Armenian. Not American. Lol that an American “can’t do geography” even knew the difference.
Armenia. F–k yeah!!!
This could be one of the most ridiculous threads I’ve seen. Most of the posts, especially those from the OP, are nothing short of ignorant. Do you even work on the street or in the industry?!? 9/10 fund managers are either CFA charterholders or Ivy Grads. The CFA designation doesn’t guarantee anyone a job. I’m pretty sure everyone understands that concept; however, a vast majority of legit firms HIGHLY DESIRE or REQUIRE the CFA designation for their employees. This is straight fact. Many bulge bracket and middle market banks seek CFA charterholders, and most of the well known ER positions desire CFA charterholders. I can provide a list if you’d like me to provide one. I highly suggest that know what you’re talking about before you come onto AF and start a thread like thie one. Moreover, if anyone is “blowing this CFA thing out of proportion,” it’s you. If the CFA designation is meaningless and nothing short of three letters to add to your name, I suggest you find something better to do time with your time.
First of all, calm down. Second of all, I do recall mentioning that most of the jobs I looked at “desired” the CFA charter; however, I have not ONCE come across a job which required the CFA (I am talking about the UK, maybe things are different in the US). Finally, “9/10 fund managers are either CFA charterholders or Ivy grads” may only be true in the US. This is not the case in England. In fact I highly encourage you to check for yourself. That is not to say that the majority aren’t graduates from good schools or possess the charter, but you would find a very high percentage that possess neither of those (definitely no where near 9/10).
“Do you even work on the street or in the industry?!?”
If you mean the financial services, yes I do. In fact unlike yourself who has been writing posts on how to break into buyside, ER etc, I actually work in the investment profession and conduct fund research. So please don’t call me ignorant when you yourself work at PwC. Don’t get me wrong, that is a very prestigous place to work at (although depends on what you do), but not exactly the sort of work environment for which you would need the CFA charter.
First of all, you made the generalized statement that the CFA designation doesn’t really matter; however, you just said in your previous post that your talking about the UK. So, basically you are contradicting yourself. The CFA designation might not be as important in the UK, but you can’t make generalized statements about it’s applicability across the globe. Additionally, the UK is one of the top 5 countries regarding quantity of charterholders and candidates. So, even your implication that it doesn’t seem to matter in the UK seems flawed.
Second, my employment with PwC doesn’t mean I have no knowledge of the street or the industry. Your assuming that I don’t because I work for a Big 4 firm, which isn’t true. My question to you was more rhetorical. Of course I saw your initial post. I’m just surprised you would make a lofty statement about the CFA designation considering you do work in the industry.
In the end, most of the people possessing or pursuing the CFA designation understand it’s value and importance across the investment industry. Sure, I recognize that not everyone needs the charter, but it is highly respected and many employers across the globe desire and/or require it. Moreover, the CFA designation conveys to existing clients and potential clients a certain level of investment competence and commitment to integrity. Everyone has their reasons and everyone approaches the process differently. Hence, to some people and employers the CFA designation is a big deal whereas it might not be the same for others such as yourself.
I only gave you the benefit of the doubt and I don’t believe I contradicted myself. You may know the US statistics and the job market better than me. However, I feel your claims were exagerrated for the sake of validating your points and verbal abuse.
a) I never said the charter is of no importance, I merely implied its value has been exaggerrated
b) Just because there are a large number of charterholders in the UK, it does not mean that it is REQUIRED to be possessed by all fund managers. As part of conducting fund research, I meet fund managers on a daily basis. Some possess the CFA and some don’t. You also get many individuals who possess the charter who don’t work in the AM profession. I know many people (including myself) who are pursuing the charter merely to expand our knowledge.
Your comment in your first post gave the impression that you have been working as a fund manager for 10 years and know the ins and outs of the industry. While, I have only been working for the past year, I believe I had more direct exposure to the industry. Finally, I wonder if there is some miscommunication here. I never meant to say that the charter is of no importance. I just implied that people sometimes seem to take it a little too far on AF. If anything I was trying to put things into perspective. My aim was to do a good deed and I have clearly failed in communicating my points.
