I will be leaving this blog open for future reference as I am now complete the CSC and moving on to the Conduct & Practices Handbook (CPH) course offered by the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). I am also documenting this process on a seperate blog that you can check out here:
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I just received my second exam results back, did much better on the second exam then the first one. I have to say it was a sight of relief when I saw the “Complete” underneath the registration tab on my personal menu. It’s just another thing complete, and it does feel good to have done. I contacted CSC to see how long the certificate normally takes to ship out. The estimated time was between 4 and 6 weeks, so I’m guessing around mid-April. For those of you who may be ordering frames from CSI, you may be interested to know that they don’t ship with the diploma. The CSI representative told me that the frames ship separately from the certificate, and the time frame for a frame to delivery is roughly 2 weeks. They are charging around $70 for a $30 frame, not including shipping.
I am waiting until late June when I register for the Wealth Management Essentials (WME) course to order the updates CSC text. There is a small story behind this. I found out that CSC was finalizing a updated textbook to be released late January, early February. These dates were way to late for me, so I studies off the online textbook instead, and decided to order the hard copy book when I signed up in later courses. I like having reference materials in hard copy format, and the low cost of a book compared to printing it myself seems worthwhile. I made sure to get the updated 2009 hard copy CPH materials, which I am currently going through.
Overall, I found the CSC to be an excellent introductory course into finance, that exposed me to a variety of different sections in the financial services industry. While this was an advantage for those seeking general knowledge of the industries primary component, I also found this approach to be quite arbitrary, vague and narrow in scope. The first volume of the book had essential components that will be required throughout your studies, and with the exception of chapter 12, were all extremely useful to me. I did find that separating chapter 12 from 13 and 14 was perplexing, given that they both speak to the same specific component; financial statement analysis. Also I found the second volumes chapters to be stretched out, as if they were trying to fill the information in to make it worthwhile. The chapters on segregated funds and mutual funds could have easily been placed into a larger chapter with more streamlining of contents. The same goes for hedge funds and other managed products. I found a lot of this information was repetitive, or simply just taking up space.
Overall I did find the second exam easier than the first, but probably not in the way you think. What did it for me was, by the time I had taken 1 CSC exam and read the first 12 chapters, I was way more acquainted with the CSC writing style and testing style, than I was the first go around. So although the material was similar in difficulty throughout most of the key chapters, I think my technique improved causing me to believe the second exam was easier. Overall, I think both exams are challenging and require a good degree of comprehension.
My advice for those enrolled or planning on enrolling in the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) is to focus on understanding the key concepts, and worry less about calculations and memorization of definitions. The materials in the bonds and financial statement sections were pivotal to success in the second half of the course. Furthermore, I felt economics for the time required of study, was far to undervalued on the exam and not worth considerable time. Overall, if you commit to a study routine and exam content comprehension, you will have no trouble passing this exam. Don’t confuse comprehension with the basic concept of “easy”, that is thrown around far to often in relation to this course.
Be diligent, prepared and focus on the material at hand and you will find that, although the exam is challenging, you can excel if you have prepared properly. I highly advise against straight memorization or trying to “game” the exam. This will just cost you time and money in the end. I hope this blog can be of some use to people taking this exam in the future, as I have tried to pack as much content and information in here as I could in the short time I took this course. I will now be moving over to the CPH blog (link in the sidebar) for two short weeks, at which point I will then move to a more permanent home on my CFA blog (link in sidebar).
It’s been fun,
– Steve
I have set out a 6 year educational time-line for which I want to complete a number of objectives. Immediately, the skeptic in most people come out when they here 6 years. Most people can’t stick to a 2 week diet, so that is understandable. However, if you understood the nature of the finance industry and some of its more prestigious goals, you wouldn’t be all shocked to hear someone mention a 6 or even a 10 year educational goal layout. Consider the fact that the minimum amount of time to achieve a CFA designation is 2.5 years. However, the Level 2 and 3 exams are only offered once every year. Which means to achieve the 2.5 mark, you have to complete Level 1 In December, and Level 2 6 months later. This is usually a takes most people don’t have to much luck with, though it’s not impossible by any means. Furthermore, the CFA requires at a minimum, 4 years of related work experience. So just for one program, and three letters you need to complete three extremely hard exams and have 4 years work experience. Putting it all together you are likely to spend 3 – 4 years completing this program, assuming you don’t fail any of the tests which is highly probable that you will (pass rates are 35% and falling). This is just one designation, although a very respected one at that. What if you wanted two? Why would you want two? Well, without getting into a whole post about the importance of educational diversification, lets just say two is better than one. We don’t have to argue about not enough experience anymore, since most respected programs require minimum work experience of 2 years and up.
