I am a level III candidate so I am posting my questions here. I am a software engineer working for a semiconductor company. I started CFA study in 2008 when the market went sour. CFA curriculum does help me improve my personal investment performance. I beat S&P 500 by a wide margin in the last two years. I am thinking about what should I do after finishing Level III. Because of my age, I do not think working for a bank as an analyst is practical for me. I want to find out how I can become an independent financial advisor, managing family and friends’ funds at first. Has anyone taken this route? What license(s) do I need to operate this business? What brokerage will you recommend for trading and bookkeeping? Thank you!
I hear crickets chirping
You wont get many detailed replies because clearly you havnt done your hw. And its a very involved answer with many routes. Research CFP, series 7 and 63, becoming a financial advisor Axa has a program that trains new advisors look at that
How old are you?
I think one’s true guage will be known once the prior year’s essay questions and answers are released (in March I believe).
> CFA curriculum does > help me improve my personal investment > performance. I beat S&P 500 by a wide margin in > the last two years. Overconfidence Bias 
if you did the CFA, the last thing you want to do is be a RR, FA, FC, retail broker, independent, . . . etc. literally the butthole of finance. no different than selling vacums.
Well said “rolo550,” well said! glacier88, a software engineer with a CFA charter is not even close to being qualified to manage other people’s money. By studying and knowing the content in the CFA curriculum you are headed in the right direction, but you need to get some on-the-job experience. At this point (as rolo550 so effectively implies) you are actually quite dangerous to other people’s money.
iteracom: thanks for the tips. I found the key word to search is RIP (registered investment advisor). If I pass Level III, I might not need to take any of the tests you mentioned. montanidate: my goal is eventually to operate my own fund. I want to start as an investor advisor so people could try my services and evaluate my effectiveness. Forward Pass: I have 15+ year investment experience (certainly not a rookie) which spans two severest market crashes in the history. What other experience do you need? ohai: I am close to 50. I passed I & II in all but one section with the highest distinction.
The problem with FA job is that it’s not about finance. It’s pure sale. exactly like selling cell phones. A lot of telemarketing and … They create portfolios by using sophisticated softwares. It’s not that they know how to make a portfolios. But if you want to manage your own fund that is another issue.
Glacier. My advice would be to setup your own startup for performance evaluation software. You will have a better chance of success than trying to start a fund at your age and without experience. You could make a lot of money off that and the odds of being successful are much higher. A VC will easily give you money for a financial software product company; a seed hedge fund will not return your phone call. You are a software engineer with a finance hobby. Accept it; embrace it. Within its niche, it is a position of strength. PS: If you beat the S&P 500 these past 2 years, it means that you went all into the recovery despite very adverse fundamentals. You essentially were balls to the wall gambling on a Federal Reserve continued bailout. For now you have been proven correct, but don’t confuse that with investment skills. PS2: You do sound overly confident. Passing the CFA with “highest distinction” only means you had the time to memorize the entire curriculum. It says very little about your investment skills - and by the way implying higher investment skills for passing the CFA Program is a violation of the code (LOL. Had to throw that in from Level I)
Dont forget you need 4 years of work experience to get the charter… not sure how your current experience will pass unless there’s more to it? Also, the CFA designation does NOT exempt you from the 7 or 63…