Kaplan Schweser was founded by Dr. Carl Schweser in 1990, while he was a professor in the college of business at the University of Iowa. Prior to that time, Carl had taught in CFA® programs in North America for a number of years.
Dr. Andrew Temte has been with Schweser since its inception in 1990. Schweser was acquired by Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company, in 1999. At that time, Dr. Temte became its president and CEO. Kaplan Schweser now enjoys the full backing of a trusted name in education and training with Kaplan’s resources at its disposal. Even though Schweser is now a part of a bigger organisation, we are still committed to our tradition of fulfilling candidate needs, as well as continually enhancing the quality of service to our customers.
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We offer both instructional and self-study packages tailored for your personal needs and budget. Self-study packages include our incomparable SchweserNotes™ and practice exams; instructional packages contain those study tools plus our renowned live (in select locations) or online expert instruction. Additional instruction and tools like Review Workshops, Flashcards, and Mock Exams give you the confidence you need to pass the grueling CFA exam.
Every summer, CFA Institute announces its new curriculum. CFA Institute adds new readings, drops old readings, and alters many of the learning outcomes associated with old readings. This requires a complete rewrite of the previous year’s Schweser materials. Kaplan Schweser also writes new sample exams to reflect the changes in the study guide. Because of these changes, previous editions of the Kaplan Schweser materials are not the best source of study materials. LOS revisions and additions, new readings, and the elimination of readings make relying exclusively on past year’s products for the current year’s exam problematic.
No. Kaplan Schweser rewrites all materials each year to reflect any curriculum changes.
Schweser’s live online classes give you access to our expert instructors – all CFA charterholders who know what it takes to succeed. Online classes are presented live and archived so you can review them anytime, anywhere.
Our Video Lectures cover all the topical areas of the curriculum, provide the benefits of a review course, and are an excellent solution to understanding those difficult concepts. The video lectures can be used as often as your schedule allows; start, stop, rewind, and emphasize specific areas by viewing them in any order you want. With the Video Lectures, you will simultaneously be able to:
Students will have access to the online download links through the end of their exam month. Once downloaded, MP3s will remain on the device they are saved to until the user decides to remove them.
The Early Season Discount (typically 10% off our Premium Instruction and PremiumPlus™ Packages) usually offered in August cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions. Discounts are subject to change without notice.
Yes. SchweserPro™ QBank on a Mac computer is most compatible with Chrome.
Any errors found in SchweserPro™ QBank are updated immediately. You are always seeing the most updated version of SchweserPro™ QBank.
Yes. After accessing SchweserPro™ QBank through the LMS, you can choose offline access with a Chrome download. You will have 100% functionality of the SchweserPro™ QBank offline. You can also sync between offline and online access, so no work within the QBank is lost. Quizzes and tests must be completed in order to be synced. Any tests that are in progress will not carry over between online and offline access.
The Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) Program is a globally recognized standard for professionals in the financial services industry. The CFA charter is given by CFA Institute. The first charter was awarded in 1963; the program is over 50 years old. For more information, please visit www.cfainstitute.org. Kaplan Schweser is not affiliated with CFA Institute. Kaplan Schweser is an independent educational training firm and assists candidates in preparing for the CFA exam.
To qualify for the award of the CFA charter, CFA Institute has these requirements:
There is a registration section on the CFA Institute website where you will register for the exam. You are required to create an account before you are allowed to register.
You can find contact information for CFA Institute at www.cfainstitute.org or email info@cfainstitute.org.
Starting from a general body of knowledge, CFA Institute assigns a set of readings from textbooks and journal articles for different subject areas: economics, ethics, equity, corporate finance, accounting/financial statement analysis, fixed income securities, markets, portfolio management, and quantitative methods. Each reading has a set of learning outcomes. CFA Institute constructs these learning outcome statements to focus the candidate’s study efforts on particular topics within a particular reading.
Pass rates on the exam varies from year to year and from level to level. Visit the CFA Institute site www.cfainstitute.org for more information.
The minimum time needed is 2.5 years; people may take longer depending on their other time commitments, such as a full time job, etc. The average time to complete the 3 exams is over 4 years. Our goal is to help you minimize this time commitment.
CFA Institute’s Prep Provider Guidelines do not allow us to publish or communicate pass rates in any provider materials.
