Just got results from Nov. 09 test. Definitely underestimated the exam difficulty but I passed. Didn’t put in much effort… a little burned out after Dec. CFA L1 and June CFA L2. Glad I can now focus on CFA L3. I work in PWM and the CFP is “required at my firm.” Definitely feel like if I dont get out of PWM soon I’ll be stuck here. I’m still only 23…
How is the CFP compared to the CFA? Just curious.
I cannot imagine that the CFP is too difficult.
FUNancialAnalyst Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just got results from Nov. 09 test. Definitely > underestimated the exam difficulty but I passed. > Didn’t put in much effort… a little burned out > after Dec. CFA L1 and June CFA L2. Glad I can now > focus on CFA L3. > > I work in PWM and the CFP is “required at my > firm.” > > Definitely feel like if I dont get out of PWM soon > I’ll be stuck here. I’m still only 23… Stuck at 23? Nah, you’ll be fine dude. Feel really stuck after 28 the earliest.
@Fun: what kind of work do you do at your firm? I am also in PWM and in my company the CFA is required (although a few have CFP as well). I too don’t want to get “stuck” (I’m 24 btw). What are you looking to get into? How long have you been in your role? What are your future plans? Sorry for all the questions, but I’m just curious what others in my situation (or similar are thinking/doing). PS Also taking L3 in June, also took and passed another exam in the interim (Nov). If you have questions of me in a similar vein feel free to ask, because unlike a woman, I reciprocate;)
QuantJock_MBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How is the CFP compared to the CFA? > > Just curious. To sit for the CFP exam you have to qualify educationally… I had to take these stupid courses/modules to be eligible to sit for the final. If you have the CFA charter you can challenge and just sit for the exam. The classes are breeze to get through; I was studying for the CFA exams so I just wanted to be eligible to sit for the Comprehensive in Nov. 09 (I was actually going to study the material after recieving the CFA results, never really happened). The Final Exam itself is actually tough. Unlike the CFA, the CFP has ALOT of questions on stuff you really need to memorize like tax code, retirement benefits, and estate planning stuff. Also all stuff I think is boring! That being said… like 54% of people pass… only reason I passed was because I flat out dominated the investment questions (the investment stuff on the CFP is an absolute joke). I didn’t do a review course, I did get access to some Qbank but didn’t really use it because I felt like I needed to just cram and cram the material. That being said… a month of studying a few hours a day is plenty of tiime to pass. There are alot of dumb financial planners out there.
i took the courses as part of my BBA. lets just say i was the smartest in the class, getting the highest grades while skipping 90% of the classes and writing Level I. …and the classes speak for the exam so i’m told. a 54% pass rate on the cfp translates to a 99% pass rate for anyone who can pass the cfa exams.
adavydov7 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @Fun: what kind of work do you do at your firm? I > am also in PWM and in my company the CFA is > required (although a few have CFP as well). I too > don’t want to get “stuck” (I’m 24 btw). What are > you looking to get into? How long have you been in > your role? What are your future plans? Sorry for > all the questions, but I’m just curious what > others in my situation (or similar are > thinking/doing). > PS Also taking L3 in June, also took and passed > another exam in the interim (Nov). If you have > questions of me in a similar vein feel free to > ask, because unlike a woman, I reciprocate;) I work in a small firm… 60ish employees spread across 4 offices with around 10B AUM. I do the grunt work for one principal and two VPs. Primarily gathering data and throwing it into our excel worksheets doing asset allocation stuff and various financial models as needed. It’s a great company to work for… and probably some room to grow although at a small firm its hard to move up in title. The high net worth space is fun because you can deal with alternative assets and what not… but we’re not ultra high net worth so don’t get to deal with any F1’s and only a few F2’s… primarily just fund of funds and various SMA managers and LP stuff. Ideally, I would like to move into research or a more analytical role i.e. investment analyst or trading or something more exciting. Worried I’m gonna stick around end up getting my MBA part-time and get stuck in PWM. How bout you adavydov7?
exam is over two days too… which isn’t much fun either. But yeah if you can pass L1 you can definitely pass the CFP exam… alot of the stuff might be new (and boring) but like I said… Financial Planners aren’t exactly known for being brilliant…
> Definitely feel like if I dont get out of PWM soon > I’ll be stuck here. I’m still only 23… Yea man I feel you. I am 24 and I feel stuck. half of time I find myself asking “what the hell am I doing” and I don’t even know. These past months this feeling is getting worse. I guess I just gotta put my head down, get through L3. Maybe after that take a break and regroup.
