The Feel Good Blog

This year has been quite a productive traveling year. I have been to three new countries so far. I started the year in Hong Kong. Then I went to Korea in April. This was followed by a short but captivating trip to Indonesia in July. A few weeks later, I went to Brunei. Two weeks after that, I went to Malacca in Malaysia and again to Malaysia - Penang - for business, the following weekend. This Friday, I am leaving for Bangkok, also for business.

I am quite keen to go to East Timor this October. I am still looking for a travel mate or two, but nobody has indicated interest for this trip. If it continues on like this, I might just go alone. Hopefully, I won't be traveling solo there.

As promised, here are my tips for that crucial last twenty-four hours before the CFA Level 1 exam. This is meant to complement my blog entry posted around a month ago containing general preparation tips for this test.

Re-read - A lot of people actually recommend test-takers to take a break the day before the exam. This supposedly keeps one from being too psyched up for the next day, which in turn may cause exhaustion to the candidate. I beg to differ. Sure, this may reduce some unnecessary stress and induce a sense of calm before the exam, but I believe that just relaxing the day before is such a waste. For the December 2008 exam, I spent the day before preparing for the test and reading up on as many things as I could. I cannot tell you how much this helped me during the test, accounting for at least five points during the actual test. Since every single point counts in the CFA exam, I am sure getting an extra 5 points at the least is nothing to complain about. But what is it that one should read? I would specifically recommend the Secret Sauce. At 100+ pages, it contains a gist of the entire material. While nothing exam-worthy may be picked up directly from this summary, it is a good tool to use in order to pinpoint any last-minute weak areas for the candidate to revisit.

Exam rules - This is an aspect often overlooked by candidates when taking the test. I have to stress that reading the exam-taking rules is a must! The CFA Institute is very strict when it comes to conducting the test and they have a lot of rules which have severe consequences if not followed. This includes the usage of CFA Institute-approved financial calculator models, emphasis on punctuality, what to bring and what not to bring, and most especially - putting your pencil down right when the test master says so. Also, remember not to use your test permit as a scratch paper! There have been cases of candidates having their exam voided because of failure to comply to some of these rules.

Prepare whatever you need, but don't go overboard - I remember while I was at the testing venue, I saw this candidate with a dozen sharpened pencils in his pocket! Now that was overkill. As a candidate, you will not need more than three pencils to last both sessions. For peace of mind, bring a sharpener as well. There a re a few candidates who bring batteries for their calculators, but I don't think it's necessary if the calculator itself is new. If you have an old calculator, just change the batteries before the exam.

Food - As an added tip, bring yourself a nice sandwich or two as your lunch or have a friend bring you a hot meal at noon. Believe me, this will save time. Most nearby restaurants or fast food outlets will be packed (this was the case in Singapore). The two hours that you have for your lunch break can be used for last-minute readings of the secret sauce or the review notes. Believe me, doing this added at least another 5 points to my afternoon session! Also, don't go overboard with your lunch. Having a light or medium-sized meal will suffice. You won't want to feel like dozing off during the afternoon session.

Bring your secret sauce and review notes with you - Yes. Bring them! You don't need all, but at bring along those topics which you feel the least confident about. Forget about bringing the actual books. These reviewers will be useful for any last-minute readings if you arrive early in the testing venue and during your lunch break. For those wondering whether these items can be brought into the testing site - most venues will have some space outside where candidates can put their belongings.

The proctor is king - ... at least for the whole duration of the exam. They are especially strict. Do not try to be a smart ass and do something stupid. If you do, you there's a big chance you will be caught. Doing anything that looks suspicious, even if you're innocent, could also lead to dire consequences.

Stay calm - This is common-sense but it often ends up as the hardest thing to do especially on the day of the exam.

Good luck!

CFA results out now! I passed! All I can say is - I'm so relieved!

This motivates me to write another CFA tip. I'm still not claiming to be an expert or anything but hopefully my blog entry containing some recommended preparation for the last 24 hours prior to the exam will be useful. Will try to have this up by tomorrow.

For those looking for good and reasonably-priced lodging in some of the world's major tourist centers, I have a page with my unbiased verdict on those that I have slept at. Scope is worldwide though most reviews are concentrated on the Asia-Pacific region. From hostels to four stars. See it here.

Hopefully, you won't find any unpleasant surprises if you ever choose one of the hotels I recommend. As a disclaimer, I am in no way getting anything in return by reviewing these establishments. This is just a personal thing I do. Each hotel, no matter how bad, is unique after all.

In the meantime, I am off to Hong Kong!

The Singaporean press is in dire need of ideas for content. Really.

