Hi I am from accounts background (completed CA-inter and CMA- IMA). Have completed almost 10 years in this field. Age in early thirties. No experience of finance field although have read about it. Confused between ACCA-CFA-MBA(finance). Any suggestions?? Cheers Vic
What are your professional goals?
Hi Maratikus 1) Long term goals- having own financial consultancy firm back in home country 2) Short-mid term goals- reaching higher management position (finance field) in a medium-large organization (currently working in a small organization) Problems- I am very bad at theory subjects e.g. audit etc What I have noticed about these 3 qualifications- ACCA- (minus) concentrated on accounts only. Does not provide much information about finance field. (plus) according to my qualification I need to appear only in 7 papers out of 14 so it can be completed in 1.5 years. Well recognized in UK, middle east and other countries MBA- (minus) Unless it is done from a reputed institute- it doesnt have value. Too many theory subjects. (Plus) I dont know many CFA- (minus) tough and takes long time to complete. (plus) not many theory subjects. It provides good exposure to finance field. If you can share your views, that will be great. Cheers Vic
vic1975 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Maratikus > > 1) Long term goals- having own financial > consultancy firm back in home country > 2) Short-mid term goals- reaching higher > management position (finance field) in a > medium-large organization (currently working in a > small organization) MBA from a top school would be best. I don’t think a CFA designation would help too much.
vic1975 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Maratikus > > 1) Long term goals- having own financial > consultancy firm back in home country > 2) Short-mid term goals- reaching higher > management position (finance field) in a > medium-large organization (currently working in a > small organization) > > Problems- I am very bad at theory subjects e.g. > audit etc > > What I have noticed about these 3 qualifications- > > ACCA- (minus) concentrated on accounts only. Does > not provide much information about finance field. > (plus) according to my qualification I need to > appear only in 7 papers out of 14 so it can be > completed in 1.5 years. Well recognized in UK, > middle east and other countries > > MBA- (minus) Unless it is done from a reputed > institute- it doesnt have value. Too many theory > subjects. (Plus) I dont know many > > CFA- (minus) tough and takes long time to > complete. (plus) not many theory subjects. It > provides good exposure to finance field. > > If you can share your views, that will be great. > > Cheers > > Vic What is your home country?
vic, you need to make some sacrifices. You’ve listed “minuses” for the MBA, CFA and other designations because they are difficult, time-consuming, or outside your specialization. Unfortunately, the only way you are going to become a finance BSD is to go through difficult processes such as these. I agree with the other guy who says that an MBA will be the best way to achieve your goals, assuming that you are currently in the US. It will require the biggest monetary and lifestyle investments but will have the greatest payoffs. This suits your situation, since you are looking for a significant career change. I also agree that attending a non-reputable MBA program will have limited if any returns. However, this just means that you need to get into a reputable school. Frankly, if you don’t have the qualifications to get into a decent MBA program, you probably won’t make it in finance either. Sorry about the brutal honesty, but it’s a dog-eat-dog field, particularly in recent times. Good luck, in any case.
JOE2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > vic1975 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Hi Maratikus > > > > 1) Long term goals- having own financial > > consultancy firm back in home country > > 2) Short-mid term goals- reaching higher > > management position (finance field) in a > > medium-large organization (currently working in > a > > small organization) > > > > Problems- I am very bad at theory subjects e.g. > > audit etc > > > > What I have noticed about these 3 > qualifications- > > > > ACCA- (minus) concentrated on accounts only. > Does > > not provide much information about finance > field. > > (plus) according to my qualification I need to > > appear only in 7 papers out of 14 so it can be > > completed in 1.5 years. Well recognized in UK, > > middle east and other countries > > > > MBA- (minus) Unless it is done from a reputed > > institute- it doesnt have value. Too many > theory > > subjects. (Plus) I dont know many > > > > CFA- (minus) tough and takes long time to > > complete. (plus) not many theory subjects. It > > provides good exposure to finance field. > > > > If you can share your views, that will be great. > > > > > Cheers > > > > Vic > > > What is your home country? I am from India. But settled in UAE since 1999 
ohai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > vic, you need to make some sacrifices. You’ve > listed “minuses” for the MBA, CFA and other > designations because they are difficult, > time-consuming, or outside your specialization. > Unfortunately, the only way you are going to > become a finance BSD is to go through difficult > processes such as these. > > I agree with the other guy who says that an MBA > will be the best way to achieve your goals, > assuming that you are currently in the US. It will > require the biggest monetary and lifestyle > investments but will have the greatest payoffs. > This suits your situation, since you are looking > for a significant career change. > > I also agree that attending a non-reputable MBA > program will have limited if any returns. However, > this just means that you need to get into a > reputable school. Frankly, if you don’t have the > qualifications to get into a decent MBA program, > you probably won’t make it in finance either. > > Sorry about the brutal honesty, but it’s a > dog-eat-dog field, particularly in recent times. > Good luck, in any case. Hi Ohai It not about difficulty. I know that if required I can put any number of hours for studies. Although I am working full time and have family also but losing my sleep for studies is not a problem. Main worrying factors are- CFA- will I get the job without having any practical experience. I am 32 and CFA will take another 4 years(?) so by 36-37 I can get my CFA but without experience. Will it be a good situation? MBA- As said earlier, I am not good at theory subjects and any MBA will have many many theory subects. Above all, doing MBA from reputed institute means regular classrooms for which I dont have time. Part time MBA or distance learning doesnt have much value. CPA or ACCA- concentrated on accounts and audit I am not lookiing for a complete career change and above all its long term. Short-mid term plan is to reach to the top in a good company. Although I dont know much (in depth) about financial terms (hedge, options, swaps, derivatives etc) or how it works but it fasinates me. Do you think I should go for CPA or ACCA? Any suggestions now? Above all- thanks for your valuable views- really appreciate it. Thanks Vic
Vic, I still think an MBA would be a better fit for you since you are interested in management and consulting (something CFA doesn’t prepare you for). However, it also sounds as if you are curious about Finance in general, ready to invest time in studying on your own but don’t want to go to school full time. If that’s the case, you might enjoy taking the CFA route. You can take Level I in Dec of 2010, Level II in June of 2011 and Level III in June of 2012. You can potentially be done with all three CFA exam given you can invest a sufficient amount of time. With that said, it would be most helpful if you figure out what you want to accomplish and then you will know how to get there.
Hi Maratikus Amazingly, I asked 3-4 other friends also and they have the same opinion as you have suggested. Could you suggest an MBA(finance) programe considering that I cant attend regular classes. Thanks mate Cheers Vic
vic, Executive MBA is probably the best option for you given you can’t go to school full time and live in UAE. University of Chicago has a campus in Singapore and London. Unofrunately, I don’t know much about other schools though they could be excellent options as well.
If theory (and by extension BS) is not your strong suit, finance is probably not for you unless you want to be a back-office monkey.
What do you mean by Theory subjects? Subject that dont have much practical application? You do know that you can customize programs to your liking. No one forces you to take courses (except for a few basic ones in accounting, stats - typically part of the ‘core’ curriculum). For example, if you have something like an investment management curriculum at a school in the UAE you can pursue that.