Kaplan Schweser offers the following selection of products designed to fully prepare candidates for the CAIA® exam. All products listed below are available for both levels:
The SchweserNotes™ are organized by Topic and by Learning Objective (LO). The curriculum is presented in LO order, making studying for the exam a simple process: read the LO to determine the specific knowledge to be gained; read the comprehensive explanation immediately following the LO; and test yourself using Concept Checker questions.
All online seminars will be available on-demand for your review, meaning you can watch any session at your leisure. However, if you wish to ask questions during the presentation, you will need to attend the live sessions. You can, of course, watch a previous session and then submit questions through Ask Your Instructor or during Instructor-Led Office Hours.
The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Charter program was started in 2002 and is gaining momentum. The CAIA community now has over 8,000 alternative investment leaders that can be found in over 80 countries. The Charter covers alternative investments such as real assets, private equity, commodities, managed futures, hedge funds, and structured products. The Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association® (CAIAA) is the governing body of the CAIA exam; therefore it is in charge of determining candidates’ eligibility, administering and grading the exams, and deciding who is awarded the designation.
You must have a U.S. bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and possess over one year of professional experience in the financial industry or possess a minimum of four years’ professional experience in the financial industry. In addition, you must provide two professional references, complete the online CAIA Membership Agreement, submit annual membership dues, and pass both levels of the CAIA exam.
The Level I and Level II exams are each offered in September and March. This exam schedule gives candidates the opportunity to complete the entire CAIA program in a single year. Candidates must successfully complete both exams in order to be eligible for membership in the CAIA Association. Candidates cannot take the Level I and Level II exams in the same exam period.
Enrolment fee details can be found here: CAIA Exam Registration and Dates.
Exam windows for each level are held in March and September of each year.
Registration for the March exams is open in October through the beginning of February, while registration for the September exams is open early April through late July. Early registration periods take place during the first six weeks of registration. During this time, candidates will receive 10% off their registration fees. Registration is exam-specific and cannot be transferred to future exam sessions.
There is a registration section on the CAIA Association website where you will register for the exam. You are required to create an account before you are allowed to register.
No, you will pay an enrolment fee up front, which will cover both exams, but after that you must register and pay for each exam level separately.
The CAIA exams are administered by computer at proctored test centers around the world. After registering for an exam, candidates are required to schedule an appointment with a testing center. Visit the test center section of the CAIA Association’s website to find a test center near you.
Past candidate surveys show that the average study time is at least 200 hours of study for each level of the exam.
After registering for a CAIA exam, you will receive a confirmation email from CAIAA that will explain how to schedule your exam appointment. You will be asked to choose a testing center from a list of available sites, as well as a specific date and time within the two-week exam period for which you are registered.
The Level I exam lasts 4 hours and consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. The Level II exam lasts 4 hours and consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and three sets of constructed-response (essay-type) questions.
Our SchweserNotes™ are written to be a comprehensive guide of the recommended readings for the CAIA exam. The decision on whether or not to read the original texts is up to you, and often depends on your own academic background, strengths, and weaknesses.
Please refer to our Exam Details page for the most up to date list of topics covered in the CAIA curriculum.
The CAIA Association® allows candidates to use the TI Business Analyst Plus II (including the TI Business Analyst II Professional) or the HP 12C (including the HP 12C Platinum). No other calculators will be allowed in the exam room.
Level I exam results are usually distributed within three weeks of the closing of the exam window. Level II exam results are usually distributed within six weeks of the closing of the exam window.
The CAIAA exam committee uses 70% of the total points as the initial benchmark so that candidates who earn 70% or more of the total points pass the exam. Because the Association compares a candidate’s score against the average exam score, there is the potential for a curve. The curve effectively moves the passing score below 70%.
These percentages are fluid and change from exam to exam. In the March 2017 exam window, the Level I exam pass rate was 63%, and the Level II exam pass rate was 59%. These stated percentages include only those candidates who sit for exams.
You may use either the Texas Instruments BA II Plus (including the BA II Plus Professional) or the Hewlett Packard 12C (including the HP 12C Platinum). Unless you are already proficient with the HP calculator, we suggest you use the BA II Plus and our instruction is based on that model (either regular or professional). For more information, visit the following websites: www.hp.com or www.ti.com.