The headline in today's free tabloid, My Paper, was taken from Reuters and contained the nth bleak reminder that more job losses are in store. It seemed like an eye catching title initially, and it was when it appeared the first few times during the past few months. But the problem is, we've been told of it already. We've seen the same stories, albeit in different phrasings, from so many places. The article today contained no value-added and offered no new information about about firm X or firm Y or Z making new cuts. So what else is new? It was just a plain commentary, containing at best, just bits and pieces of personal opinion from people in the industry. The first paragraph went:

Investment bankers in Asia fear more job cuts in the next few weeks, having largely escaped the latest global layoffs that hit colleagues in other regions

Well duh. It's not as if job cuts in Asia haven't been happening during the past few weeks as well. So what's to keep the average Joe from automatically assuming that cuts will likewise continue the next few weeks?

The truth is, I saw today's paper and thought their choice of headline took the cake. Seriously, the press here in this country could use an injection of new ideas so that their recurring, well-oiled stories about the bleak job market and how to eat on the cheap can be replaced with something better. I know some of these article are lifted from major news agencies. But I think it's been overused. We know times are bad, but it can be spun in different ways from a journalist's perspective. The public, already jittered by the prospect of getting laid off, does not need to be constantly reminded of this dreadful situation. Life does not revolve on investment banking jobs and nor should the media.

But yeah, I'll admit it. Today's paper caught my eye.

Labels: layoffs, Media, Press, Singapore

A nifty idea from Houston to liven up or perhaps add misery to your airport transit (depends on who's singing) this holiday season.

I was originally planning to post this in January after the results come out but later decided to do this now while the memory is still fresh in my mind. I am not an expert on taking tests, and I'm not claiming to be one. Going back to the 7th of December, there are many things I would have done differently had I known then what I do now. For those who are just about to take Level 1 next June or sometime in the future, here are a few tips that you can use during the couple of months you spend preparing for the exam:

Don't underestimate the exam - While I'm by no means a Finance major, I took up Business Administration as my undergraduate degree so I expected the CFA Level 1 exams to basically be a recap of what I've learned in university. This may be true to an extent. But after browsing through the materials when they finally arrived, I realized how wrong I was. There's just too much material covered! Needless to say, I don't remember everything I've learned in school and the same might apply to you as well. So unless you teach this for a living or come fresh from a Finance degree, don't take the material too lightly. At the same time, there's no need to feel overwhelmed by it. With ample preparation and understanding of the topics covered, you can very well expect to pass the exam. Have a quick look of the exam material once they arrive at your doorstep and adjust the next few months of your life accordingly to your level of knowledge in the material.

The earlier the better - This is common sense, but it's often overlooked by CFA candidates. I'm a regular of Analyst Forum and oftentimes I encounter members announcing that they've begun studying for the exams. There's nothing peculiar about this, until you read about candidates starting their readings one to two weeks before the exam. Start as early as possible. Absorb as much of the material as you can to allow yourself to finish your readings at least three weeks before the exam date. This will give you ample time to focus on mock/sample exams.

Get the reviewers - They can be very expensive but I assure you, they're worth it if you're keen on passing. They often come in slimmed down versions compared to the CFA Level 1 books, with all the fat removed. Schweser and Stalla are the most popular CFA reviewers, and they offer a variety of products including condensed versions of the material, sample exams and online question banks. These are especially helpful if you don't have time to read the books, and will be crucial during your last few weeks of review.

Understanding vs. memorizing - One reason why people fail despite having gone through the material in detail is because they fail to understand the underlying concepts presented in the study sessions and just memorize whatever they read in the hopes that the exact same phrasing will come out in the exam. Wrong. The actual exam will twist and turn those same phrases to make the wrong look right, and vice versa. The test is designed in a way that it quizzes the candidate's understanding of the material but this is not to say that memorization has no place in the exam (see my next point). It would be a waste to treat the exam as a garbage-in-garbage-out thing to be dealt with. Considering the hours you put in, you might as well learn something from it. A good way of understanding the material better is to relate the study sessions to real life. If you're not already doing this, try reading the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal on a regular basis. Follow market developments on Bloomberg TV, and talk to people in the industry (if you're not already in it) if you can. This will keep the material from looking like just a bunch of abstract concepts.

Formulas - Try to remember all of them if you can (there may be exceptions which the reviewers will tell you about). You might encounter quite a few formulas in the study sessions and think - oh I doubt they would ask something that obscure. Doubt no more because they do. During the December exams, I got really frustrated with a few questions which involved some barely discussed topic in the book. Mind you, these were easy questions. I just failed to answer some of them correctly because I had brushed them aside during my readings thinking they would never ask something like that in the actual test.

