Many people can say the CFA designation alone wont help, but many things that stand alone will not help. Having only an MBA may not help as well. From my days as an athlete, I have learned many things, but none as important as this: If you want something, you are going to have to outwork everyone else to get it. You could say you are stuck making 55K a year (by the way man…i make 31K assisting a wealth management advisor so quit whining), but if you dont work harder than the others you wont get anywhere. This is why I am taking these exams along with learning financial modeling. I am willing to do whatever i can to get out of this town of 4300. If someone tells me what i need to do to get into an analyst role(currently looking to get an entry level credit analyst position), i will do it so long as i am able.
I started so that no one would say to me, you majored in English, why do you work in Alternative Investments? Now, I’m well enough along in my career I do it for me. I enjoy the challenge and the subject. Do it for you. I wouldn’t imagine doing it just because your expecting to get something substantial out of it professionally is the best reason. Everyone gets everywhere usually because of the relationships and the networks they build.
Its not my only reason. I definitely have a passion for finance and investments, and i enjoy learning and studying the material. But i would also hope that it will help me along and get me to a place where i want to be…cause i gaurantee you i dont want to top out at 40K a year.
I spent the first half of my career studying how countries and economies develop and evolve. That naturally leads to thinking about what kinds of investments you would make, whether as a private investor or as a government agency. But I knew nothing about how to value a stock or bond and only a little bit about constructing portfolios. The CFA filled the gap, and very nicely, I might add.
No one here benefits for their own trading account??? If it hasn’t made you a better investor, the cfa is indeed useless, and maybe you can’t apply what you learn. Personally, taking the cfa has helped me in understanding the general economy, in evaluating and picking stocks, bonds, and whatever cup of investing tea you’re interested in.
It’s still very hard to achieve any alpha, CFA or not. The CFA does seem to reduce the number of stupid mistakes that people (or at least I) make. In that sense, it reduces risk, which, as an investor, should improve your Sharpe ratio. Whether it improves it more than just holding the market portfolio, well, that’s still hard to say.
anytwocanwin Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No one here benefits for their own trading > account??? > > If it hasn’t made you a better investor, the cfa > is indeed useless, and maybe you can’t apply what > you learn. > > Personally, taking the cfa has helped me in > understanding the general economy, in evaluating > and picking stocks, bonds, and whatever cup of > investing tea you’re interested in. If the other 100,000 CFA Charterholders can’t beat the market… you don’t really have much of a shot either. Remember, in aggregate zero alpha exists. Stock prices aren’t set by your grandpa buying or selling in his IRA, it’s billion dollar institution Vs billion dollar institution. Finance is the most competitive arena in the world. The charter should help you understand your investments though.
Hiring a CFA charterholder means employers don’t hire black swans like qqqbee
Was wondering at what age most of you started on the CFA…I’m 24, finance major at a large public school…I’m currently working for a defense contractor for the Navy, and I have plenty of time on my hands to study, so I finally decided to give it a go…My main thought that this would help me get back into the finance world (would love to do M&A or investment management)…My hope are that I’m doing this at a young enough age to where there will be alot of growth opportunities later on down the line…However, after reading this posts I’m becoming less and less sure of how much this will actually help me get into finance…Is there a chance that since I’m so young and I’ss hopefully have L1, L2… passed that I’ll have a good chance of getting my foot in the door?? Thoughts would be much appreciated…
lol You are very young and are at the right stage of your career where you can make an entry into whatever you like to do with a passion. No age is really late, but at 35, I have to hustle more than you have to. Wish I had the same thought process of many of the smart young guys I see on AF, when I was 24!
Systematic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > anytwocanwin Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > If the other 100,000 CFA Charterholders can’t beat > the market… you don’t really have much of a shot > either. Remember, in aggregate zero alpha exists. > Stock prices aren’t set by your grandpa buying or > selling in his IRA, it’s billion dollar > institution Vs billion dollar institution. Finance > is the most competitive arena in the world. > > The charter should help you understand your > investments though. I’m sure some of the CFA charters do beat the market. But anyway, I agree most with your last statement. The charter will at least give you a better idea of what you are investing in.
