Reasons Why You Should Go for Finance Courses

                            

Finance courses are the study of how monetary assets are managed, traded and invested.  From the historic perspective, the study of finance seems to be one of the most archaic. The reason for this is that firstly, finance is everything related to money and the second being, since the dawn of civilization and the advent of money; there have existed monetary transactions. Finance thus is a very fruitful career with great benefits and rewards. As this field has such importance in worldly affairs, it is also one of the sought after fields with students, taking up various finance and investment banking courses. Here’s a list of 5 reasons why one should invest in a Financial Course.

The World is All about Finance

Take a person, who earns a certain amount of salary every month. Then, this person goes onto divide his salary for various things like household essentials, school fees, utility bills, loans and then at the end he tries to save some money, for the future or invest it somewhere. Now replace this person with a company and think about all the financial activities it goes through, from capital management to loans, debtor management, and equities and so on, are the things that the company needs to consider. Thus we can infer that at every level, the knowledge of managing finances comes to the fore.

World has Started Taking Notice

As the importance of this field increases, so does the number of aspirants. Lately, there has been a hike in the number of people opting for courses in finance. At the same time, there has also been an increase in the number of institutes providing for courses in finance. There are institutes that have started offering for short term and long term courses, in classroom as well as online format, in finance which are all certification programs.

Real Life Concepts

  Financial concepts like “price” and “value”, have real life usage and are not always confined to the hardcore financial sphere. There have been so many eminent personalities, who have drawn references from the two concepts and drawn parallels with their own works. Those two terms become very philosophically inclined as well, when we talk about the spiritual value and the price paid for certain things, thus in a way their concepts don’t become too dry to grasp. Thus other concepts like overvalue, undervalue also have their come into purview in terms of life.  

Finance is a Very Interesting Field

Money will always remain in fashion so, as long as money is on people’s minds, finance will be a prominent career too. Apart from being an indispensible part of the business world, finance in itself is a concoction of many intriguing theories, which when applied can lead to great results. One can either choose to be an investment banker and go on to achieve new heights, or choose to research all the possibilities and try to find newer concepts and theories.

 Great opportunities

This field offers many lucrative opportunities and the chance to get to one’s dream job possible. There are a number of courses, both short term and long term; offered by many institutes in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi and other cities in India. A career in this field offers one with the opportunity to land their dream job, become an investor, start their own business and so on, thus making finance a very beneficial field laden with great many benefits.

While investing in finance courses, the important thing is your interest and will to learn. If one is determined then, there are a lot of avenues as well as many courses offered for the same. There are a number of institutes which offer courses in finance for those aspiring for a career herein.

Imarticus Learning is one such institute, offering a host of certification courses in corporate finance as well as financial modeling, retail banking, wealth management and others. 

Source: http://imarticuslearningeducationinstitute.weebly.com/home/5-reasons-why-you-should-invest-in-finance-courses

Disruptive Innovations in Financial Services

Disruptive innovation in Financial Services is having the greatest impact where the delivery is happening through business models which are platform based, light on capital & data & analytics intensive .This is making the industry very innovation focused and competitive as it gears up to provide its customers with upgraded, digitally intensive solutions across business lines such as banking, payments, cards, investment management and many more.

A few central themes emerge in this area and are summarized as follows:

Infrastructural Streamlining

Advanced emerging platforms and decentralized technologies have changed the way information is aggregated & analyzed, improving connectivity and accessibility while reducing the cost & time for accessing information and providing financial solutions across geographies.

Automation

Firms are increasingly relying on and leveraging advanced algorithms and computing power to automate manual activities ,allowing them to offer cheaper, swifter & scalable products and services to clients.

Role of Intermediaries

Latest innovations are changing or eliminating the role of traditional institutions as intermediaries, and offering lower prices and / or higher returns to customers

The Strategic Role of Data

Financial institutions are accessing new data sets like social data, customer online behavior & likes , which is redefining ways in which they are  understanding customers and markets. It helps them to customize and offer bespoke offerings as per client requirement versus generic cookie cutter solutions.

Niche, Customized Products

With extensive availability of customer related data a lot of the financial institutions ,especially the new entrants are creating highly targeted products and services with deep & complex specializations, hence increasing competition and creating pressure for the traditional end-to-end financial services model to unbundle

Customer Empowerment

In this flat world with high end technology & emerging innovations, customers now have access to previously restricted assets and services, more visibility into products and their features and benefits and hence a heightened ability to make intelligent,need based choices making them “prosumers”

Fun Facts You Didn’t Know about the CFA Exam

Zenobia Sethna

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam is one of the most prestigious and yet gruelling exams you can give to. Around 20% of those who registers for a CFA exam don’t take it seriously and just don’t turn up on exam day. At least 40% of those who do turn up fail. In June 2015, a meagre 42% of candidates passed CFA Level I. Pretty serious stuff.

