I didn’t see the Ph.D in your post. I’d agree with others that you need to understand what you’re getting into - and you need to be able to “prove” that you understand it. That’s precisely one of the reasons people get their MBA/CFA - so they can “prove” to potential employers that they have a basic understanding and aren’t just some computer geek who thinks he can make more in finance so they’re re-starting their career without doing any leg work or having any real understanding.
DarienHacker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FWIW, I was slinging Java at age 44, two years > later I became an investment banker. I don’t > think this career path is very common, and there > was a certain amount of luck involved. But it’s > possible. I’d say age isn’t the challenge, the > tricky part is doing the career hop without > halving compensation in the process. > > Seb – curious, how are you using cfa in banking? I have to do a fair amount of company analysis so the accounting and valuation aspects of CFA help and the broad range of topics covered also help i.e derivatives has helped me because we look to win any potential swaps to hegde risks when providing refin/acq advice so the more I know the better. I gather that L3 will not be beneficial to me in the sightest because I’m not going to be a PM but the first two Levels are worthwhile. Before I started the CFA I spoke to various senior Corp Finance Bankers (Interned in M&A at a US Mid Cap) and they all told me to do the CFA as it was the ‘gold star’ qualification. My MD at the time is now the CEO of theat IB so he knew what he was talking about… In my current Firm, the CFA is treated with a lot of respect and will help with any application. In the end though, experience helps the most, however, the CFA will improve your chances. What area do you work in?
Seb25 Wrote: > I have to do a fair amount of company analysis so > the accounting and valuation aspects of CFA help > and the broad range of topics covered also help > i.e derivatives has helped me because we look to > win any potential swaps to hegde risks when > providing refin/acq advice so the more I know the > better. > > What area do you work in? Sounds like we’re competitors. 
I’d call it “quantitative corporate finance”, basically treating a company like an instrument: pricing it, calculating greeks wrt IR shocks, commodity price movements, credit spreads. Lots of Monte Carlo simulation.
> > Sounds like we’re competitors. > I’d call it “quantitative corporate finance”, > basically treating a company like an instrument: > pricing it, calculating greeks wrt IR shocks, > commodity price movements, credit spreads. Lots > of Monte Carlo simulation. depends on which sector you cover 
I have recently moved into Real Estate.