CFA designation info

[Tron_fdc]

Just wondering how many CFA's we have out there. I'm looking for a little guidance on the designation, and whether or not it's worth pursuing.

About me:
36 yrs old, and in my final year of a commerce degree. I'm a business owner, so I'm not looking for letters to get me a better job. I want to grow the company I'm at more so than working somewhere else.

I'm just getting into Corporate Finance, and it's fascinating. So much so I've started thinking about doing a CFA. So my questions are this:

- Is there any articling involved; am I going to have to work somewhere else to build up hours?
- I work in sales, and right now there isn't anyone that can replace me at work. How do the required hours work? Can I even do it in my current position?
- How hard is the exam? I see the pass rate is about 38%, which tells me it's a bit of a biyatch.
- How long is the process? Can I work full time while I do it? Will I have a life?

Can anyone comment on this?

[flamingchina]

You need 48 months of applicable work experience. (generally working in investments/finance)
The suggested hours for studying is 300, generally over a 4-6 month time span. It's intensive to say the least. Most people end up taking the week or two before the exam off from work to do their final studying.
Nothing in the exams is taxing (especially if you've gone through a BComm degree) Black-Scholes is about the worst it gets (no calculus though) It's more the breadth of the material that's the problem.
Put in the hours needed, study well, and you'll have a decent chance of passing.

Timespan: 4 years working, 3+ years exams (1 exam per year basically). Most people work full time during it, and you'll have a life for 6 months of the year.

This has tons of info:
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/Pages/index.aspx
This is the main CFA Forum
http://analystforum.com/

[J pold]

I passed Level I back in June of last year, I was going to attempt level II this year but the work load is just too heavy right now and I won’t be able to fully commit to both. So I am not a full blown charter holder, and I can’t speak to the difficulty of Level II or III but I’ll tell you what I know.

I believe you need 3 years of work experience in combination with passing all three exams to become a CFA but I don’t know the years for sure.

Make no mistake the exams take a tremendous amount of commitment. Nothing in the level I materials is particularly difficult but there is A LOT of material that is covered. I had the luxury of studying for level I while in university so I had a bit more free time but I imagine anyone who working under full-time conditions would have to sacrifice a lot of personal time in order to be properly prepared – so basically no you will not have a life. I believe that the CFA institute recommends you put ~300 hours worth of preparation for each exam, so roughly 3-4 months of preparation.

Again, I can only speak to Level I which I didn’t find that difficult but without a prior finance background and a lot of preparation than it would have been much harder.

Corporate Finance is actually only a small portion of the material covered, so if that’s your driving interest I would be a bit hesitant. I used to work in the IB work and the CFA charter, while better than not having it, didn’t really have as much pull as an MBA or even a CA. However I have a friend who works with mutual fund managers and a CFA is more a less of a requirement. I think overall is geared toward more portfolio management and less corporate finance.

[red sky]

Writing Level III this June once again. Failed in Band 9 last year. Others have pretty much covered everything. Although, in writing "any CFA's out there" you would be violating the Ethics Standards as you cannot use the CFA designation as a noun.

I have all of the books still so if you want to take a read through just let me know and I can lend them to you.

[Tron_fdc]

The work experience is something that is a little muddy for me. As a business owner that makes decent money, I have no desire to go work somewhere other than where I am now. I would like to take the investment side of what I do a little further than where we are, but I'm not sure if that's possible based on the entry requirements of the program.

I just really want to be the next Gordon Gecko.......

[J pold]

Originally Posted by red sky

Although, in writing who is a CFA you would be violating the Ethics Standards as you cannot use the CFA letters as a noun.

Ha! I remember when I came across that lovely rule for first time I honestly thought it was a joke, when I realized it wasn't, I knew just how real #### had gotten.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

The work experience is something that is a little muddy for me. As a business owner that makes decent money, I have no desire to go work somewhere other than where I am now. I would like to take the investment side of what I do a little further than where we are, but I'm not sure if that's possible based on the entry requirements of the program.

I just really want to be the next Gordon Gecko.......

If you are not planning on using the actual CFA charter to further your career then why not just continue reading the information on the side as general interest and to hopefully benefit your company? Your work experience wouldn't be applicable so you would be giving up a lot of your life for the next three years to not even be eligible for the designation.

[Tron_fdc]

Changed thread title for those that may be concerned hahahaha

So from what I can gather, I can do the three levels while I'm working?

