I am a Chartered Accountant and working in a Bank as Internal Auditor. I asked my boss to put me on Treasury Audits… But he said for that you have to start something like CFA or FRM… Could you please suggest me which one should I go for…? I would really appreciate ur support…
The CFA is a very broad and useful designation; it will help you throughout your career whether you end up working in asset management, equity research, investment banking, etc. The FRM is really focused on financial risk management, so it will only really help you if you plan to spend your career in that specific field. The CFA takes 3x as long to attain as the FRM, and the CFA requires much more study and effort. However, the CFA is about 20x better known than the FRM.
I’d agree with Wendy but add that the FRM is a much more focused qualification. Is, IMHO more rigorous if you are not numerically proficient, but it is quicker to attain if you want a quick fix.
Folks that have already done 2 or 3 levels of the CFA will tell you that the FRM is a quickie designation. And for those people it’s true, because they’ve already figured out how to fight their way through the CFA curriculum and exams, and so they’ve learned how to approach the same kind of challenge the FRM presents. Plus many of the most difficult topics in FRM (hypothesis testing comes to mind) are covered in CFA. However, I believe that people that haven’t already done the CFA will find FRM to be a real challenge.
@wendy - I didn’t mean its a quickie designation in the sense that its easier. I just meant that its just got two levels and the exams are sat twice a year so even if you have a set back in one level, it’s faster to attain. I agree wholeheartedly that it is a tough designation and that you should only enter if you are commited to putiing in the time.