Does anyone know if working as a Financial Advisor full time will count as a CFA experience? I noticed on their website they list the FA title as acceptable but I am worried because the American description of a Financial Advisor seems to be a lot different than the Canadian one (Here FAs are nothing more than retail goons that only need HS diplomas and make 50k a year). I do work for a retail firm though, but I also deal in investments. I have helped my clients in purchasing equities, invest in bonds and trade funds in forex. In addition, I have also sold insurance (I have a licence for it), RESP, RRSP accounts as well. I have done debt management, cash flow analysis, asset accumulation till retirement and emergency fund management for my clients. Has anyone tried to use this as qualified experience before enrolling in the CFA process? By the way, I have passed CFA level 1 and have been working as an advisor for about a year and a half.
Yes
Check this : http://www.cfainstitute.org/about/membership/process/Pages/work_experience_assessment.aspx
Yes
Just submitted my (more than) 4 years experience as a financial advisor (similar to the role you described) to the CFAI and they have accepted this as approved work experience. Still awaiting local society approval though.
One further comment worth making is that during a member application you will be asked to provide sponsors/references and they will be asked to describe your day to day role and as I understand from other posts, this description is of key importance in ensuring that this work experience is approved and needs to address the broad description provided by the CFAI for approved work experience (i.e. involved in the ongoing management of client investments, actively involved in the asset allocation decision etc).