How long before the CFA is worthless....?

SalZ Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So why are you sitting for the CFA Kevincwang if I > may ask?If you have already established and > believe that the front office roles are for people > who are part of the club, then the CFA wouldnt do > you any good would it?On a different note, if you > are already in the old boys club, then you > shouldnt have to do it anyway cuz you have already > arrived? > > Just trying to decipher your post. I didn’t say that I want to go to front office:)

But Jaas, How else would you make this program more selective to screen only front office eligible peeps?The CFA Institute aready has this list of “acceptable experience” roles and if they do make it more restrictive, what about the new grads with no work experience…would you not be making it harder for someone who aspires to be in a front office role in a few years and has the personality for it to be able to get that opportunity? I agree there is always dilution when you have more people taking it and there has to be some form of screening but again, its the Pioneer, Growth, Mature, Decline lifecycle every accreditation would go through…so Im sure there would be a different designation that would be in vogue in the next decade that would reflect more value for the industry. Good discussion though.

Takami Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am also very sick of people who claims that they > have passed the exam before the result even came > out. After the exam, I heard some jerk in the > hallway saying that he have passed, he might have > passed, but saying it definitely don’t add value > to anyone. > > The CFA exams have very low barrier to entry, so > that is why so many people want to write it. Not > all of them are fit for working in investments, > but they certainly have the rights to try and you > cannot deter them from doing that. I work in asset > management and I know quite a few of people > (without the designation) who makes elegant > comments about how incompetent their colleagues or > people from other shops are, when they are not > that good themselves. > > I have a Master degree in Finance, and although I > found the CFA to be very challenging, I am not > worrying about the value of my degree or the CFA > charter because I seek knowledge and not a > designation. My clients and employer does not > trust me because I have a graduate degree or I am > doing my CFA, they trust me because I have the > ability to add value of their business and > portfolio. > > If you feel intimidated because so many people are > getting the CFA charter, or MBA, then you are not > very competent about your abilities and I am sorry > to hear that. I have the same sentiments about the original post. I wrote a reply and was hesitant to post it. I was wondering what made him to think that just few are “qualified” to do the job. I am sure, he must be intimidated by the people around him. If you look at the number of candidates who appear for IIT entrance exams in India, only 2% of the candidates get admitted to the program. How can you say that a degree looses value just by looking at the number of people taking the exam?

Well kevinc, I actually agreed with you based on what you said first…till you started on the Old Boys Club and contradicted your first statement: Man it is not a life saver here but could open for you some interviews if you are the right type of persons Cheers.

jaas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If they errode that > perception, then the model will crumble… Charge > me more, but keep the prestige… and I totally > agree with Semper - the exam is not that hard. I > studied in far more detail than necessary. Make > the exam harder, and have it deal with some > complex items in detail… Your logic is flawed. Give the CFAI a bit more credit, they have certainly done a good job till now. If CFAI finds that there are too many CFAs, they will simply cut back on the pass percentages. And we indeed see some evidence of that already happening. NC

this discussion is very interesting… for the pursuit of knowledge, one of my coworker got his CFA years ago, but never worked as investment banker (or any other front office jobs). I asked him why, he said he learned a great deal in FSA and other sections. Now this knowledge enabled him to get a lot of interesting projects done for various clients in the energy sector. (i am in management consulting, energy sector.) who knows. after a couple of more years of consulting, I might as well switch to equity research --no one can blame me doing that switch, right? and maybe after a while, I will just jump ahead to do all those front office work. I have natural optimism about up-moving career path, the very idea of creating more opportunities by doing CFA is valuable in itself, as I see it. :slight_smile: Oh, just to get myself to be stoned even more, I have an electrical engineering background. The past 1+ years learning experience basically changed me a lot.