Here are some fun facts that you may not be aware of:

1. About 1 in 20 candidates will miss the start of the exam, despite already being in the test center.

On exam day, the doors to the exam hall close 30 minutes before the actual exam starts. This is to ensure all candidates are settled in, calculators and belongings are verified, and all candidates are set to open the test booklet at the preset time.

Though many candidates, despite already being at the exam center, will either miscalculate or are not aware of the closing time. Thus, they end up waiting to be let into the exam hall, which will only happen after the first 30 minutes have passed. So be sure to arrive early and be seated on time.

2. Calculators weren’t allowed up until 1975

Up to 1975, a standard calculator was not allowed in the CFA exams. Candidates originally had to make do with a slide rule. Then you could carry a (15 pound!) electric calculator, which unfortunately needed to be plugged into a wall outlet, so many candidates didn't bother. Count yourself lucky that you have the convenience of a calculator for your exams!

3. You used to be able to smoke during the exam

The exam getting your nerves worked up? Back in the early 70s, candidates could even smoke inside the exam hall! John Privat, CFA, recently gave a humourous exam anecdote when he said
"He was totally agitated and proceeded to chain smoke for five minutes before he even opened the blue book." Doesn't get more Mad Men than this!

4. You couldn't go to the bathroom during the exam in earlier days

Many years ago, candidates weren't allowed to use the bathroom during the exam. Pretty strange, but there you go. The Institute only yielded and changed its rules when a pregnant candidate was ready to call their bluff during one memorable year. Our advice: Go to your heart’s content before the exam. Even if they allow you to take a bathroom break during the exam, you lose precious time from the allotted 3 hour duration.

 5. The most common problem on exam day? Forgotten passports? Nah.

Moving on to more recent times. On interviewing numerous proctors in countless exam centers, we find that the most common problem for candidates is a forgotten calculator. We're not sure what is the reason (I would have thought forgetting your passport would be more common), but make sure you don't make that mistake! Make sure you bring two.

6. CFA results are always announced on Tuesdays
CFA results are always announced on a Tuesday. Here’s the rationale from the CFA Institute: Tuesday is an ideal day for their contact center and client services - It gives sufficient time to answer to weekend queries and get themselves prepared for the heavy flow of communication accompanying a results release.

So there you have it. If you know any more, do let us know. If you are one of the candidates studying for this year’s CFA exam, study hard and all the best! 

Money Laundering - Recent Scandals

Zenobia Sethna

There are significant negative effects of money laundering on economies, including undermining domestic capital formation, depressed growth, and diverting capital away from development. Strict global regulations such as USA Patriot Act, KYC norms, among others, require financial services organizations to implement money laundering programs to prevent and detect illegal activity. And while some have become more vigilant, the roster of big name banks that have been caught red handed in money laundering scandals in recent years, and consequently fined heavily, continues to defy logic.

HSBC: The bank was fined 1.9 billion USD in 2012 of failing to monitor more than 670 billion USD in wire transfers and over 9.4 USD billion in purchases of U.S. currency from HSBC Mexico, allowing for money laundering by drug cartels. The bank also violated US economic sanctions against Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba. The bank was also fined 43 million USD in 2015 to settle a Money Laundering settlement at its Swiss private bank

Bank of New York : In what came to be known as the Benex Scandal, Bank of New York laundered an estimated 7-9 billion USD when suspected links to the Russian ‘mafia’ deposited into “Benex Worldwide” accounts at the Bank of New York between 1996 and 2002. This money was then transferred to the accounts of several companies across Europe.

Standard Chartered : Fined 300 million USD in 2014 over lapses in its anti-money-laundering procedures. The bank was earlier penalized in 2012 for 340 million USD after it was accused of scheming with Iran to hide from US authorities billions of pounds worth of transactions.

BNP Paribas : Fined 8.9 billion USD in 2014 for concealing billions of dollars in transactions for clients in Sudan, Iran and Cuba in violation of U.S. sanctions. The penalty also included a year-long suspension of the bank’s ability to convert foreign currency into US dollars through its New York office. BNP used a network of banks in the Middle East, Europe and Africa to mask dollar-based transfers linked to Sudanese companies. Employees also got rid of information from wire transfers that could have exposed the identity of blacklisted countries.