[red sky]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Changed thread title for those that may be concerned hahahaha

So from what I can gather, I can do the three levels while I'm working?

Absolutely. That is one of the huge positives in my opinion. You can continue to work and the costs are not much relative to an MBA or even CMA. IF you are able to pass the exams in succession, the cost would be under $3000.

[Lego Man]

Originally Posted by fotze

Seems like a lot of exams just to be able to fetch coffee for a CA.

But fetching coffee while earning a higher salary?

tempting.

[kaotik]

Another route to look at is the CF designation - much less intensive than the CFA and more relevant to corporate finance - less focus on portfolio management etc and more focus on mergers and acquisitions, valuations etc...

This designation is fairly new and I'm unsure about how recognized it is or the process but I know through my work some of the senior partners have it...

http://www.cica.ca/focus-on-practice...ion/index.aspx

[Flames89]

Can you clarify more about your work? If you don't need to take the exams, then I doubt you will have the motivation on those sunny weekends in May to sit inside and study all day.

[bizaro86]

Would a CFA be enough for a P.Eng to break into an energy analyst type role in Calgary (at one of the broker/dealers), or would a MBA pretty much be requirement for that?

[red sky]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Would a CFA be enough for a P.Eng to break into an energy analyst type role in Calgary (at one of the broker/dealers), or would a MBA pretty much be requirement for that?

I would say a CFA would be enough. If you look at the credentials of a lot of the energy analyst they have their CFA as opposed to their MBA.

Also, anyone can get an MBA if you can afford it

[Jiggyiggy]

I agree with red sky, sometimes I have even seen energy analysts that just have there P.Eng and no other letters attached.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by red sky

I would say a CFA would be enough. If you look at the credentials of a lot of the energy analyst they have their CFA as opposed to their MBA.

Also, anyone can get an MBA if you can afford it

The significant cost difference is probably my number 1 reason for choosing a CFA over an MBA. Second would be the time flexibility. I can study very effectively for a half hour at lunch/on the train every day, but wouldn't be excited about a huge amount of class time commitment.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Jiggyiggy

I agree with red sky, sometimes I have even seen energy analysts that just have there P.Eng and no other letters attached.

Would those just be people who have completed the exams but not the experience? My understanding is that if I wrote the exams I couldn't use the letters CFA until I had the requisite experience, and my current work experience (engineer) wouldn't count.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Can you clarify more about your work? If you don't need to take the exams, then I doubt you will have the motivation on those sunny weekends in May to sit inside and study all day.

Owner/operator of a family business. I handle the sales, as well as a lot of the business strategy. We've been expanding through the US and Australia, so in a way I've been responsible for capital budgeting (although up until 12 months ago I didn't even know what that meant). I've basically been flying by the seat of my pants, with my brother who is a CA.

I guess that's why I'm so interested in finance. I've always liked taking investment risks, and I would do it based on my common sense and gut feeling. I'm bridging a lot of the gaps by taking university courses, which is helping me understand that I was either really lucky or unusually smart the last 6 years.

I'm leaning towards lucky.

[Jiggyiggy]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Would those just be people who have completed the exams but not the experience? My understanding is that if I wrote the exams I couldn't use the letters CFA until I had the requisite experience, and my current work experience (engineer) wouldn't count.

I guess that is a possibility. It seems like there are quite a few in that boat and after working the years as an analyst or associate they would be able to get the letters.

I do not know any personally so I cannot speak to if they are in the process of getting the CFA. It is just something I have noticed on some research reports that I get.

[Jiggyiggy]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Owner/operator of a family business. I handle the sales, as well as a lot of the business strategy. We've been expanding through the US and Australia, so in a way I've been responsible for capital budgeting (although up until 12 months ago I didn't even know what that meant). I've basically been flying by the seat of my pants, with my brother who is a CA.

I guess that's why I'm so interested in finance. I've always liked taking investment risks, and I would do it based on my common sense and gut feeling. I'm bridging a lot of the gaps by taking university courses, which is helping me understand that I was either really lucky or unusually smart the last 6 years.

I'm leaning towards lucky.

Well if you can get your current work experience to count towards the required experience then maybe it is something worth exploring. But if the CFA institute doesnt recognize your work as Finance related then I would not recommend it.

It would be worth checking out before you sign up for anything. And as mentioned earlier the preparation for the exams is extensive (if you want to pass) and can be a burden on your social life so that would still be a factor.