Hi, I am currently a 4th year student double majoring in mathematics and finance in a Canadian University. I was doing my research and I am very interested in taking the exams for CFA or FRM/PRM. I know CFA is for asset/investment management and equity research while FRM/PRM is more involved with risk management/ credit risk. I was wondering if getting one of these designation will restrict myself from certain types or jobs. Like can I work in risk management if i have CFA or work in investment management while holding FRM/PRM designation. I am currently not sure what field I really want to get into. I really do love both math and finance so. Thanks for the help =)
FRM/PRM not very useful to get into investment management (though won’t hurt). CFA quite useful in risk management (what do you think risk managers do? Risk management is the most generalist area in all of finance. I’ve managed risk on stocks, junk debt, bank debt, exotic derivatives, trillions and trillions of dollars in futures and options, bankruptcy claims, mutual funds, FX forwards, convert arb, stat arb, etc… You need to know stuff about everything. Frankly, I think CFA > FRM/PRM for risk management particularly with a quant background as you should be able to leapfrog most of the FRM/PRM material into real quant stuff that they can’t put on the exam because then nobody would take it). Of course, you could enjoy your life a little. Get a job. Figure out whether you want to be in investments at all as it is a seriously depressed field right now. Have you considered dental school? You could try other things in life, like running a marathon or climbing Mt. Ranier both of which feel better to accomplish than getting these certifications and are much cooler.
Everest would be cool too.
Everest would be cool too but compared to Ranier: a) Much more costly ($65K vs $2K for guided expedition, plus more equipment demands for Everest) b) Much more time (> 2 months for Everest vs. a week’s vacation for Ranier) c) Much more dangerous, although you can kill yourself pretty easily on both d) Much less fun when you get down (Nepalese village surgeon chopping off frostbitten toes vs eating Seattle crabcakes in some bistro) e) You should be able to do Ranier by some of the more difficult routes pretty easily before you do Everest or you are just relying on some Sherpa you have never met to safeguard your life.
Yeah, I did some research on Everest last year. The frustrating part about Everest is you could put in all that money ($60-$70K) and then get to the point of no return and have to make the call that it is too dangerous to continue to the summit. Also, the death rate for people coming down after reaching the summit is higher than one would think. Ranier does sound like a great time and a challenge - especially those Seattle crabcakes in the bistro . . . nice
Well…I would like to do all that, except I need to pay off my school debt so I do want to get a job right after I graduate. Well dental school is out of question, I hate life science with passion so =). tho hmm climbing those mountain would be fun in the future haha =). Going back to my main topic, I was considering FRM/PRM since I thought I would be more interested since there is more math involved (well I know it is for PRM tho not sure for FRM). I also thought that the risk management might be a good field in the future because of all the credit risk crisis that are occurring right now. Though, I guess CFA will give me very good background in all areas of finance.
Aerolim, What university are you studying at? Also, are you in the B.A or Msc program? I’ve never seen a program that offers both finance and math as a major, but I do admit, it’s pretty cool. Thx. J.
projectplatnyc Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah, I did some research on Everest last year. > The frustrating part about Everest is you could > put in all that money ($60-$70K) and then get to > the point of no return and have to make the call > that it is too dangerous to continue to the > summit. > > Also, the death rate for people coming down after > reaching the summit is higher than one would > think. > > Ranier does sound like a great time and a > challenge - especially those Seattle crabcakes in > the bistro . . . nice My ex-wife’s cousin Timmy was on that “Into Thin Air” expedition. His gf paid for it. Nice. (He was one of the people rescued by Boukraev who must have been the strongest guy in the world right up until he died on Annapurna the next year).