How many of you ....

Started sitting in for Level 1 in your mid 30s … ? Too late perhaps ? Thanks.

I was 33 when I passed Level I in 2008. I’m 35 now and have finished the exams. I don’t think it’s ever too late, as long as you are committed to it.

getting the CFA charter in mid-30’s works best if you are already in the industry. It’s an enhancer. If you’ve been working non-finance, or been doing operations for many years, the CFA won’t help you suddenly land an investment job say in asset mgmt, or equity research etc… It’s like options. The time value piece slowly degrades down to nothing. Longer you wait, the harder it gets.

not too late at all…

I finished in my late 30’s and didn’t find that to be too late. I wasn’t looking to change careers or anything though. I finished mostly for pride.

First of all, if you’re already in the industry, it’s definitely not too late. Go and do it. You’re likely to pay back the cost of the exam just in mistakes avoided in your personal account. If you’re not in the industry, it’s still not too late. Just don’t expect the CFA to be the only thing that matters. You need to look at how your previous work experience connects to the industry and what you can bring that adds value from that. CFA will answer the question “what does this guy know about finance,” but not the question “why should we hire him/her vs. this other person with the CFA charter.” So make sure you have an answer to that when you are job hunting. I started the CFA process in my mid thirties. It helped a lot. My main problem was that I got the Charter in Sept 2008. On the day the Dow crashed 777 points, in fact. It was a little hard to celebrate. May you have better luck!

Daaamn, I’m surprised you old farts even know how to post on internet forums. Good on ya, your kids give you a crash course or something?

SuperiorReturn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Daaamn, > I’m surprised you old farts even know how to post > on internet forums. > Good on ya, your kids give you a crash course or > something? Our generation invented the internet you little whipper snapper. :slight_smile:

It’s never too late to take the CFA exams. The question is whether or not in 3 years or so, it will be too late to do whatever you intend to do with the charter.

iteracom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > getting the CFA charter in mid-30’s works best if > you are already in the industry. It’s an > enhancer. > > If you’ve been working non-finance, or been doing > operations for many years, the CFA won’t help you > suddenly land an investment job say in asset mgmt, > or equity research etc… > > It’s like options. The time value piece slowly > degrades down to nothing. Longer you wait, the > harder it gets. Well, I am not planning to be in the asset mngnt. I would like to use my CFA exams as enhancement to enter internal M&A. And maybe later if the stars align enter some boutique IB again on the M&A side, i don’t have the pedigree to go for big names.

My understanding is that the Charter, while respected, is not all that useful in IB and M&A kinds of work. In other words, it could help, but the results/effort ratio isn’t all that attractive.

Not only can I use the internet. I also know how to use a slide rule!

i don’t know many ibankers, but the ones i do know did not have their CFAs until well after they stopped working in IB. then again, i only know analyst/associate level types.

It is fairly rare to see ibankers with the CFA. Mostly likely if they have it they are come from some type of investment management background. A 20 something year old fresh out of school and on the IB track could take Level I or II but they would have to find time during the 70+ hour work weeks. By the time they’re done with their 2 or 3 year analyst stint it’s time for bschool or a buy side gig. Not a lot of time for test taking. Ibanking is an old school prestige industry. There aren’t too many bankers walking around with any letters after their names. It’s all about where you went to ugrad, your analyst stint, and which bschool you attended. For ibanking: ugrad/bschool>>>>>>>>>CFA. I do think parts of the CFA curriculum would be extremely useful for ibanking.

Ok, so the whole internal M&A/CFA discussion is perhaps for my other thread. But I guess what I am asking is, it takes 4 years to get chartered, so in my situation it could be by the time I am 40. So what you are saying is that nobody really hires on the analyst level at that age, and just as vehicle CFA is not as effective as MBA?

That is basically correct.

I’d say if you’re really interested in it, go for it and then figure out a way to use it; you only go around once. It’s not like you’ll be dropping everything else you’re doing to do it full-time.

That’s true. However, for people targeting asset management, the benefits of the program can start to accrrue as you pass levels. Obviously, you get the maximum for passing all three and having work experience, but even passing level 1 can help a bit if you have other skills and are changing careers.