You can find contact information for CAIA Association at www.caia.org or email info@caia.org.
According to the GARP® website, “GARP does not offer FRM preparation courses as the Association considers this to be a conflict of interest.” They even state that “Alone, the FRM Handbook is not sufficient to prepare a candidate to pass the examination.” Clearly, it would be to your advantage to use an exam prep provider…and we believe Kaplan Schweser is your best solution.
Kaplan Schweser offers a selection of products designed to fully prepare the candidate for each part of the FRM Exam, including:
Each season, GARP® revises the FRM curriculum to ensure that it is timely and relevant. In turn, Kaplan Schweser‘s expert faculty updates our study materials to incorporate these changes while structuring them to make certain candidates are utilising the most current prep materials for the FRM Exam.
Due to revisions and additions to the Applied Instructional Materials Statements (AIMS) and changes in the required reading list, relying exclusively on previous study materials for the current exam year is not recommended. We suggest that candidates use past materials only as an interim study aid until they purchase/receive the current year materials.
No; we rewrite all of our materials each year as a whole to reflect any curriculum changes, which can be extensive.
You can convert Eastern Time (United States) to your local time by following the directions below.
Yes, but the Online Review Workshop Package is specifically designed for late-season review and is not designed to be a substitute for a comprehensive study package. The Online Review Workshop is not available until May or November for that month’s exam . Please contact us for more information.
Schweser’s Secret Sauce® contains the critical concepts found within the FRM® readings and has been designed for use as a quick review as well as a reference source. It is a compendium of the Applied Instructional Materials Statements (AIMS) and will help in the retention of the FRM curriculum when it is used in conjunction with the SchweserNotes™. This late-season product is excellent for those candidates trying to absorb as much material as possible prior to the examination.
All of the online classes are recorded and archived so you can view them at anytime given that you have access to an Internet connection. Previous presentations are not available for download, but you can watch them streaming from our site under “Live Online Weekly Class” by clicking on the archived files. The archives for a given week are usually uploaded a couple of days after the live presentation.
Office hours can be accessed via your Kaplan Schweser online account. The instructor-led sessions will begin in March for May students and September for November students.
To access the online question bank, enter your username and password on Kaplan Schweser‘s main webpage or on our FRM webpage. Once you are logged in, select the “SchweserPro™ QBank” icon. From there, you can browse the curriculum and the questions in our database. You can also create tests and quizzes with varying lengths from any part of the curriculum.
Start by creating a study plan with the Schweser Study Calendar and adjust as necessary to ensure you are always on track for exam day. Then begin reading your SchweserNotes™ in order. If at any point you need additional insight, consult the appropriate FRM assigned readings.
We offer Instructor-Led Office Hours and Ask Your Instructor with some of our products. Office Hour sessions will begin in March for May students and September for November students and will be held once a week until the exam.
To report potential errors, please log into your online account, and click on the “InstructorLink” icon on the dashboard. Once you are in the InstructorLink section, click on the “Report an Error” tab and complete the errata submission form. We respond to all errata submissions that identify actual errors, and we generally respond to other inquires as well.
To email the instructor, log in to your online access account on www.schweser.com. Once logged in, select the “InstructorLink” icon. Any comments sent via this link will be sent directly to the instructor.
GARP® provides its FRM® Program for the testing, analysis, and evaluation of the skills, qualifications, education, and competencies of those in the field of financial risk management. The FRM designation is globally recognized as the benchmark for financial risk professionals and has been adopted by companies to ensure their risk management employees are well versed in the latest financial risk concepts. Click here for more information about the FRM Program.
You must receive a passing score on each part of the FRM Exam, hold an active membership with GARP®, and have a minimum of two years’ experience in the financial risk management (or other related) field.
The expanded FRM Program includes two exams, Part I and Part II. Both are 4-hour exams given in booklet form. Part I contains 100 multiple-choice questions. Part II contains 80 multiple-choice questions.
Our study packages include products and materials designed to prepare you for the 2017 FRM Exams, regardless of the format you choose. You will receive a Part I or Part II Study Outline that explains the topics you should focus on to successfully prepare for exam day.