Credit Suisse : Pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy charges in 2014 for, among other things, “assisting clients in using sham entities to hide undeclared accounts” and paid $2.8 billion to settle. Notably, this is one of the very rare instances in recent years when regulators have been able to extract a guilty plea from a financial giant.

Most recently, the leak of 11.5 million documents from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, which helps clients hide financial assets, revealed that Swiss giant UBS created 1,100 offshore companies. Other big banks doing business with Mossack Fonseca included Société Générale (979 companies), the Royal Bank of Canada (378), Commerzbank (92), and Credit Suisse (1,105). While the global fight against offshore tax evasion and money laundering has strengthened in recent years, the system adapts cunningly, shifting money to what are at any given time the weakest links in the financial system.

Tips for taking CFA level 1 Exam

Our earlier post concerned tips on how to study for the CFAlevel 1 Exam. Today we want to share with you a few tips for taking the exam. Preparing for the exam begins weeks in advance.

So you’ve put your 300 -400 hours in, you’ve gone through the Imarticus CFA program 3000 questions sample bank and have covered every topic in detail. Here’s what you do now.

Take care of your health: With a month to go, start making sure you take care of your health.  You haven’t come this far to fall ill on your big day. Try not to come into contact with anyone having the flu and make sure you don’t get a stomach bug. Ladies, here’s where we talk about your period; no, it’s nothing to be ashamed of and it's a very big reality. If you think your period will fall around the CFA dates, please talk to your gynecologist to help mitigate symptoms. 

Read the CFA Rules: To ensure you don’t disqualify yourself by doing something stupid, please read the CFA rules on the website which outline what you can take into the room. Here are the program policies https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfaprogram/exams/Pages/policies.aspx

Master your calculator: Calculators are NOT available at the test center. Batteries for the calculator are NOT available at the test center. Only two calculators are authorized - Texas Instruments BA II Plus (including BA II Plus Professional)

Hewlett Packard 12C (including the HP 12C Platinum, 12C Platinum 25th anniversary edition, 12C 30th anniversary edition, and HP 12C Prestige). https://www.cfainstitute.org/about/governance/policies/Pages/calculator_policy.aspx Take extra batteries and a small screwdriver.

Do a mock test: Test yourself under exam conditions. This means no material other than a calculator and a pencil in hand and the stamina to withstand two three hour tests in one day.  When you enroll in the Imarticus Chartered Financial Analyst program, we conduct a mock exam for you under real exam conditions, which is key to your success in the actual exam because it familiarizes you with the pressure of the test itself.

Map your logistics: Make your way to the test site and back at least once before the actual test so you know how much time it’s going to take to get there. Are you driving? If so, where will you park? Are you taking a taxi? Then how much in advance do you need to book it? There are two sessions. If you miss the morning session, you cannot take the afternoon one. If you are late by 30 minutes, you cannot enter the exam hall. Exam day schedule: https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfaprogram/exams/Pages/cfa_exam_day_experience.aspx

Pack everything two days in advance: You need to take your passport, calculator, batteries if needed, screwdriver to change batteries, pencils, erasers, required medications, exam ticket, photo ID and ear plugs. Earplugs are very important if you prefer to work in silence. Ask your test center if you are allowed to take noise cancellation headphones. Also pack a lunch for your two –hour break. Don’t forget the Key Stroke card that came with your calculator; it has useful information that can ensure you get certain points.

Sleep: We suggest sleeping a minimum of 8 hours a night a week before your test to ensure there is no sleep deficit built up that can harm your chances.

Talk to your CFA Charter Holder Mentor: The Imarticus CFA program is the only program where a dedicated CFA Charter Holder mentors you through the entire duration of the program. Make sure you have a session with them before the test to clear any doubts you might have about the exam itself.

Exam Day: Wake up early and work on a few programs. Much like you wouldn’t go cold into a race, you don’t go in cold for an exam. But work on easy problems and concepts you know.

Take the exam: Don’t talk to anyone about the exam before it or during the break. Start with the easy questions. Always given an answer even if you think it's the wrong one. Don’t panic, you can take it again in 6 months time.

