Skip to main content

“We were reviewing, while others were seeing content for the first-time”

JMSB students’ success rate on CFA Level I exam dwarfs the worldwide rate yet again.
August 1, 2017
|


“It’s an incredible adrenaline rush…there are thousands of people there, but all you see is the exam before you. If you don’t have a strategy, you’re in trouble.”

That’s how Chris Kovalchuk describes the experience of taking the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I exam this past June. Candidates that successfully complete all three levels of the CFA exams and meet other professional requirements are awarded the "CFA charter" and become "CFA charter holders.”

“I started with the sections dealing with corporate finance since that’s my strength. Once I was in my comfort zone, it took a lot of the pressure off,” says Kovalchuk, who will be beginning his second year in the MBA in Investment Management program at JMSB this fall. “That was one of the approaches we were introduced to in the program and it certainly worked for me.”

Christopher Kovalchuk says the MBA in Investment Management ensured that he was 100% prepared for the CFA Level I exam.

Kovalchuk, who works as a junior financial analyst at Thinking Capital knew several of his fellow test-takers. Some were workmates, some classmates. “The people that are in the program with me definitely had a leg-up. Leading up to the exam, we were reviewing material that others were seeing for the first-time. That’s how well the program prepares you.”

The CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals that offers the CFA designation, released the results of the 2017 CFA Level I exam and among the first-time test-takers were 20 students from JMSB’s MBA in Investment Management, a program in which the CFA curriculum is completely integrated. 85% of them passed, and Kovalchuk was among them.

“I knew I did well, but didn’t know how well,” he says. “I can’t credit the program enough. The accessible profs, accommodating schedule and everything I learned from my cohort all contributed to making sure I was 100% prepared.” Kovalchuk plans on writing the Level II exam next June.

The worldwide pass rate for the 100,000 candidates who wrote the exam for the first time was 43%.

The Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designation is generally recognized as the highest level of competence in investment knowledge, professional ethics and corporate standards.

Learn more about the MBA in Investment Management at an upcoming information session in Montreal or Toronto.



Back to top

© Concordia University