I am a recent PhD graduate in biomedical research, and I’m trying to get into the biotech venture capital field. I decided to pursue CFA to give get finance credentials, and also is thinking of pursuing CAIA. I’ve just written the CFA level 1 exam, and hope to finish the exams within the next 2 years. I would love to get some feedbacks regarding CAIA - has anyone written it? How useful would it be for someone in my position? Would it be redundant for a CFA charter holder? After a quick glance at sample questions for CAIA, I think the exam is less rigorous than CFA, but it costs $1400 just to register! Any comments on CAIA would be helpful. Thanks.
I do not know that much about the CAIA, but $1400 seem VERY expensive. Good luck with the CFA.
My advice is to ignore PtrainerNY when he inevitably says stupid sh!t about the CAIA.
sublimity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My advice is to ignore PtrainerNY when he > inevitably says stupid sh!t about the CAIA. Hmm… thanks. But you don’t have any opinion on CAIA?
taking level 2 in march, worth it.
redundant. stick with CFA and your PhD CAIA is not THAT marketable compared to your CFA and PhD in my opinion. not that many people know what it is and it seems to get caught up with the other hundreds of insignificant degrees, AAMS, CRPC, etc… if you didnt have a PhD, it may be a better idea, but if you cant get where you want to be with a PhD and CFA, i doubt that the CAIA would have been the license to get you there
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > redundant. stick with CFA and your PhD > > CAIA is not THAT marketable compared to your CFA > and PhD in my opinion. duh, its a long term investment. you think CFA was what it is today 25 years ago. my elders and role models got CFA when it was a lot easier. No one actually says the CAIA is huge, i was @ an event with head of CAIA last week - there are less than 7000 holders in the US!!!
biotech Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sublimity Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > My advice is to ignore PtrainerNY when he > > inevitably says stupid sh!t about the CAIA. > > Hmm… thanks. But you don’t have any opinion on > CAIA? LOL. I really think your PhD plus networking alone is enough if you’re interested in venture capital. However, I think CFA is a good investment and will take care of your lack of finance knowledge. You don’t necessarily need the CAIA, however, I would consider the following points in favor of the CAIA. CAIA highlights (IMHO): 1 - not nearly as difficult as CFA, so there’ll be more clowns with this designation compared to the CFA - CFA is undoubtedly the gold standard (~19% make it through after all, some with BS/MS/MBA finance and many years of industry experience) 2 - not as important as CFA in getting a job 3 - good for a general education about alternative investments, for a well-structured “generalist introduction” to alternative investments. As for private equity (venture capital), I highly doubt the CAIA itself will add more than trivial value over a PhD and a CFA charter. 4 - designation will appreciate in value, though it is still unclear by how much 5 - will most likely get more difficult as it becomes more well-known, so now’s probably a good time before it becomes CFA-ized in the sense that the CFA exams now have much lower pass rates Anyways, that’s my take, there are many on this board much more qualified to answer your question than I am. Hope this is of at least some marginal help though.
CAIA may give you basic knowledge of AI industry but wont be able to provide you a guaranteed job. HF, PE etc are shrunk by 35% this year and not many companies are hiring. Outlook is bleak.
daj224 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SkipE99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > redundant. stick with CFA and your PhD > > > > CAIA is not THAT marketable compared to your > CFA > > and PhD in my opinion. > > duh, its a long term investment. you think CFA was > what it is today 25 years ago. my elders and role > models got CFA when it was a lot easier. > > No one actually says the CAIA is huge, i was @ an > event with head of CAIA last week - there are less > than 7000 holders in the US!!! yeah. well the opportunity cost of a Phd and CFA spending time studying and working towards the CAIA seems much higher than most of us that may only have an MBA. seems like his time could be spent elsewhere more efficiently
if you have a PHD, just stick to what you know. nobody is giong to hire cause you have a CAIA, cause your PHd already supersedes that. in terms of knowledge, you will gain some. but its cheaper just to read the books and learn. having done a PHD (I assume its from a legitimate program) and writing the cFA and CAIA is a walk in the park for you. i’d stick with the CFA and forget the CAIA. you don’t need it imo.
There comes a point after which more becomes too many. You’re a PHD + you’re doing the CFA ? More than that and I find it would look like the guy who can’t find a decent job in finance so he tries to compensate by getting 20 qualifications. I believe an important % of CFA candidates to be in that boat. Try to get some experience. Experience is extremely important and qualifications are much less, regardless of what you’ll hear on this board. Just my 0.02.
Semper Augustus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There comes a point after which more becomes too > many. > You’re a PHD + you’re doing the CFA ? > More than that and I find it would look like the > guy who can’t find a decent job in finance so he > tries to compensate by getting 20 qualifications. > I believe an important % of CFA candidates to be > in that boat. > > Try to get some experience. Experience is > extremely important and qualifications are much > less, regardless of what you’ll hear on this > board. > > Just my 0.02. +1
looks like we all disagree with Daj.
lol…just kiddin there buddy
Thanks everyone for your 2 cents - I must have over 20 cents worth of wisdom. Great to see everyone’s take on CAIA. I’ll just read up on the material, and depending on my time & $ constraint, I may or may not write it. I was a lost-soul in the research world - written the GMAT, MCAT and LSAT while in grad school. One more standardized test won’t hurt, although it’ll be the most expensive one if I write it 
PhD and CFA is not that rare, dudes
Which school?
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > looks like we all disagree with Daj. thats what gets me high
daj im thinking about writing the march level 1 exam i heard the ethics overlaps with the CFAs are the questions a like? and is it more quant or conceptual? Thanks