is it worth to be a CFA charterholder?

CFA Level III
#21

There are also more pretty girls in Front compared to back office, imo.

#22

rhethorical questions here and there )

guess nothing in this world works like that - if A then B - if CFA charterholder then lots of money.

my take is it’s a solid piece of your career mosaic, and an excellent way to keep your brain in shape.

#23

Agree completely.

#24

Has anybody seen a top CEO with CFA on Bloomberg or elsewhere? Me neither.

#25

Hey Krok,

You need to define what is a top CEO. I’ve seen plenty of CFOs and CIOs (Chief Investment Officer, the equivalent of a CEO in investment management) with CFAs. There was actually some stats on this on CFAI, but a decent percentage of Charterholders held C-suite roles. Obviously having a CFA along with an MBA or CA helps.

#26

https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfaprogram/Documents/cfa_charter_factsheet.pdf

Actually here you go, 7% occupy C-suite roles. If there are approx. About 150K charterholders worldwide now, that would be more than 10,000 individuals. Impact and fame are not one and the same.

#27

Bill Gross.

#28

Daniel Chornous. Abby Cohen. Marty Whitman. Just to name a few more

#29

Chuck Norris, Hulk Hogan and many more…

#30

I haven’t seen any charterholder on TV, with the credentials after their name. Perhaps they selectively choose when to disclose their CFA status?

#31

Just the three letters beside your name has a significant hidden value. Trust me on that.

#32

I run a boutique corporate finance firm focused on valuation of biotech products/technologies as well as offer Interim CFO support services and fund raising.I decided to take CFA for several reasons:

  1. I did not have any finance background prior to my MBA and had never worked in any big four

  2. I learnt Valuation/ pricing myself, applied on real world projects. Today I get business through word of mouth

  3. However to scale up my company, I wanted to learn what more I could do for my clients in finance area. CFA exposed me to several things especially on derivatives, PM which I could have never known. I believe that the breadth of my knowledge has increased

  4. As I sell Valuation services to my clients with no big four brand, getting CFA will mean I know the subject matter and have worked hard to get it ( Let me share one story to bring this home : I was in a networking event in Basel. I met one of I bankers and while conversing reg my business, he casually asked me - So you are an ex-EY. I said : No. KPMG? I said : I am a CFA cand… I couldnt even finish and he said Oh ok got you and he moved to a diff conversation)

  5. I am a social guy and believe in networking and relationship building. I already started leveraging the networking events offered by CFA Societies.

  6. MBA was good and helped to understand everything in a diff way as I was an engineer prior to my MBA. Post my MBA, I started my firm ( with a different business idea but soon realized that there is a big need in the area of Valuation/CFO support). At one point, I decided, should I do PhD in finance or CFA to enhance my credibility? After discussing with tons of people-- Wharton PhDs, CFAs, folks working in big four, I decided to take CFA

  7. I am 38 ( married and one kid), so taking CFA now is indeed challenging but I think its paying me well. You need to know how to get the maximum value out of it. Taking CFA , IMHO, is not like reading a book and passing an exam to get the three letter word in your Business card. Its more than that

I am sure it would work for you as well. You have to decide - How.

#33

I do not have experience in finance, I am an engineer, just finished master in economics. I am not sure if CFA is useful in​ helping me to get a finance job. Without a finance job, I could not qualify for the charter.

#34

agree with your post saurabhm…

&

cfa + hustle > cfa + no hustle

#35

Have you spent time networking with Chartered holders in the events organized by CFA society in your area? That might help to understand the profiles and experience they are looking at it

#36

Most everyone in the industry respects it. had an interview with an MD at a RE fund who in his younger years planned to sit for it, then said he was glad he did an MBA since it was basically a 2 year vacation (insinuating the trope that you dont do much work in an MBA program) and the Partners at the fund & everyone I spoke to thought highly of it and knows its quite a bit of work. It may not speak to your intelligence (not too many things do) but it definitely speaks to your work ethic

#37
#38

Never. Do i have to join as associate member (as CFA candidates) first, and then join the events of the CFA society?

#39

you will have to pay an yearly fee to the local society and then you will have access to all events. Non members also can attend, I think depending o the event you will have to pay higher fee or some fee when the event would be free for members

#40

I look at the local CFA society page. They do not announce their activities. Without joining as members, I won’t know when their activities are.