA material , can I just buy IFT high yield NOTES ? Or anything else you recommend ?

[@HaarisZamir]

Yes that's probably fine - up to you

[@FAM-g5r]

which MM package would you recommend to for along with the IFT notes?

[@HaarisZamir]

Self study

[@hopeful806]

Haaris, what if I buy the full CFA Level 1 package from IFT instead of combining Dr. Mark and IFT? I just feel like focusing on one provider.

[@HaarisZamir]

@@hopeful806 yes I did that at level 1 - solid option

[@mohithpm401]

Hi Haaris, I have recently started to watch your contents and looks pretty helpful for me, Firstly Thanks for that. I currently graduated with a Bachelor's in Statistics (India)and looking to build a good career in Finance, particularly in Investment Management, Investment Banking etc. So I'm stucked in between two best options in Indian, i.e MBA (fin) or CFA. I couldn't find any mentor who can give some advices regarding this, if you can relate my problem, pls comment on your key point of view in this topic. Thanks!!

[@HaarisZamir]

I think the CFA is a better option than MBA for most people - MBA is more of a networking play, and only really highly valuable from a top tier school (Harvard, Wharton etc). CFA will also teach you much more about finance / investing, and is a standardised qualification (i.e. everyone knows the CFA is quality, but not every MBA is quality). Just my opinion. Good luck

[@mohithpm401]

@@HaarisZamir Thanks, really means a lot Sir. 🤍

[@tahamajid445]

Hey ! Would the premium ift package be enough to clear level 1( paticularly interested in the videos, are they good enough ? ) . I also have scheweser notes

[@HaarisZamir]

Yes for sure - I used the lectures at L1 and they were solid

[@seanchristian9646]

hi Haaris, do you use both IFT notes and IFT high yield notes? i purchased the high yield notes only and wondering if thats sufficient?

[@HaarisZamir]

It depends how thorough you'd like to be - high yield is probably enough to "pass", but probably not to do "well". If you want to do level 2 and 3, I'd recommend getting full notes and studying thoroughly

[@odogwuldn]

Hi Haaris, love your content man and I'm a fan of your channel. I have a dilemma. I'm registered for the August 2024 CFA level 1 sitting and I've only just started preparing for exams using IFT hardcopy notes and practicing questions on the CFA institute curriculum. However, learning the content is taking me a lot of time and I may not finish learning all the content and practice questions on the CFA institute until early July. I've also considered rescheduling for the Nov 2024 sitting as I feel I may have insufficient time and have left it too late but I will have to pay around $200 to reschedule. Please in regards to my situation do you think the IFT high-yield notes material can be effective used stand alone or should I just continue using the CFA institute curriculum and also using IFT hardcopy notes or even reschedule for Nov 2024 sitting? I'm interested to know your thoughts and what you would do and recommend if you were in my situation since you have used the high-yield course and completed the CFA level 1 exam. Also apologies for the long comment, just been procrastinating and finding it difficult to make a decision.

[@HaarisZamir]

Personally I think you have plenty of time to prepare - August is some time away. I would never recommend studying just the high yield notes (these are for reviews + topics you haven’t had time to properly study). Take your time on the harder topics and you’ll get through the others quicker. Work through IFT full notes, don’t need the books

[@mridulsinghal57]

Hi Harris, I am planning to take MM L1 package. I wanna know that will it be MM who will be teaching? Or some subordinate faculty? Because we recently heard that MM is stepping down. Please help.

[@HaarisZamir]

Mark Meldrum confirmed that all levels will be a combination of Dr. Mark and Richie Owens, CFA for the foreseeable future.

[@abisagbobolarinwa9891]

Please can i use ift notes with any other materials apart from mm, can i use kaplan with ift,is it confusing if i do not use medrum

[@ellahu5068]

do you recommend Kaplan ?

[@HaarisZamir]

I've only used their books, which are okay. Personally not for me, but if you've already started with them, not the worst

[@carolamoriau]

In your latest video of 6th July, this order of topics have changed to: 1.Qants> 2.FI> 3.Der (no order suggested in between) 10.Ethics. Confusing my little tired head tbh

[@HaarisZamir]

That was a general comment on topics that are generally considered hard - follow the specific order in this Level 1 video, as that's tailored to this particular level Good luck!

[@carolamoriau]

@@HaarisZamir thanks and God Bless you! I got myself MM & IFT HY course as you suggested as well. Stills lots to do but enjoying this more than uni.