This is the best way I can put it. If you understand how hard it is to obtain a CFA Charter, with all the requirement, how impressive would if be if a person, while obtaining relevant work experience had both the CFA and another equally difficult designation. What about a person with three. Would you say this person was knowledgeable? Able to manage strict time constraints, deadlines and projects while achieving multiple objectives? I would say an individual who is under 30 and has a CFA charter among other credentials and experience is a very talented individual indeed. My opinion aside, I plan to follow a sequantial path to obtain a broad array of educational designations so that I am able to move between job functions within a company and gain practical experience ina variety of financial functions.
My 6 year plan is a little to detailed to put down here, so I will go over the first two years, and list the remaining designations in bullet form. Year one involves completing of the introductory courses Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and Client and Practices Handbook (CPH). This qualifies me to be registered as an Investment Adviser, if I so choose. Also, the CSC is one of the prerequisite courses for both the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and the Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designations. The CPH is both a regulatory requirement, and a prerequisite to the Fellowship of CSI (FCSI). So in two short courses that are minimum requirements for entry into the financial services arena, I have also satisfied some course requirements for three separate designations. If you do some in-depth research, you will realize that a lot of these courses are linked together across different certifications.
In June of 2009, I will write my first CFA exam, which I foresee as being extremely difficult. After the CFA exam I have a short 6 months to complete the Wealth Management Essentials (WME) course offered by CSI as well as the WME – Financial Planning Supplement offered by the CSI. The combination of these two courses with the CSC qualify me to write the Certified financial Planner final examination in June of 2010. After June of 2010, I will be writing either the CIAI, or FRM exam in December. Series 2 and three follow the two consecutive June’s after that.
Other designations I am looking to obtain over time:
Of course, we are looking at 6 – 8 years before I have these, but if you can dedicate yourself to a long term goal much like post grads do for med school, you can achieve a highly impressive combination of education and experience. I am also aware that a plan is only as good as the actions supporting it. I am also aware anything ambitious or above what the next guy is doing in a highly competitive industry such as this, will be frowned upon and judged. Which I am fine with, as completing a plan like this is not an easy task. For me, personally, I think those who are willing to work for the opportunities presented to you, will be able to realize benefit above and beyond those who just settled for the norm. Just my opinion, and it is, like everything else, likely to change and evolve over time. I hope this post has been helpful in understanding my approach to continuing education in my career, and possibly given you some insights into your own goals and objectives.
Good luck,
Steve
So you polished off the CSC, and now you have many different options. A lot of people choose to polish off the Client & Practices Handbook course, which is another regulatory requirement to trade stocks and bonds (see IIROC‘s website). You have to ask yourself in which direction you want to go. I would recommend signing up for and completing the CPH, as it is smaller and more common sense then the CSC. It should increase your value in the hands of the employer, and increase your knowledge.
I would also give some though to a long term goal like the CFA, CFP, CAIA….etc. These designations truly set you apart from the crowd, but be diligent in your approach to these courses, as they are no cake walk. As for me, well I write my CPh exam in under 12 days. I start studying tomorrow, so if your interested, head on over to the CPH blog I have set up. A link to it is in the sidebar. I hope to provide a similar experience on tat blog as I have here, just more consistently. Take the time to ask yourself questions of where you want to be in the short and long term, and address these needs now. Proactive planning can do a lot for your financial future.
– Steve
I was flipping through the CPh book today and I realized that a large majority of the tables and figures in the first 100 or so pages were identical to the figures/tables in chapter 23 of the Canadian Securities Course. I will confirm this on the CPH blog later in the week, but I thought it was worth mentioning it here for people considering taking the CPH later. The overlap obviously means less work and better retention in the exam, and gives you a general overview of what to expect with the CPH. I also notices that an entire chapter on securities regulation had similar content to the securities regulation in volume 1 of the CSC. There may be a good chance that the overlap between the two courses are significant, which will bode well for those who want to get them out of the way at the same time.
I’ll keep you update over at the CPH blog on this development.
– Steve
My CSC Experience 