Systematic Wrote: > If the other 100,000 CFA Charterholders can’t beat > the market… you don’t really have much of a shot > either. Remember, in aggregate zero alpha exists. > Stock prices aren’t set by your grandpa buying or > selling in his IRA, it’s billion dollar > institution Vs billion dollar institution. Finance > is the most competitive arena in the world. > > The charter should help you understand your > investments though. Tell that to Buffett and other billionaire investors. If you can’t beat the market, you suck big time. If you believe in EMH, you are already giving up and shouldn’t be in this game. Like in poker, there are those who can beat the game (with rakes included) and those whom sharks feed on as prey.
havent been to this website in a while, just came back to see what was cooking. but i thought i could add something to the discussion from the perspective of someone who thought about getting the charter. about a yr ago, i came to this website seeking advice: http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,1076515,page=1 ^^after that, i went to the local cfa society to see if i could get a straight answer on the employment prospects in the IM/AM field. the feedback i got was pretty discouraging. recently, i was told this: the CFA designation was NEVER intended to be a means for breaking into finance. rather, it was designed for professionals working in the field. basically, taking the CFA BEFORE you have a job in the field is a useless endeavor. so is using it to leverage it into a finance career. BUT, i was told the opposite 3 yrs ago. people working in finance and finance professors regularly encouraged me to pursue the charter, and that it would be best to start prepping for L1 while in undergrad. so, i was personally confused. my intention was to to complete L1 by 6/2010, take L2 12/2010, and eventually move onto a finance career sometime in 2011. i eventually decided to hold off that decision and take L1 in 12/2010, mostly b/c i wanted to see how entry-level employment prospects were going to shape up. in the meantime, i kept in touch with the CFA society in LA, mostly to network and keep tabs on the employment situation. from my experience, i had met MANY young men in their mid 20’s who basically decided to do exactly what i had intended to do. many already had L2 and even L3 complete. but there was common thread among all of them: almost all were having no luck securing employment in finance. the guys that were having luck already had their charter, had working experience in the field, and were usually in their 30’s. working experience seemed more valuable than the charter. since 11/2009-present, the employment situation has not gotten any better. so i decided not to pursue the charter. so, to get back to the original questions: Why are we getting CFA’s? i would have to say that there are a couple reasons you guys are getting CFA’s. chief among them would be some half-baked notion that a finance career is a guaranteed path to success, riches, beautiful women, prestige, fame etc etc. also, that you can leverage passing L1/L2/L3 into a finance job. those are fucking dumb reasons. the real answer is that you are getting the CFA b/c you work in finance and it will make you a better professional. but how many people on these boards fit into that category? not trying to sounds discouraging. but i hope this gives you a little perspective.
mr1234 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > the real answer is that you are getting the CFA > b/c you work in finance and it will make you a > better professional. Exactly.
jkey57 Wrote: >situation where the CFA designation was helpful in their career? This here shows how much more helpful it has become, along with the other professional financial certifications. I would say they are pretty helpful and are steadily becoming more so. http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,679271
hedgefm Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jkey57 Wrote: > > >situation where the CFA designation was helpful > in their career? > > This here shows how much more helpful it has > become, along with the other professional > financial certifications. I would say they are > pretty helpful and are steadily becoming more so. > > > http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,679 > 271 i am sure most of those job postings are for charter holders, not CFA candidates.
I still haven’t started it… maybe I never will as the time is catching up with me. As I operate my own office already, getting it won’t improve my income but it is the gold standard so you never know. Anything that adds to your Human Caital is a good thing.
also, i dont know how i forgot to mention this: if any of you are thinking about the cfa or are already in the process, i HIGHLY recommend you go talk to your local cfa society for any questions you might have. the internet has a lot of valuable info (so does this website), but sometimes it can be difficult to sift through the mountains of utter bullshit to find good info.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/09/07/investopedia6075.DTL Ongoing Career Benefits For CFAs
Tell that to Buffet? Thats one in a billion. You might as well spend your money on lotto tickets. Whether you believe in EMH or not zero alpha still exist in aggregate, that has nothing to do w/ EMH. The poker argument is decent but if you have Ivey, Helmuth, Chan, Letterer and Negreaeu sitting at a table who’s going to win? Thats equivilent to finance. There’s so much noise in gambling and finance you cant predict those things. I bet if those 5 sit at a table and play 100 games you won’t predecit the winner more than 25 times, your odds are to pick 20. Additionally I bet none of those players win more than 25% of the games, and it wouldn’t be statistcally significant… their’s a reason why so many top players exit the WSOP on day one. anytwocanwin Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Systematic Wrote: > > If the other 100,000 CFA Charterholders can’t > beat > > the market… you don’t really have much of a > shot > > either. Remember, in aggregate zero alpha > exists. > > Stock prices aren’t set by your grandpa buying > or > > selling in his IRA, it’s billion dollar > > institution Vs billion dollar institution. > Finance > > is the most competitive arena in the world. > > > > The charter should help you understand your > > investments though. > > Tell that to Buffett and other billionaire > investors. > > If you can’t beat the market, you suck big time. > If you believe in EMH, you are already giving up > and shouldn’t be in this game. Like in poker, > there are those who can beat the game (with rakes > included) and those whom sharks feed on as prey.