To those who think that I wrote these posts because I am intimidated are clearly missing the point. More like I’m embarrassed to say that I am pursuing the same designation as half of these shit shows…and to those that think that CFAI is making the exams harder to pass, that is a joke! How? By making it 3 choices? That was hard to you…LMAO The pass rates are lower because of the reasons that I have already stated. Implement more restrictive policies in terms of practical experience. That will fix this mess. JS

danielsky Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > this discussion is very interesting… > > for the pursuit of knowledge, one of my coworker > got his CFA years ago, but never worked as > investment banker (or any other front office > jobs). I asked him why, he said he learned a great > deal in FSA and other sections. Now this knowledge > enabled him to get a lot of interesting projects > done for various clients in the energy sector. (i > am in management consulting, energy sector.) > > who knows. after a couple of more years of > consulting, I might as well switch to equity > research --no one can blame me doing that switch, > right? and maybe after a while, I will just jump > ahead to do all those front office work. I have > natural optimism about up-moving career path, the > very idea of creating more opportunities by doing > CFA is valuable in itself, as I see it. :slight_smile: > > Oh, just to get myself to be stoned even more, I > have an electrical engineering background. The > past 1+ years learning experience basically > changed me a lot. +1

jaas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > More like I’m embarrassed to say that I am > pursuing the same designation as half of these > shit shows…and to those that think that CFAI is > making the exams harder to pass, that is a joke! > How? By making it 3 choices? That was hard to > you…LMAO The pass rates are lower because of > the reasons that I have already stated. > > Implement more restrictive policies in terms of > practical experience. That will fix this mess. > > JS Yeah, there are always a few AFers like you who have the attitude “I am so good, I am so above the others, why am I doing this?” On one hand you complain that “CFA standards are falling because too many “shit shows” are becoming CFAs” And then you explain low CFA pass rates by saying “the “shit shows” are failing the exam”. If the logical contradiction escapes you, so be it. I have no further interest in this thread. Peace, NC

…I am just frustrated…clearly there are grey areas. It is good to see that so many people are taking the opportunity to pursue something that will clearly add value to their lives. The past 3 months have been quite the ride…Best of luck to everyone! JS p.s…nevcfa1, I think you should expand your horizons on what constitutes a contradiction…your example does not. Be what it may, it was an exchange of ideas and I do not feel sorry for expressing my opinion. Take your toy and go home, baby…

supersharpshooter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > some people got really decked out in toronto, like > they’re going clubbing > > i even saw a guy writing with cufflinks on > > it’s pretty funny “If you look good you feel good, if you feel good you perform good, if you perform good they pay good” - Deion Sanders Nothing wrong with dressing up if it helps your mental mindset going into the exam. I highly recommend it.

well to get the charter, u need to have 4 years of related work experience. Getting the CFA doesn’t mean much. but us Asians just love taking tests…

i’ve seen many people use CFA in their title without 4 years of experience. what i realize is that, most people taking the exam are not working in the industry. most are either from another industry, or students. ironic? yeh.

No, I never said it was easy. It is very hard and I might fail (for a second time). My point is that it is hard for wrong reasons. I think one has alot of merit in passing all 3 exams, it is a huge amount of work and stress.

I wish you pass Semper Augustus, so I can fight with you on the L3 boards. : )

Sublimity, this has been indeed entertaining :wink:

jogaut Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In my experience anyone who refers to himself as a > type A personality is a complete tool. +100. that says it all.

You wrote Level I in 2005 and are still on Level II in 2009. Somebody is bitter.

Bankin’ Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You wrote Level I in 2005 and are still on Level > II in 2009. Somebody is bitter. +1 Sounds like it

If I were the CFA I would either raise the passing score or only pass the top 10% of test takers. This has the benefit of making the charter more exclusive while boosting revenue through a much larger population of retakers. The other thing I would do is require periodic control testings of existing charterholders, lets say a 3 hours test every 5 years to make sure they are keeping up with the times and their designation. Y’all know that SHIT they passes in the 60s, 70s and 80s aint nowhere near what we are taking today! It is my firm belief that this exam needs to be made more exclusive (someone had posted on here over the last week that the historic pass rate for L2 is something like 52%!!! WAY TOO HIGH). I mean common the passing score is widely considered to be the equivalent of a FUCKING D (70%*score of top 1%)!