Wow I officially hate exchange rates. I registered for CAIA-L1 a week or so ago, and with the CDN-USD variance my registration fee was 1659.63. That hurts. Also the L1 books $364 not including the schweser notes which aren’t on sale yet. So $2000+ for CAIA-L1…
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Firm sponsorship?
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Unfortunately unemployed, don’t start till june.
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The cost of the exam is the major thing keeping me from signing up for this now (the other is possible burnout after doing CFA in June). I’m Canadian as well, so the exchange rate makes it even worse.
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Yea its a tough bullet to swallow but its just a necessary cost of doing business I guess. My employer may pick it up when I start in June, but unlikely. I like the idea of having additional knowledge in alternative investments. Also it really does interest me so, it’s not a total loss. Are you contemplating September sbmarti2? What level CFA? Where you at in Canada, i’m in Calgary.
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Trying out justifications for myself- but- is the cost really all that prohibitive? i agree that it’s a lot of money in some sense, but if the certification costs say $5,000 total (two levels and other books, rounding up), space that out over the number of years you’ll have to earn with it, and it seems to be a fairly cheap… i mean, if they doubled the price of the CFA, the CFA doesn’t become any less valuable- i.e. i don’t think there are too many people who are going to forgo the CFA designation to save a couple thousand dollars. maybe i’m just bitter because my MBA is going to set me back something like $90-$100k and this seems like a fairly easy way to get a leg up. Just do it, I say. as competitive as the financial industry is, a couple thousand dollars’ investment in a competitive advantage is worthwhile.
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I agree, this is chump change compared to a MBA. Unless you ended up in a totally different fields other than finance/investment, the gained knowledge will pay you many times over.
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I also hold this theory, the topics covered here are much different then CFA. The real estate section and hedge fund section is really interesting. There is some overlap with quant and ethics, but that’s a good refresher for L2 anywho. Either way as long as your going for the disciplined approach to obtain a certain level of knowledge, your on the right track. I don’t agree that the CAIA will give you any significant job market advantages in the short term.
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