jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We get free mountain dew and almonds, so I usually > get some of that action. > > I create and maintain financial models for > software company in addition to eating the almonds > and doing the dew. is that CFA accepted work experience? Im in Credit Loan Portfolio Management in Wholesale Markets in a UK bank - its not very active so not sure if it qualifies???
Compliance officer
sk22 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jcole21 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > We get free mountain dew and almonds, so I > usually > > get some of that action. > > > > I create and maintain financial models for > > software company in addition to eating the > almonds > > and doing the dew. > > is that CFA accepted work experience? > > Im in Credit Loan Portfolio Management in > Wholesale Markets in a UK bank - its not very > active so not sure if it qualifies??? Leaving out the food piece was. I was doing somewhat similar stuff at an insurer and before that a bank so you should be good. Don’t get downtrodden if they deny your first request, just resubmit and occassionally ask for their guidance.
jcole21 Wrote: > Leaving out the food piece was. I was doing > somewhat similar stuff at an insurer and before > that a bank so you should be good. Don’t get > downtrodden if they deny your first request, just > resubmit and occassionally ask for their guidance. cheers. regardless i have no way near the required post graduation experience - 15month and counting!
Senior business analyst at a midcap copper mining company
Investment director for a HNW RIA.
Research analyst in a central bank!!
Risk analyst for a “commercial” bank, although I typically spend most of my time explaining to people things like why a bond loses value when rates go up.
Lunch Lady. I spend most of my hedging creamed corn futures.
BobFishcake Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My job consists of basically masking my contempt > for the assholes in charge, and, at least once a > day, retiring to the men’s room so I can jerk off > while I fantasize about a life that doesn’t so > closely resemble Hell. Hilarious! Read this yesterday and still laughing.
American Beauty, no?
ER associate, covering builders and mortgage insurers
hezagenius Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > although I > typically spend most of my time explaining to > people things like why a bond loses value when > rates go up. Same here: All I here, “how can that happen bonds are guaranteed”, kind of like real estate is a sure thing Wealth Management
I am in IT. Passed I&II at first attempt. Good chance to pass III. I realize it is a uphill climb to land an investment job so I am focusing on building my own portfolio, returns 3x SP 500.
I trade for a sell side derivatives desk with many exotic option positions. It’s not really what you would expect. The most important part of the job is being diligent about market data and model outputs. Our system breaks frequently - this is not unusual for exotic derivative desks, since the models are so complicated. It’s actually in our interest to issue overly complicated, inefficient products. Very few people know how to model these things, so they cannot tell if we charge them a huge spread. Also, since structurers/strategists keep coming up with new products, we have to make up hedging strategies as we go along. It’s a bit scary to think that since the products keep changing, no one in the industry really knows exactly what they are doing. Even the most prestigious banks (GS/MS/JPM, etc.) sometimes get the models wrong and they get picked off as a result. It’s worse for their clients, who do not have sophisticated models at all. Hence, the clients regularly pay large premiums for structures that look good but have statistically not-so-good expected payoffs. So I guess the conclusion is that inefficient markets are good if you work in finance, and finance people have an obvious incentive to make the market inefficient. Maybe one day I will do something meaningful with my life. Until then, I imagine I am trying to get what all of you are trying to get.
More power to you. If people don’t know what they are trading, then that’s their problem.
ohai, does you selling products to clients that don’t understand violate any CFA standards? Suitability or Duty to Clients? While I don’t think they need to see the full model for pricing they should be aware of the payoff and the model inputs. This could breed some serious instability into the markets.
Suitability could certainly be an issue depending on the product. The structures that make it into production always have extremely explicit payoff definitions. The client also signs a lengthy disclosure form. So, there is never any ambiguity with respect to payoff calculations. However, clients might not understand other factors that influence the value of exotic structures. For instance, some clients probably don’t understand concepts like volatility skew or term structure of dividends. As such, suitability issues might arise if we traded these structures with unsophisticated clients. Exotic derivatives are not for everyone. Edit: So, to clarify, it might be ethically questionable to sell exotic derivatives to some random grandma. But if the client is a fund manager or other institutional investor, they should probably be doing some due diligence before making complicated trades.
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ohai, does you selling products to clients that > don’t understand violate any CFA standards? > Suitability or Duty to Clients? > > While I don’t think they need to see the full > model for pricing they should be aware of the > payoff and the model inputs. This could breed some > serious instability into the markets. I believe if he said he is works on sell side, then he is a dealer, not an adviser. Remember, from the notes where it says, information trader comes to a dealer. This guy is the dealer. The information trader who came to the dealer is dealers client. The information dealer violates the standards if he is buying/selling for a client portfolio without understanding the product. The dealer is just doing the job of “making markets” for an exotic derivative. A derivative like call option, or spread or strangle is not considered exotic. If a derivative cannot be hedged by combination of straight options or cash instruments (delta hedging for example not possible) then its considered exotic. In this case, complicated models are probably used to determine hedges. If a client (info trader) requests the trade, he doesnt need to understand the underlying model used by the dealer to manage their risk (hedge their position). My 2 cents. (please use above as just starting point, it might not be 100% accurate)
glacier88 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am in IT. Passed I&II at first attempt. Good > chance to pass III. > > I realize it is a uphill climb to land an > investment job so I am focusing on building my own > portfolio, returns 3x SP 500. That and a quarter might get you a cup of coffee. No offense, but the first thing you should know about getting an investment job is that it has VERY little to do with outperforming the market.