Hallo, I was wondering if I could get some AF feedback/advice on pursuing the charter for a career in development finance? This is something I am very new to. I almost thought about not continuing with my CFA studies as my interest lies more with development side of things, but recently I was introduced to microfinance and it sounded really interesting. Do you think that the CFA designation would be conducive in development area also? What are your thoughts?? FYI: I took the December 08 Level 1 Exam and I was mostly sure on not signing up for Jun 09 Level 2 exam (due to uncertainty). I have a degree in economics ('08 grad) and I am just starting my career (entry level). Currently not doing anything micro-finance related, but would like to eventually. Thank you.
Make that two people who’d like to know
Could be. There are usually a few ads in the back of the Economist for dev finance. They are usually looking for econ phds but I’d send one of these guys an email and see what they say about CFAs.
juventurd Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Could be. There are usually a few ads in the back > of the Economist for dev finance. They are > usually looking for econ phds but I’d send one of > these guys an email and see what they say about > CFAs. Thank you!
Okay just wanted to add my 2 cents regarding CFA and Micro-finance (and btw, I believe development finance can actually represent something completely different than Micro-finance, especially if you are using it to describe the work done by IMF/World Bank in developing countries) I do have some background in Micro finance, especially within a non-profit sector. Let me explain, the non-profit that I am involved with runs half a dozen micro-finance initiatives in couple of developing countries (mainly in Asia). Scope for most of these projects are some what small (especially if measured in dollar terms), but the participation is in thousands (actually twenty thousand plus if you aggregate them all). Since I am also a candidate for the CFA Level 2, I have seen that having a solid understanding of traditional financial topics (which the CFA curriculum covers in detail) does provide specific advantages,especially to run large-scale micro-credit programs. But lot of micro-finance work (especially the ones inspired by the Grameen Bank’s approach) is dependent on being able to organize people at the local level (i.e. the concept of loaning money to a group rather than an individual), so the direct relevance of the CFA curriculum would be pretty minimal. Also, micro-finance (or micro-credit) has become so entangled with Development Finance, and for that matter with social enterprise, it is hard to sort out what exactly people are talking about when they use the word “micro-finance”. Anyway, please add more details to your question (or observation) and I will try to address them to the best of my abilities and experience.
How did you get started in it?
Maybe we can securitize microfinance cash flows?
TheAliMan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How did you get started in it? I initially worked as a volunteer and project coordinator for couple of non-profits and got started in micro-credit after reviewing the progress made by Mohammad Younus with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Today the micro-credit initiatives with the same non-profit has active participation of around three thousand lending groups and it is growing quite rapidly (expected to at least double by year-end)
bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe we can securitize microfinance cash flows? Hahahahah +1 from me.
Why is the securitization idea funny? It may be a 4 letter word right now but with low default rates - there is potential. No?
probably CFA charter will help in building knowledge/skills that will help indirectly. By that I mean that it will probably not directly get you a job. THe most important qual is your Economics degree. But most economics professionals working in the field have little practical hands-on finance skills or experience - which is where what you learn in the CFA material should be of great use. It depends on what sort of role you have / are aiming for. ps. I fund a micro-finance operation in northern swaziland out of my foundation. I have liked the micro-credit concept from the early days of Grameen, etc. The problem is that the folks on the ground in Africa that I have come across are very well-meaning and dedicated but wouldn’t know a DCF if they fell over it. The big trend over the past few years is that commercial lenders and private foundations have been jumping on the band-waggon -(or were until the credit crisis anyway, but that will pass) - so there is a growing demand for skilled people to run things. That’s where your CFA charter may help in separating you from the development economics crowd - with great ideas and passion but little in the way of real finance skills. stick with it - the potential is huge - but it needs skilled people…good luck with it… cheers
Anyone have any luck pursuing their Microfinance projects? My wife is very interested in getting involved in this area as well
3rd & Long Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anyone have any luck pursuing their Microfinance > projects? My wife is very interested in getting > involved in this area as well Does she want to do this for profit or for charitable reasons? If it’s the latter, you might want to try Kiva.
Pretty sure there have been some securitizations already in microfinance. Don’t remember details but found via Google. Also don’t know how they held up through recent credit crisis.
i think the MBA would be the sureshot into your sector of choice but the CFA should help too. depends on the firm size you are interviewing with. check out acumen fund and grameen fund / bank. they are the biggest names in the game i think.