When I started off Preparing for Level II.

Last Year in September 2011 I started off preparing for Level II. The first area to cover was Fixed Income, as it was in Level I in January 2011. Fixed Income was covered in 6 readings i.e. 48,49,50,51,52,53. Initially 48,49, and 50 were covered as they were relatively easy. Reading 48 had some tricky areas which had the potential of being tested. Important for me were the cash flow analysis and the ratios which cleared when I completed with Equity especially readings related to FCFs. Immense information is found in these readings and firm grasp over these areas is a must not only with understanding and commanding perspective but also with respect to exams perspective. Almost two weeks were spent on these three readings. Reading 49 related to term structure and key rate duration was not that much difficult for me. I found reading 48 quite detailed and reading 50 interesting. Developing the binomial tree to value a bond with embedded option was a very learning experience. Although how volatility is implied or put into the tree actually in the real world remained a mystery, which I certainly will look into now, but on the whole it was interesting and required a lot of practice. These three readings were not that much difficult as compared to the other study session covering Fixed Income. A fair overview of how in depth Level II could be was considerably experienced by me during first two weeks. People claiming that CFA actually starts from Level II was something in my mind seemingly coming true! I was initially worried but never gave up. May be that's the reason why I have passed this exam...