fbpixel Satheesh Jagannathan | IFT World

Satheesh Jagannathan

By Arif Irfanullah, CFA


Posted on 29-09-17 at 12:39 pm


I was working in an Investment Banking setup where I didn’t have sufficient time to read through the entire CFA curriculum. The biggest challenge for me was balancing my commitments at work with the study schedule. I tackled them by planning things well in advance and making sure that I stick to the plan. I also made sure that I gave up other activities, hobbies etc during my course of preparation. IFT video lectures by Arif Irfanullah came as a blessing in disguise. Arif synthesizes complex concepts (or concepts that are presented in a slightly complicated way in the curriculum) and explains them in a simple way. Most importantly, his lectures were to the point and follow the flow in curriculum. His tips (Like importance of practicing curriculum examples, reading the curriculum summary, time-management, etc. ) turned-out to be crucial. Here are tips which others to consider while preparing:

  1. Prepare a daily study schedule. Monitor your progress with an excel sheet.
  2. Complete easier topics first.
  3. Complete the entire syllabus three months before the exam and study the entire syllabus again after attempting a couple of  mock exams.
  4. Take detailed notes as you listen to video lectures and pause the lecture to work on curriculum examples. These notes will be extremely helpful in the last few weeks during which we may not have the time to listen to videos.
  5. Have a separate formula sheet.

With regards to a schedule – I had a similar strategy for the three levels. I started studying six months before the exam and studied for about 1.5 hrs per day on weekdays and 3 hours per day on weekends.
I credit my success largely to IFTs video lectures!


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