Greetings to everyone!
My name is Mohit Bagri and I am a CFA and FRM charterholder. I have a total work experience of about 11 years spanning through transfer pricing at PwC to equity research at then called Amba Research to investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Currently, I am working as a senior manager at Embassy REIT in the corporate finance department. I passed my level 3 exams in 2016 but have been associated with EduPristine since early 2011, i.e., close to 10 years!
CFA was my natural choice to pursue given I was scared of accountancy and law and had a deep interest in finance. Also, after having passed more than half the papers of Indian CFA (rendered by the ICFAI University), I knew CFA course from The CFA Institute is something will cater to my thirst for finance knowledge. Hence, began my journey with the Institute. Level 1 seemed easy and interesting in the sense that it gave me a decent understanding to what domain knowledge I can expect from the course going forward plus I had most of the ground covered due to my existing knowledge from undergraduate course and Indian CFA. Level 2 was where the challenge was and I still think of it as the most difficult exam (even more than level 3) I had faced. I failed once and did not show up another time as I got married in that term and moved to Level 3 after what seemed like a really big wait only 3 years later. I was already taking level 1 tuitions at this time quite regularly and could very evidently see how EduPristine had given a platform to nationwide students interested in the course. My interactions in the class gave me perspective, ideas, thoughts which got more and more interesting as I took more and more classes. It gave me richer and deeper experience to take my next class and ensuring the best for my students along the way. I was able to use my work knowledge and experience in the classes to give live and relevant examples and I used the experience from my classes to keep being innovative at my workplace. So, it was quite literally a two way street for me. Then, came level 3 exams preparation time and although I had a full year to go at it, I made the rookie mistake of starting preparing late and the result was inevitable. I failed with a band 9 and was totally heart broken. As fate had it, I could not appear for exams the next term due to a lot going on at the workplace. This was the time I was working my backside off at Goldman Sachs in the investment banking department. The real blow came when I somehow managed to register for the exams despite work pressure but failed another time due to underpreparedness. This was when I decided to change my lifestyle take a more disciplined approach to Level 3. I realised that whatever I do, if I don't nail the first half of the exam (which is the subjective part), I would fail a 3rd time and that's something I cannot afford. I switched departments at my office, made a realistic and cohesive plan to take the exam and bam! cracked it in the next go. Till date, it was my favourite email the subject of which read "Your CFA exams results" and I could flash read the first line that started with what matters the most, which is the word "congratulations"! And since then, I have been a proud member of the Institute and suddenly started feeling responsible and accountable to the financial world! And this is the reason, I still do CFA classes with EduPristine. It reminds me of my struggle days and pleasures me for being able to help out others walking the same path as me but much better equipped to deal with it. So, that's my CFA story and EduPristine chapter! I really hope reading this would give you some insights into a typical charterholder's journey and answer some of your basic queries with regards to the course and EduPristine. I am a proud member of the Institute and a proud faculty member of EduPristine. All the best, and don't hesitate to sign up!
Mohit Bagri, CFA, FRM