I work for a larger org. We have about 40bil AUM with about 23PMs of which I am one. My portfolio is small compared to everyone else’s since I am just starting out. I do like the job but I mean at this point I am pretty much topped out in terms of advancement (responsibility wise). Sure I can shoot for VP and SVP but my duties wouldn’t change substantially. Responsibility would only increase if I went into more of a managerial role which I am too young for and just not looking for right now to be frank. Ultimately, I’d love a more analytical role as well research, IB, PE, HE, institutional/fund management. Just trying to figure out what the best way to get in there is going to be (in term of experience: how much and what kind they are looking for). Longer term an MBA isn’t really an option for me (I already have two MS degrees and taught a bunch of the MBA classes at my grad school since I was a PhD student); I would love to go an EMBA at a top school for the connections and networking it would provide, especially if I am lucky enough to be with an employer that would pay for it. Have you started looking yet? How much experience do you have in your current role? How much do you think is necessary before you start (my thought has always been two years min, i.e. pass L3 in June and right around the time results are out I will have been in my position for ~24-30 months hopefully the market will be a bit better and I can start looking). What are your thoughts on this? @Starving: What are you doing now? What are your future goals/career path aspirations?
adavydov7 I graduated in 08. I’ve been here for 18 months… I’ve kinda been looking but more for Research Analyst gigs… I also have applied to a few MS Stats programs… thinking about PhD in Finance or Economics… didn’t do much freshman and soph years (when I took all my math courses). Need to get into an MS Stats AND then get a 4.0 while taking real analysis and a couple PhD econ courses to have a chance at a good program. Got 800 quant GRE so I have a shot… if I get in anywhere I will probably go. I could think of worse things than being 25 with CFP, CFA exams passed and a MS in stats. I definitely think I’ll be looking to make a move though in the next year or so regardless. I’m just bored. Need something more exciting… seriously considering going to Officer Candidate School (would admittedly be a waste of the CFA though haha). I always thought 1 year was the minimum… if you stay 2 years you’re golden. Starving… I know exacrtly how you mean. I feel like I’m wasting away right now. I need to find my mojo soon.
^Really? If you do that you are probably looking at less analyst and more quant type roles. Also, I would highly advise against the PhD in either (but if you decide to do one definitely do FINC since starting pay is twice as high!) unless you are truly passionate about learning a lot of faulty math and then publishing articles for the rest of your life or going to a quant shop and writing code (I’ve been there, have a 200 page dissertation sitting on my hard drive, and so I think I know a little bit about it, but then again maybe not). PS So you are looking more towards going back to school as opposed to trying to get into an analyst/associate role? So you are applying to schools and not jobs.
I applied to schools late fall… moment of weakness… PhD finance would be nice… ALOT of work… but getting into a Top 20 Finance PhD is tough… and its not worth going unless you get into a good school. Anyways, I don’t think I’d get in. And it’d be a long road with significant opportunity costs… Right now I’ve started putting feelers out for some IB, ER, HF, consulting gigs. Thinking about just relocating to Seattle area (hometown) but interesting finance jobs there are hard to come by. I think we’re similar… bored with PWM… looking to work with smart people, learn alot, and do something we enjoy. possibility for a huge bonus would be nice too…
i haven’t got the vibe that there are many country fans on the forum… but “there’s gotta be something more… gotta be more than this.” Pretty much sums up how I feel right now.
FUNancialAnalyst Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So, you’re looking for IB, hedge fund and consulting stuff and are willing to commit several years to further education? I would think that many people in your situation would apply to business school.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FUNancialAnalyst Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > So, you’re looking for IB, hedge fund and > consulting stuff and are willing to commit several > years to further education? I would think that > many people in your situation would apply to > business school. Would be totally different paths… path 1…MS stats then phd finance then academia or decent finance job. path 2… ms stats (but no 4.0) back to working world hopefully not in PWM. path 3… new job (hopefully, consulting, IB, investment analyst, etc)… then B school. path 4… stay at current job… get mba part-time at booth or kellogg… stay in PWM … hate my job / self.
^why not go do the MBA full time at a top school either now or next year (one more year of experience would help); i.e. essentially turn the chronology of number 3 option above around. I have a feeling I will be pursuing option 3 pretty soon (i.e. within 12 months) with EMBA a ways down the road from there God willing.
If I’m still here I’ll probably apply to B school next fall depending on my GMAT score… gotta take it anyways for finance phd… I don’t expect any difficulty getting 700+. I’ll kill the math and I speak english 
Ideally… sweet new job then b school would be nice… only time will tell… g luck adavdov7.
^with an 800 in GRE quant you should be able to easily crack 720 on GMAT with a little light studying! Good luck to you as well.