It's not calculation intensive - As I said previously, the exam is designed to test the candidate's understanding so do not expect it to be calculation-intensive. I do not really remember anymore how heavy it was in the December test but it was definitely much more conceptual than I expected it to be.

Practice, practice, practice - I can't stress this enough. Try to devote the final three weeks (or even the final month if you can) to doing practice questions, sample and mock exams. I would heavily recommend the mock exams offered by the CFA Institute. If you want to get a picture of what the actual test is like, nothing else comes close. They say 70% is the minimum score to pass the exam, though no one really knows for sure so better give yourself a few percentage points extra for comfort.

During the course of your readings, it is also very helpful to do the practice problems that come after every study session. This applies to both the actual book and the review materials. They're a good way of retaining what you've just learned, especially if you don't see yourself going back to that particular topic within the next two to three months.

Lastly, visit online resources such as Analyst Forum for tips on the exam and to discuss specific questions on the exam material. There's a lively community there consisting of supportive candidates and members who will be more than happy to help. Also check out some candidates who chronicled their CFA studies in blog form : My CFA Adventure and Passing the CFA Exams in Two Years

Labels: CFA, CFA Review, Finance

I've recently taken a liking for non-fiction books, particularly those dealing with Wall Street and the financial markets. Four goods ones I've encountered lately were written by people who are/were in the industry, and are considered to be some of the better known ones on the subject. My take:

The Accidental Investment Banker by Jonathan Knee - Now this is one of the more serious of the lot. Written by Jonathan Knee who's now working in a boutique investment firm, it details how he unexpectedly switched his career to investment banking and found himself taking a good liking at it. This is a good read for those who want to know more about recent Wall Street history. In between narratives of his life at Goldman Sachs and later, Morgan Stanley, the author showers us with enough industry perspectives including one about the merger of Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter and another about the dotcom bust. The only reservation I have, a small one at that, is the book's title/premise. Considering that Mr. Knee had an Msc in Economics plus an MBA from Stanford, I find it hardly "accidental" that he ended up in investment banking.

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis - This book, written some twenty years ago, is a true classic not just for books dealing with Wall Street but also for its accurate depiction of the 1980's. The author describes the money culture which prevailed over the eventful trading floor of now-absorbed Salomon Brothers. In between details of appalling behavior by Wall Street traders and salesmen, the book also contains a lengthy discussion about the securitization of mortgages - a particularly relevant topic if today's financial crisis is to be considered.

Monkey Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob - In tone, this is the least serious of the lot. I never knew a job can be so hated until I read this book, which is written from the perspective of two ex-investment bankers. If you think a job in IB will bring you salvation, better read this one.

The Last Tycoon by William Cohan - I'm still reading this at the moment. Although the subject is not a well-known organization (Lazard), it is proving to be a good read. Will update once I am done.

Labels: Liar's Poker, Wall Street

This year, I decided to celebrate my birthday in a very symbolic way. My morning was filled with two appointments so as soon as I was done with those and had my lunch, I set out to climb Singapore's tallest peak - Bukit Timah Hill. Climbing it is of course, nothing compared to Everest, or K2 but it's a start. It's not that tall but it was quite a steep climb. My thighs got sore (and are still sore now). And then it started to rain midway in my ascent. I had no umbrella with me but I didn't let that obstacle get in the way. In any case, that was the whole point of me venturing out to scale the mount. I continued. It got steeper, as I decided to take a shortcut. I got soaking wet. Finally, after more climbing I reached the highest elevation in Singapore. It was so good to see a resting hut there, where I remained for a good 40 minutes until the rain subsided. There, I chatted with a local who travels to the nature reserve on a regular basis. She showed me her pictures of the fauna she's encountered during those times, including the ubiquitous monkeys and some monitor lizards. She also asked where I work, which inevitably led to the topic of retrenchment and financial crisis. I just blew the subject aside.

Labels: Bukit Timah, Climbing, Mountain

The big news today at Merrill Lynch was the announcement that 30,000 to 35,000 heads will be cut as a result of the merger with Bank of America. In absolute terms, this number pales in comparison only to the 50,000 figure announced by Citi some weeks back. This email "greeting" came as a shock only to the uninformed few as news of the same have been spreading in CNBC and other channels for quite some time now. In this instance, it is actually the media who breaks this news before the company itself. Heads have reportedly been cut as early as this week in Equity Research, though the final number for the layoffs will be finalized early next-year.

Labels: job cuts, Merrill Lynch