How to Study for the CFA Level 1

The CFA conducted by the American-based CFA® Institute is one of the most renowned and powerful certificates you brandish for a lucrative career in Corporate Finance and the financial markets. Imarticus offers two programs, a classroom based 120 hour course and an online 100 hour instructor led course that includes 3 mock tests, a question bank of 3000 questions, access to discussion forums, a 24/7 learning management system that gives you access to material and mentorship to help you learn and study better and ace the CFA Level 1.

If you’re starting now, you are most likely preparing for the exams on the 5th of December which gives you around 5 months, a perfect length of time to get through the 10 modules. Here are our tips to help you study for the CFA

Start NOW! – CFA study is a marathon, not a sprint and that is why you need to start today to ensure you are ready for your exam on the 5th of December. Today, in fact, is already a little late. Starting now means the pressure is off you a little, and you can allot more time to each section.

300 hours: They say you need 300-400 hours of study to pass the CFA. You already do about 120 in our classroom program or 100 online, which means the 300 you do outside the program will be pure revision, which is excellent news. To start with ensure you attend all your classes at Imarticus and do the required reading before hand. 300 hours sounds like a little but they’re actually quite a lot and the amount of material in the CFA means that when you allot an hour, that hour does not include a chai break to enjoy the monsoons or Facebook.

Step off Social Media– coming back to Facebook and general social media distractions, let your family and friends know that you are preparing for the CFA and your weekends, especially if you work, will not belong to you anymore. It belongs to the books until December. In fact, we recommend getting off social media all together.

Create a study plan and stick to it– The great part about doing the CFA course at Imarticus is the ability to build a study plan around it. You have six months and need to do 300 hours of revision, so plan it out by blocking out 12 hours of revision a week excluding the Imarticus coaching, which you should consider study. Also build in some time off, Diwali for instance, which can also be useful when you don’t stick to your plan. Remember that six months is a long time, so don’t try and plan every hour. Instead ensure that if you do block 4-6 pm that you start studying at 4 and finish at 6 pm. Account for breaks as well.

Learn to love your Texas Instruments calculator: get familiar with the calculator because that’s all you can bring to your exam hall.

Practice, practice and practice: You need to practice full timed exams to ensure that you solve problems in the allotted time frame. Apart from a question bank of 3000 questions, Imarticus holds a mock version of the real exam to give you an idea of what it will be like. This is critical to your success because most students fail because they never practice under real exam conditions.

Study all the modules – Module one in our course is Ethical and professional standards. It is also the reason why so many students fail because they think it’s easy or that they can cram it at the last minute. Don’t leave anything for the last minute because a wrong answer on Ethics for instance, something you could have easily gotten right, might mean the difference between a pass and a fail.

Find a mentor: Talk to someone who’s done this before and can guide you through the process. The self-study experience can be a lonely experience, which is why courses like the one at Imarticus can help you become part of a community where you can share your worries. It’s also more fun to be in the same boat together. Our mentorship program will ensure your study plan is on track and can guide you through any problem areas you might be having.

Find a work – CFA balance- If you happen to work, then you need to come to an understanding with your boss, especially regarding your weekends. You have to manage expectations regarding travel and project deadlines. Don’t cram all the study into the weekend as well and try do an hour or two in the morning before you head to work, so that concepts are not forgotten
Source: http://imarticus.org/how-to-study-for-the-cfa-level-1

What To Expect On The CFA Level I Exam

Becoming a chartered financial analyst requires the passing of three grueling exams covering an array of topics. To ace the exams, it helps to have a study plan and stick closely to a study schedule.

The Level I exam is a six-hour test. It’s broken into two, three-hour sessions, each with 120 multiple-choice questions, for a total of 240.

The Level I exam focuses on basic knowledge and comprehension of the tools and concepts used in investment valuation and portfolio management. There are 10 topics grouped into four areas: ethical and professional standards, investment tools, asset classes, and portfolio management and wealth planning.

The ethical and professional standards portion contains 15% of the test, or 36 of its questions. The CFA Institute takes this section very seriously. It frequently uses the score on this section to determine whether a candidate passes the exam if her scores on the other three sections are borderline.

Investment tools account for half of the test’s questions, and topics include corporate finance, economics, financial reporting and analysis, and quantitative methods. Reporting and analysis questions are the most abundant, and familiarity with statistical and economic concepts is helpful.

Asset classes are 30% of the test, and topics include alternative investments, derivatives, equity investments and fixed income.

Portfolio management and wealth planning make up the final 5%. This topic is covered extensively on the Level II and III exams, which focus on applying a candidate’s knowledge to portfolio management.

Source: investopedia.com