I do agree here (to some extent).
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I didn’t imply that the CFA designation is required in the UK. I highlighted the quantity of candidates and charterholders in the UK. I was using this fact to demonstrate the charter’s importance in the UK.
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You may want to look at the perceived tone of your messages as well. I don’t believe anything I said qualifies as “verbal abuse,” and that was not my intention. Obviously, there is some miscommunication based on the responses throughout this thread.
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Again, the CFA designation may not be necessary for your position/field within fund research; however, you can’t apply that statement to all positions and fields across the industry. You have to understand different employers and fields place different values on the charter. For example, it may be a feather in your cap and a huge differentiator for IB (not really desired or required), but it’s viewed as more of a requirement or highly desired element of buy side/sell side ER. You see what I’m saying? So, I don’t think, from a holistic viewpoint, the charter’s value is over exaggerated.
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Listen, I understand your frustration. It can be annoying to see the “how many hrs did you study” post or some other mindless AF post about being stressed and worried, but remember everyone handles the process differently. Not everyone is in a good spot like you or with a good firm like me. Heck, some of these people might be realizing they can’t hack it. Part of being a great investor and invesment professional is staying emotionally neutral (and by no means am I saying I’m perfect at this), but I think that’s the mind set we should aspire to when observing nonsensical posts, myself included.
I kinda wish itera would chime in some more on this one.
I actually think we are on the same page now and I do agree with you. I wish you had articulated your frustration in the same manner from the beginning. But then again I am in no position to judge, as I agree that the language in which I posted my original post was rather sharp.
I’m busy with my popcorn 
No one disagrees with the fact that nothing beats experience. For you to even compare experience and CFA shows that at least there is a contest. However, earning the charter can aid your chances to get into positions where you can then get the experience and be a master. If I were you, in the industry already and knowing that this course is useless, I would not have shown up for the exam. If you took it merely to prep you for something else you want to study later on, then you should not be worried at all about the pass or fail decision. You have got what you wanted already, which is insights. Looking at your posts though, one can’t help but feel that the pass/fail decision is as important to you as it is to anyone else which is weird considering it is a zero value course to you.
Either I am lacking communication skills or there is something wrong with everyone else on this forum who put words in my mouth. OF COURSE PASS/FAIL IS IMPORTANT TO ME. I am just saying that some people have taken this WAY TOO FAR. I feel like I keep repeating myself over and over again. I also never once mentioned that the course has zero value to me. CFA IS A HIGHLY VALUABLE CREDENTIAL IN MY OPINION, BUT IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS IT IS NOTHING AND IT IS NOT WORTH PESTERING YOURSELF TOO MUCH ABOUT IT.
Anyway, I give up. I am tired of trying to justify my post. I have made my point and stand by my thoughts.
Please allow me to clarify Kaveh’s points:
Pass/fail is important to him, and the CFA is a highly valuable credential. However, in the grand scheme of things it is worthless, and not worth worrying about.
Hope I was able to clear that up for everybody who doesn’t understand.
Rahul, you are an annoying indiviudal. Just saying
that’s still too much for the simpletons. You got to use a diagram
Work Experience > Top MBA > CFA > regular MBA > realtor
Life goes on without CFA, I agree, but you shouldn’t tell people to not blow it out of proportion. My job has the requirement of completeing the CFA course and I have to report my results to my employer.
Just my 2 cents:
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the argument “CFA is not required, look at the many people who are successful who don’t have CFAs” is flawed imo, the “successful people” who don’t have CFAs usually have more 10+++ years of experience back in a time when CFA isn’t that popular, these same people i.e. my senior analyst (and others) voiced his regrets for now following through with the CFA program (he passed Level 1, failed Level 2 and stopped because of kids)… and kept encouraging me (financially too) to pass the CFA no matter what
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obviously it wouln’t be the end of the world if you don’t pass the CFA… but in today’s competitive environment, unless you’re old and have years of experience/networks, I honestly think passing the CFA is definitely more a requirement than preference… if I fail tomorrow, you bet I will sign up for Level II again.