Hi, I would like to know your opinion if CFA designation can help to get where I want to be with my career( within next 6 months I would like to move to asset management or equity research area). I have masters degree in economics, degree in finance and 2+ years back office experience(in fund accounting). I will pass my level III CFA exam in June 2009, so the only thing I will need after that is 4 years “investment decision making” experience, although I have been told recently by some people that my back office experience might count as relevant experience(that would leave me with 2 more years needed). I’m not sure if it’s important, but I’m 27 years old (will be 28 later this year). I’ve heard some opinions that I might be to old for such career move as most of candidates for junior front office positions are about 22-23 years old. Thanks in advance for your help.
I like this line: I’m 27 years old (will be 28 later this year). Reminds me of Lion2004 if any of you remember that cat.
I like the empahsize that he will be 28 later this year, given that the year just started lol
I think it would be safe to say that as we have only been through 5 days this year, 98.6% of people will be the next increment in age sometime before the end of the year. . . Its good to know who is in the 1.4%
rado.pl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I will pass my level III CFA > exam in June 2009 Seems pretty confident. Good luck
Seems pretty confident that he will reach 28 too.
trek7000 - definetely more confident in reaching 28 than passing level III exams in June;). mpnoonan - correct me if I’m wrong but I guess self confidence is pretty important in that business especially when you want to work in front office environment, but maybe in fact it was too confident and maybe even a violation of cfai code of ethics. anyway, thank you for wishing me good luck. philip.platt, comp_sci_kid and thepinkman - you should practice reading with understanding a little. This age part might be really understand in two ways. general way - taking into consideration only year (that is somebody was born in 1982 and will be 27 for whole 27 or more detailed way - considering months and years (smobody was born for exapmle in June 1981 and thus till June 2009 will be still 27). I guess you are these type of guys who try to show how smart they are even when situation does not require that. Mostly, however none of you have answered my question, so why have you even waisted your precious time to write these unnecessary posts?
rado, CFA would definitely help but there are probably several million people with the CFA designation out of a job and waitnig in line ahead of you.
There are only about 100,000 charterholders worldwide, at present, but the number is growing rapidly.
" I will pass my level III CFA exam in June 2009 " - Ethics Violation That being said you are obviously over qualified to be in fund accounting , but if you were not sure about the CFA boosting your career prospects why did you go through 2 levels ? Just so you know there are lots of BOM’s like yourself trying to get into AM / ER , which is hard to do even under “normal” market conditions . In this market and depending on the city that your in , your probability of getting into a FO job is less than 5 % ( without the assistance of some serious contacts ) However moving out of fund accounting is not impossible , you just have to keep @ it , find a way to upgrade to skills or differentiate yourself if possible and be very very very patient . Disclaimer : I used to be a BOM until about 9 months ago .
It kills me that people with Masters Degrees in Eco and Finance undergrads are only landing fund acct. gigs these days. Gosh! Willy
rado.pl, I have a similar background. The only difference is my degrees are inverted (MS Finance, BS Econ) and I’ll be pursuing an MS Statistics full time this year. I also plan on taking the FRM in November. This economy is going to improve, which is one reason I’m trying to get my schooling out of the way this year (I want to go into risk management, which is why I’m pursuing the MS Stat and the FRM). Second, millions of people are not getting the CFA designation (or even completing all levels pending work experience). At most, 6,000 to 6,500 will pass the Level 3 exam. And the ones that have received the CFA designation 2007 and prior already have jobs, unless they were laid off. Are you going to get a senior front office role? No. But this should not be a deterrent to pursue a junior equity research role or a middle office role. I agree with rudeboi. You will probably have to be patient in this economy. However, being patient does not mean giving up. The simple answer to your question: Yes, the CFA is a career booster. If anybody on this forum articulates otherwise, they are either extremely disgruntled or they have not advanced in the CFA program. radio.pl, just remember you are not alone in this.
rado.pl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > mpnoonan - correct me if I’m wrong but I guess > self confidence is pretty important in that > business especially when you want to work in front > office environment, but maybe in fact it was too > confident and maybe even a violation of cfai code > of ethics. anyway, thank you for wishing me good > luck. I do wish you good luck as I am in the same boat just 1 year younger.