I am a CFA charterholder (new in 2009). I am considering doing the CFP just for kicks. Anyone done the CFP after the CFA? Any idea on how much prep this will take for someone who’s already a CFA charterholder? It seems like it should be pretty easy on the base of it, I’ll just have to learn some insurance and tax related stuff that I may not know… Thoughts?
Might be useful for information purposes. If I did it, I would not put it on my resume, though. People would be like, wtf?
ontheuptick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am a CFA charterholder (new in 2009). I am > considering doing the CFP just for kicks. Anyone > done the CFP after the CFA? > > Any idea on how much prep this will take for > someone who’s already a CFA charterholder? It > seems like it should be pretty easy on the base of > it, I’ll just have to learn some insurance and tax > related stuff that I may not know… Thoughts? You think CFP would be easier to get because you are a CFA charterholder? Completely different focus, and I can speak for the Canadian CFP; I have passed all the 4 pre-requisites. The only topic comes close to being common with CFA is Strategic Investment Planning. Besides that, you will need to read a lot on Tax Planning, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning and Insurance. Which includes a lot of readings on DB, DC, DPSP, OAS, HBP, etc. If you are in Canada, I can give you some more insights. You can say, if you talented enough to be a charterholder, you can get the CFP certification too. But, there is no correlation between the two.
I’m writing the canadian version This coming November 14 2009 I had the prerequisites to write it, and I will not start studying for L3 of CFA untis probably December anyways so I figured why not. I’m in Discretionary Wealth Management and we dont do any “planning” per se, but dealing with High Net worth Clients, it’s useful to have knowledge in trusts, estates, certain tax information etc…
^ I was planning to write it, but dropped the idea. I guess they are changing the format after June 2010.
Iginla2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^ I was planning to write it, but dropped the > idea. I guess they are changing the format after > June 2010. The reason why I rushed into it to write it next month, opposed to waiting after June CFA 2010 is because of the format change. I had the pre-requisites, but after June 2010, they require people to actually take a course, like at a community college, and they are splitting the exam to be held on 2 different dates opposed to the 1 they have now. I figured might as well get it out of the way now. I was surprised that the cost of 550 did not even include any textbooks, you have to buy those separately from an independent supplier and that costs a few hundered as well. Not that cheap !!
Why do you want to do this? You want to work in wealth management for the rest of your life?
NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why do you want to do this? You want to work in > wealth management for the rest of your life? Discretionary wealth management, yes. Absolute $- Not the best, but very comfortable. Work hours / Pay ratio - Probably one of the best
I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant, but I don’t know if we should be aspiring towards jobs that require us to consider individual investor needs. Managing a fund that people buy shares of and advising individuals on wealth allocation are at completely different levels.
^ Where did you learn to be so arrogant? j/k I agree with you, but you have to understand not everyone has the same career aspirations and goals. You will be surprised how much money poeple make in PC wealth management. I used to work at a big advisory, and almost 50% of the advisors made over a million a year, with the top guy pocketing about $22 million a year. Anyway, the point I’m making is, everyone is different. “Work hours / Pay ratio - Probably one of the best” I agree with this as well. I used to work from 7 am to 3:00 pm (since it’s 2 hours behind EST).
3rdtimesacharm? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Why do you want to do this? You want to work in > > wealth management for the rest of your life? > > > Discretionary wealth management, yes. > > Absolute $- Not the best, but very comfortable. > > Work hours / Pay ratio - Probably one of the best +1 … Agree with 3rdtimesacharm on the above. Once I complete the CFA program, I’ll be applying for a challenge status to fulfill the educational requirement to be able to take the CFP exam. The designation doesn’t hold a ton of weight or merit, but it will add some tools to the arsenal if you’re looking to be in wealth management. I don’t think it hurts to be able to have an intelligent conversation with a client regarding insurance, estate planning, or retirement. Our company provides managed account services to brokers and their HNW clients. One of the top reasons why the clients don’t bring a larger part of their net worth over is because the advisors lack in knowledge or the know how to adequately prepare them for their future. That being said, all of the portfolio managers at our company are now being pressured to work on the CFP.
