cfa exams

[sam_w]

hi

i'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in but here goes.....I was just wondering if CFA exams will be a major benefit for my career. Im working in prop trading atm and want to get out of it. Spoken to a few recruiters and they have said that it would be very hard to get into a front office role without my background. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[RoryP]

hi

i'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in but here goes.....I was just wondering if CFA exams will be a major benefit for my career. Im working in prop trading atm and want to get out of it. Spoken to a few recruiters and they have said that it would be very hard to get into a front office role without my background. Any advice is appreciated!

I would talk to recruiters and see what they suggest. Talk to a few (more than 10) and then go with the consensus. It all depends on what you want to do I guess. CFA has become industry standard but is a relativly large commitment (which im sure your capable of) and may not be a necessary requirement for what you want to do.....
If you decide that it is for you then take action, having "Studying for CFA" on your CV will show initiative and commitment.

Hope this makes sence.
Good luck.

 

[Magos]

hi

i'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in but here goes.....I was just wondering if CFA exams will be a major benefit for my career. Im working in prop trading atm and want to get out of it. Spoken to a few recruiters and they have said that it would be very hard to get into a front office role without my background. Any advice is appreciated!

CFA is not a bad degree to have. I don’t know why you are working as prop though!
If you are looking to join the IB world the CFA is not the answer! the answer might be an MBA to IVY league business school

 

[GammaJammer]

It's 3 years work, minimum. Pass rate in terms of % of people who start level I who end up going all the way through and finishing level III runs something insane like 5-10% I think.

So have a good long think about it. Make sure it's going to be relevant to what you actually want to do. If all you wanna do is prop trade then personally I wouldn't bother. But if you have designs on money management then I would say go for it. But to be honest if you're working at some small prop shop / trading from home I think you have to be realistic about your chances of landing a job at a large institution anyway. Put simply, there aren't many of these jobs going round, and a lot of smart people chasing them.

But in any case this is an old thread I see, so I'll stop writing now.

GJ

 

[Rhody Trader]

It's 3 years work, minimum. Pass rate in terms of % of people who start level I who end up going all the way through and finishing level III runs something insane like 5-10% I think.

Hmmmm...Sounds like the win rate for traders. Might that be saying something?

 

[Magos]

cfa can be done in 2 years but it takes 4 years working experience to gain the charter status.

But It takes brass balls (Glengarry Glen Ross)

 

[GammaJammer]

I thought you had to have a minimum year between each exam, irrespective of how good at exams / knowledgable about the syllabus you are. Thats the recieved wisdom from my mates who have done it. I don't know a single soul that's done it in two years.

Sure, there's basically 2 years from the first EXAM to the last (i.e. if you did level I this year, passed, and level II next year also passing first time you'll be sitting level III 2011), but if you factor in study time as well it's nearer 3 years.

 

[Technically Fundamental]

Two years would be hardcore if you were working as well.