CFA Level III Exam: Final Level or Last Nerve? Effective Strategies to Tackle your Final Milestone

Dr Mo Fallah, CFA

Assistant Professor of Finance, California State University, Fresno

: mo-fallah2021

Michaela Leskova, CFA

Trading Operations Manager

Michaela Leskova, CFA, is a finance professional with over nine years of experience across trading, clearing, and post-trade infrastructure at Deutsche Börse Group’s Eurex entities. In her roles, she has led cross-functional initiatives between business, product, and engineering teams, translating complex institutional client needs into scalable platform solutions and operational improvements.

Michaela earned the CFA charter in 2024 and recently relocated to the United States after building her career across Switzerland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. She also serves as a volunteer on the Membership Committee of CFA Society Switzerland, supporting initiatives to strengthen engagement within the CFA community. She is passionate about continuous learning and helping CFA candidates successfully navigate the final stage of the CFA Program.

: michaela-leskova-cfa-1

Vatsal Sheth, CFA

Finance Manager, Single Family Office

Vatsal Sheth is a CFA charterholder and finance professional with over seven years of experience spanning investment banking, corporate FP&A, and multi-asset investment management. Currently a Finance and Investments Manager at a family office in the San Francisco Bay Area, he oversees portfolio strategy across public equities, private equity, hedge funds, and real estate. Previously, Vatsal worked at Ernst & Young in Strategy & Transactions practice. He has also held finance roles in high-growth technology and investment banking companies. Vatsal holds a MS in Finance from Bentley University. Outside of work, he enjoys following Formula 1, playing tennis, and cooking.

: vatsal-sheth

Dr Julian Vogel, CFA, CAIA

Assistant Professor of Finance, San José State University

Dr. Julian Vogel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance at the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San José State University. He has earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration – Finance from The University of Texas at El Paso, and has lived, studied, and worked in several countries and regions across Europe and the United States. He is fluent in English, German, Spanish, and French, and has garnered deep cross-cultural insights.

In his research and teaching, he takes an interdisciplinary perspective to explore businesses as parts of complex systems. He focuses on corporate finance, especially capital structure, corporate payout policy, diversity, and corporate governance, as well as investments, and capital markets and institutions.

Dr. Vogel successfully passed all three levels of CFA Program exams in 20 months, and obtained his CFA charter in October 2024.

: julianunvogel