3rdtimesacharm? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > NYCAnalyst86 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Why do you want to do this? You want to work in > > wealth management for the rest of your life? > > > Discretionary wealth management, yes. > > Absolute $- Not the best, but very comfortable. > > Work hours / Pay ratio - Probably one of the best Dunno, I find it so boring. You can’t know how difficult and dense private clients can be sometimes. And they can be incredibly demanding. Give me a fund to run any day rather than having to talk to yet another client about his concerns. Seriously, if you like having to mother people or enjoy answering stupid questions or like people to treat you like dirt, then discretionary wealth management is for you. sigh. long day today.
I did the CFP on a challenge basis after I got my charter. I work for a small wealth management firm (me and the owner plus support staff) focused on HNW clients ($2mm-$10mm investable) and I’d say cfp/financial planning related issues come up way more than cfa-type stuff. We really focus on the financial/estate/tax planning though. I’d say we stop just short of a MFO…we do bill-pay, record management, etc - just no in house tax prep or attorneys. On the investment side, we’re passive/DFA guys but use alternatives. The CFA helps a lot though and helps with marketing. The owner makes over $1mm easy. Work/life is great. A normal week is 40-45 hours (35-40 in the summers/out by noon every Friday). The clients aren’t any more difficult than any other type of client. If we don’t think someone will be a good fit, we don’t take them on. For the CFP exam, investments are about 20% of the CFP exam which you should ace without studying. The rest will be new to you unless you work in wealth management. The stuff isn’t hard but there’s a lot there - so don’t underestimate. I spent 3-4 months studying - about the same as level 1.
what the heck is the CFP?
I_Passed_Level_1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > what the heck is the CFP?
fedge Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I_Passed_Level_1 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > what the heck is the CFP? > > > It’s the C*nt For P@nis designation. It’s what > hookers get why not just get a CPA? Advising individuals on tax implications or estate planning, insurance, etc. has to be one of the most boring and unrewarding job there is out there.
hang on. are you guys saying that the prerequisites are changing or the format of the exam is changing? I went to WLU and took the FP option with my BBA. that was only in '07 so i’m assuming it’d still be valid no? when I took them, it stated that I had 5 years to write the exams or else I’d have to take the courses again. I’m sure they couldn’t/wouldn’t retroactively change their policies…and screw someone, say, who took those courses in '09
I_Passed_Level_1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > fedge Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I_Passed_Level_1 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > what the heck is the CFP? > > > > > > It’s the C*nt For P@nis designation. It’s what > > hookers get > > > why not just get a CPA? Advising individuals on > tax implications or estate planning, insurance, > etc. has to be one of the most boring and > unrewarding job there is out there. CPA would be another option for me. I graduated with 150+ hours in finance and accounting. After taking multiple tax and audit classes though, it was just not something I wanted to pursue further. I somewhat agree with you that tax and insurance can be dry and boring. But I find estate planning can provide valuable insight while working with HNW clients. One should be able to understand some of the best strategies on how to eliminate any uncertainties from the administration of a probate and maximize the value of the estate for beneficiaries. This will affect many of our clients in the near future as Obama and Congress will be deciding how to move forward with any changes or repeals to the inheritance/death tax …
I have both and I can tell you that most of the advice you are hearing about the CFP is coming from people who have no idea what it even entails. Unit.Root gives a pretty good summary above. That being said, I do agree that if you are going to try to be a PM then the CFP will have little value.
I gots the CFP before taking on these CFA exams. The job sounds to have a much higher quality of life than other analyst roles (from what i hear), but I do deal with clients on a day in day out basis and that part can get old. I work 35-40 hr weeks. Get a 10-25% bonus annually, and am on a path to make well over 6 figs in a couple more years on a non-commissioned basis (if i dont go crazy first). The problem with dealing with clients is they think we can time the market. We have to make it very clear to them what types of risks are involved when they invest money in the market. Our discretionary managed account programs are where I am trying to get a role in now (got to the 3rd interview and they hired someone else). These fellers are a team of about 10 CFAs that invest our DMA’s. We also have a mutual fund team that manages our company’s funds, but they require CFA + 10 years industry experience to even be considered. THAT is where the big time is at IMO. These dudes get paid mad loot and get to go on CNBC and get nice offices and think they are better than everyone else. Why wouldnt you want to do that?? CFA is a must have for my company. If you don’t have it or progess towards completion, you won’t get a second look. I know this for a fact for our BO roles. CFP will help get you into the FO where all us grinders are at. All of us FRONT OFFICE SELLAS!!! HEYYOOOOO