Our SchweserNotes™ are written to be an essential complement to GARP’s recommended readings for the FRM Exams. The decision as to whether or not to read the recommended readings is up to you, and often depends on your own academic background, strengths, and weaknesses.
The FRM designation complements the CFA charter. The FRM curriculum provides more detail on areas of financial and non-financial risk while the CFA curriculum provides a broad view of financial analysis in general. The FRM Part I material will overlap with part of the CFA curriculum, mainly in the areas of quantitative analysis, portfolio theory, derivatives, and fixed income securities. The FRM and CFA overlap at Part II is minimal; however, some concepts that are mentioned briefly in the CFA curriculum, such as value at risk, credit risk, risk budgeting, and hedge funds, are expanded upon in this section of the FRM curriculum. Exclusive to the FRM Exams are readings on operational and integrated risk management, Basel II, current issues in financial markets, and case studies in risk management. The FRM Exams tend to have more of a quantitative focus than the CFA exams.
GARP® recommends approximately 150 to 200 hours of preparation for each part of the exam, for a total of 300 to 400 hours of preparation.
It’s growing quickly. Since the FRM designation Program began in 1997, more than 35,000 individuals around the world have successfully completed the program. In 2015 alone, over 32,000 people registered to take the FRM Exam. For more information, please visit www.garp.org.
There is a registration section on the GARP website where you will register for the exam.
Enrolment fee details can be found here: FRM Exam Registration and Dates.
No; if you would like, you may take the exam and then complete your two years of experience. Once you complete the requirement, simply contact GARP®, and your certificate will be issued to you.
No; unfortunately, the program requires two years of professional experience, and an internship position does not meet these requirements.
You may use any of the following calculators on the exam: Texas Instruments BA II Plus (including the BA II Plus Professional), Hewlett Packard 12C (including the HP 12C Platinum), Hewlett Packard 10bII, or Hewlett Packard 20b. Kaplan Schweser highly recommends the Texas Instruments BA II Plus (either the regular model or the professional model). For more information, visit the following websites: www.hp.com or www.ti.com.
You can find contact information for GARP at www.garp.org or email memberservices@garp.com.
VitalSource® is the preferred and most used eBook platform in higher education today, and the VitalSource Bookshelf® is the most advanced eBook software in the world. With VitalSource®, you get three-way access to your books: download, online, and mobile. Notes and highlights automatically stay in sync no matter where you take them (mobile requires online sync). In the library, at the computer lab, or even in a clinical setting, you can access your books when you need them—whether you brought your laptop or not.
SchweserNotes™, Schweser’s Secret Sauce®, and Schweser’s QuickSheet are available as VitalSource® eBooks. The eBook provides access to your study materials in a digital format for use on a personal computer, Apple® mobile device (including iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®), Android™ mobile device, and the Kindle Fire.
When you purchase the eBook versions of SchweserNotes™, Secret Sauce®, or QuickSheet, you will get access to view them online. You can also access and download them on up to two personal computers and up to two mobile devices.
Features of the SchweserNotes™ eBooks, Secret Sauce ® eBook, and QuickSheet eBook include:
When you purchase an eBook product, you will receive an email with installation instructions and a unique registration code to activate your eBook. With a compatible browser, you will be able to access your eBooks via the Internet at online.vitalsource.com or from a file you directly download.
The eBook version provides access to the curriculum in digital format for use on a personal computer, Apple ® mobile device (including iPad ®, iPhone ®, and iPod touch ®), Android™ mobile device, and the Kindle Fire, eliminating shipping and customs fees. When you purchase an eBook product, and it is assigned to your account, you will receive installation instructions and a unique registration code to activate your eBook.
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CAIA
FRM
Yes, there are some limitations to the mobile apps in comparison to the desktop version. Please see the important notes regarding your eBooks on mobile devices.
For immediate answers to common technical support issues, please review the VitalSource Video Tutorials for the answers to several common questions.
If you require further assistance, visit VitalSource Technical Support or contact the VitalSource Support line. They will connect you with a VitalSource Bookshelf ® Expert who specializes in your exact question. The U.S.-based support center is open 24/7 to accommodate your schedule.
Try clicking Update Book List in the My Account section. If you continue to experience difficulties, please contact VitalSource Technical Support (refer to resources listed above).
Please Note: All VitalSource ® eBook orders are final and non-refundable.