CFA for trading job

Originally Posted by micbain

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The CA desgination has its pro's/con's. It's geared mainly to financial reporting/auditing; however, can be leveraged in to finance. I found having allowed me to at the very least get interviews for IB positions and was viewed favorably by the big canadian banks. The pro's include resume building, getting great work experience (long hours, working in teams, tight dealines, building financial acumen, etc). The only down side is you'd always be going in as an off cycle hire as banks typically prefer their new analyst/associate positions filled by recent grads. It also gives you a back up career option in the case you can't get into IB. I am speaking for my experiences only and in the Canadian market alone (CA isn't worth a damn in the US as nobody knows what the hell it is). Cheers.
Thanks for the summary. As to your last point, I've heard that the CA is becoming increasinigly respected in the US as they move towards international accounting standards. Not sure how much truth there is in that though...

Originally Posted by Stazy

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Thanks for the summary.

As to your last point, I've heard that the CA is becoming increasinigly respected in the US as they move towards international accounting standards. Not sure how much truth there is in that though...

Well, it depends on where you end up. If your end goal is accounting, then the CA may open doors in larger cities in larger companies who have hire internationally. I know quite a number of former classmates who work in NY/LA/HK in nice accounting gigs. CA will open a lot more doors in UK/Australia/India where there is a recognized CA program.

In terms of banking/consulting...that's another matter. I don't think anyone at goldman or mck cares about the CA and probably don't even hold CPAs in high regard (unless they also come with a top tier mba).

CA is a route to management in Canada...but a long route. You may leave your articling firm for a controllership or VP finance role and move up within the organization as you prove yourself. Most CA's in management tend to be CFOs for obvious reasons.

CA in Canada = good, solid career where you will likely make $100k+ a year for most of your career. It's not as "sexy" as MC/IB, nor does it have the same pay scale but its a hellva lot better than what most people earn.

Originally Posted by Stazy

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Can you expand on this?

yes. a CFA is great, if you've been working at Goldman Sachs for the past four years. but if you're one of the hordes on the outside trying to get in, it won't help.

note this applies to trading. for a sales-oriented role, eg. PWM, institutional fund sales, research analyst, etc, I think it could be quite useful, as its main purpose is as a marketing device.

no recruiter i've spoken to has ever been interested in the CFA. that said, i learned a good amount doing it and the cost in time/money is not huge. although the time would be better spent on other things like going to a highly recruited grad school or acquiring hard skills. i'd say do it if the material looks interesting, if not pass

Originally Posted by scientific

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yes. a CFA is great, if you've been working at Goldman Sachs for the past four years. but if you're one of the hordes on the outside trying to get in, it won't help.

note this applies to trading. for a sales-oriented role, eg. PWM, institutional fund sales, research analyst, etc, I think it could be quite useful, as its main purpose is as a marketing device.

no recruiter i've spoken to has ever been interested in the CFA. that said, i learned a good amount doing it and the cost in time/money is not huge. although the time would be better spent on other things like going to a highly recruited grad school or acquiring hard skills. i'd say do it if the material looks interesting, if not pass
Even for a non-finance student, looking to get something with "Finance" in the education section of my resume?

I did math/economics undergrad, am about to finish an MA in economics .. and was looking through the cirriculum for the CFA, and thought it would be a decent way to get at least a base understanding of the terminology of finance. I have the technical skills to succeed in finance (I want to do market analysis/forecasting), but was worried the economics MA wouldn't get me in the door.

Maybe not the best solution, but I'm hoping it'll show I can learn and understand the finance enough to at least get started.

Originally Posted by imschatz

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I couldn't imagine putting in the time and money to get a CA designation. Between the CFA, and CMA, I'm pretty sure you could do better - unless all you want to do is audit's and tax returns that is.

http://www.greystone.ca/
This is one of the companies I'm going to be spending a lot of time trying to get a job with .. one thing I notice .. is a lot of CFA's on staff, and little of any other designation.

You from Regina or just looking to move if you can get job with Greystone?

Originally Posted by ejh2110

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You from Regina or just looking to move if you can get job with Greystone?
I'm from Regina - currently living in Edmonton for school. Best I can tell, Greystone is the biggest fish in Regina, and a surprisingly big fish at that.

CFA for trading job is useless.

If you're in pure execution, you don't need CFA, you need something else. If you're in truly quantitative trading, then CFA's level of math is a joke.

However from what I heard CFA is needed in buy side (not as in needed functional, but as in needed as a badge of you have done it).

I have only finished level 1, then decided not to bother with it. It gives you general knowledge of bunch things, but not detail enough in anything.

After doing some more research, I think I'm going to pursue a CFA for the purpose of getting into PWM.

Originally Posted by clee1982

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I have only finished level 1, then decided not to bother with it. It gives you general knowledge of bunch things, but not detail enough in anything.

You should check out level 2 and 3 if this was your qualm with the first test.

Originally Posted by alphaO888

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You should check out level 2 and 3 if this was your qualm with the first test.
No doubt. With no prerequisite studies .. it's hard for the first test to be very in depth. But looking through my books, first level seems to be a pretty strong base. And with sub 50% pass rates on the 2nd and 3rd tests .. I'm sure the required knowledge takes a big jump after round 1.