Sunnyrollen, I don’t trade (for a job). I do securities valuation. For Risk Management, more quantitative backgrounds are what impress. Also there are different credentials for that. As for trading, its very hard to get hired into trading department. I think in the program I went to, only a handful are in trading roles. If you pass the three CFA exams prior to B-school, then you will probably get shortlisted more all things being equal. Of course, if you have the charter, thats much better, but then you have to have the requisite work experience. I do know that just because you go to a top MBA school doesn’t mean you know finance very well. It depends on your specialization and I don’t think you’ll cover quant and deriv’s as much in depth. Investment Bankers don’t need / desire CFA’s because it’s just a different skill set. CFA is more geared for either investment management (i.e. Pensions, PWM) or equity research. (I’m not trying to step on any toes, maybe I left something out).
OK, here’s my 2 cents. I have an MBA from a top ten school (rhymes with University of Bicago). I am going back after 8 years to get CFA. The reason is because I have switched from trading (market making) for a bank to Investment Management. Having a CFA and an MBA is great for IM…heck just a CFA is great for IM. IF you want to work for a Bank, its really not needed and you need an MBA from a top school. My MBA program was VERY quant and finance driven, so almost all the CFA concepts I had done before, so why not just get the Charter? There it is. BTW, just passed L2 and on to L3. Basically, if you want to do IM you need…NEED…a CFA. (Well its very very helpful)
taking this thread on a little tangent… I have a Master’s degree in Information Technology and 5 years working in IT for a not so well know company and a start up. I passed Level 1 in June and now going to L2 and L3. How realistically does this improve my chance of getting into a top 10 mba school. I am 31 now and dont have any special acads to talk about. thoughts ?
CFA will help getting in, along with a good GMAT and recommendations. Very do-able!