I’m Officially Done the CSC

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

My Personal Educational Goals

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:

• Ch.P
• CIM
• DMS, FCSI
• CAIA
• FRM
• MTI – Taxation Program

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

A Quick Note About Bonds…..

I just wanted to say a quick word about bonds.  Volume 1 has a entire chapter dedicated to bonds, which at the time seems a tad out of place.  However, if you read the whole book in one pass you would realize that bonds plays a huge part in the entire CSC course.  Everything seems to in one way or another go back to bonds at some point.  Of course equities also play a large role, but they are not nearly as complicated as bonds are.  Make sure you master the concept of the inverted relationship between bonds and interest rates as well as the volatility characteristics of bonds in certain market conditions.  If you can really nail down the concepts in the bonds chapter, you will be much better off in further chapters.

– Steve

CPH & CSC Overlap?

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

CSC vs. CFA Part 2

I thought I would briefly revisit this topic before I switched blogs.  I am registered for the CFA June 2009 exam and I have just completed the second CSC exam, still awaiting my marks.  One of the questions people have is the difference between these two courses, and though I can’t really compare material difference until later I want to make a few things more clear:

CSC

• CSC is an entry level REQUIREMENT for the Canadian Securities Industry
• If you live anywhere but Canada, and do not plan on moving to Canada, getting the CSC makes absolutely no sense
• Think of the CSC as a high school diploma for the financial industry
• This is a two part exam, with no work experience requirements and can be completed any time within one year
• Almost anyone, who is anyone in the financial realm has this course, its not an asset, just a basic requirement

CFA

• CFA is a post-graduate program accepted worldwide
• The CFA is a respected worldwide designation and opens international doors around the world
• Think of the CFA as the PhD of the finance realm
• This is at minimum a 2.5 year program with three tests and minimum work experience requirements
• The CFA is a respected designation because it is very difficult to obtain.  The exam is extremely difficult and the process is intended to weed out everyone except those who are either extremely persistent or aptly suited to hold a CFA charter.

So whats the difference.  To best understand this, lets ask a different question.  What are the similarities?  Once I have a chance to further dive into the CFA material I will write a couple posts on the content similarities between the CSC and CFA.  I think it will be interesting to see the level of comprehension both levels provide.  You will be able to find that piece on my CFA site, which is currently on hold until I finish the CPH course on March 9th.

– Steve

How Do I Know If I Am Ready to Write the CSC?

Assuming you are already studying for one of the two exams that comprise the Canadian Securities Course, there are a number of weighs to measure the CSC, none of which are necessarily complex.  The best way to ensure you are reading to write any exam is to follow a three step approach to learning any material, that is; Learn, Apply, Review.  Nothing complex about that, just follow the steps.

• Learn: Review the modules, the FAQ & LOS statements and the forums
• Apply: Complete the online learning activities, post-tests and any other material you may have to test your comprehension.
• Review: For those areas which you have identified as your weakest in the applying stage, you can now concentrate on increasing your comprehension in these areas.

If you follow this process, you likely-hood of passing will substantially increase.  Another good way to test is to get a friend or parent to quiz you.  It puts you on the stop, doesn’t allow you to passively check the answer before fully getting the question correct and it provides you a chance to hang out with some friends.  If any of you have seen Billy Madison, that form of studying is extremely effective, no joke intended.  The best measure of a persons readiness to write any exam is the how that person feels about their abilities.  If by the end of the chapter you have a headache and just want to throw the book against the wall, maybe take the hint that your not ready.  If however you feel yourself comprehending the material on a review stage in greater depth then the last pass-through, take consideration that your studying is working and now its just a question of when the law of diminishing returns will kick in.  Also, when measuring your results, ensure you are scoring at least 80% on every post-test quiz provided on WebCT.  The questions on there and in the exercise are a lot easier then the CSC Level1 & 2 exams, so a 90% will likely translate to a 70% and so on.

– Steve

The Big Bad CSI

I can’t help but chuckle when I look at message boards and see people ranting about how the CSI is a evil organization, hell bent on stealing people’s money by making impossibly hard tests.  Its this type of attitude that makes me happy financial certification tests are getting harder each year.  Check out the statistics, with increasing enrollment in such programs, organizations such as CSI and the CFA Institute among others, have been increasing minimum standards, breadth of knowledge required for testing and pass rates.  These individuals blame CSI for their failures because they believe that CSI is a for-profit corporation, and therefore, must be out to screw you by making crazy hard tests that “nobody can pass”.  Seems to me plenty of people pass the CSC and other CSI related courses every year Sherlock.  The lack of personal accountability is appalling.

At some point in life, I hope that people can take accountability for their own actions.  There was a lady I was reading about who took each level of the CFA at least 2 times.  That’s double the amount most people who complete the program ever did.  Here response was, the test was hard, and I had a tough time understanding the material.  But I kept at it and now I feel more confident in my abilities.  That sort of persistence is a rare quality, but it serves a point.  It doesn’t matter if you “tried hard” or if you paid a lot of money.  That does not give you a free ticket into life.  It’s time to stop complaining and become accountable.  CSI is a nationally recognized provider of educational programs, and is highly regulated.  It is unlikely that some man in the back room is failing people so he can grease the wheel.  It is more encouraging when a percentage of people fail a certain level of exam, as it shows that the exam is not merely a show for regulatory purposes.  The primary reason the regulatory and licensing process exists is to prevent un-educated individuals from performing work they are not qualified to do.

So, one way or another, the only person you have to look at is yourself.  You need to take a look at what you did wrong, pull up your socks, stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back on that saddle.  It’s not a lot of fun, I understand, but at some point you have to take action and responsibility.  Nobody said life was easy, and in this field, if you give up every time something is hard, you wont be at it for very long.  Persistence, determination and will.  Let the rest accumulate over time.

How Hard is the CSC?

Yet another subjective question that has far to many variables for one answer.  Personally, with some financial background, I found it challenging.  However, as you may have read, many individuals claim to have written the test asleep, blindfolded and drunk and still pulled off 400% scores.  Shortly after that, they are sent there solid gold certificates and offered billion dollar corporate positions.  Seriously though, the exam is only as difficult as you make it.  The amount of study time you put in, the quality of that time, the length of that time (for better retention) all have factors in the degree of difficulty for the CSC exam one and two.

If you need a straight answer, here is my PERSONAL opinion.  If you have little to no financial experience, you need to spend 150 hours reviewing both books.  This is a minimum, and may increase depending on your comprehension.  If you have moderate experience, I would reccomend 75 hours, although more would not hurt.  If you feel you are heavily experienced in the financial realm, give the book a read over and pull out your favourate scotch.  Likely, most of you will fall into the first category.  The two hardest thing about the exam are:

1. The level of comprehension required: For example, the test requires you to memorize the different margin requirements for short-selling.
2. The wording of exam questions: Not only test knowledge, but attention to details.

Check the ego at the door, study hard, and pass the first time.  If you take this test seriously you should have no problem passing it.  Just focus on drilling down as much as you can, and remember, if you think you know it, test-test-test.

Suggestions Welcome

As I wrap up this blog, I welcome any suggestions any of you may have for posts that you think would be valuable to the site. I have 14 posts remaining before I close out the blog unless I think of something worth my attention, or something is brought to my attention.  Otherwise, on to the CPH blog in a matter of hours:

1. CSC vs CFA Update
2. My Personal CSC-L2 Exam Notes
3. Prepping for Exam 1 (what to focus on)
4. Prepping for Exam 2 (what to focus on)
5. Chapter 23 & The CPH
6. the 25 most difficult concepts of the CSC
7. How Hard is the CSC?
8. CSC For Profit
9. How do I know if I am Ready to Write the Test
10. I’m Just Starting, Where do I Start?
11. I’m Freaking Out, How am I Going to Learn all of This?
12. I’m Done the CSC, Should I Complete the CPH?
13. Exam Marks
14. Closing Post

Wording on the Exam

I thought i’d just quickly mention a very important part about the securities exam 1 and 2 that totally caught me off guard. I know i’ve mentioned this briefly a couple times, but I wanted to dedicate a small post to it so that some of you may be better prepared for whats ahead.  As you read through the material you may find that you think most of it is common sense, or fairly easy to understand.  This is not an illusion, as the material is laid out in a very logical way.  As you progress through the book, concepts begin to evolve that are built on previous concepts.  Before you get to confident though it is important to know what CSI will be testing you on, or in better terms, how they will be testing what you are reading.

Unlike other exams, a large part of both CSC exams is about comprehension.  There is no straight definition questions, rather, all of them require you to apply the concepts in some way.  With the math problems, the creators of the exam have figured out the four most likely combination of equations so that, even though you may get the right number, you may not have the right answer.  Use of the phrases “not”, except” and other command words are italicized, but easy to miss.  Furthermore the wording of the questions are intentionally packed with definitions and numbers, some which are relevant, some which are not.  I was surprised to learn that almost a third of both exams was reliant on your ability to take tests, that is, to identify common test tricks.  I don’t know that I am really on-board with the whole idea of the “trick question“, but I definitely think its a good idea to add comprehension into as many questions as possible.  Be prepared for a wordy test, and try to gain as much comprehension of the material as possible.

– Steve