Related Posts
Pro
More Posts
Pro
Anonymous User
Anybody awake and want to chat? 35M here!
Additional Posts in Asset / Investment Management
I tutor for cfa if anyone needs help.
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Do you want client facing advisor/wealth management role? (i.e. mass retail and HNW, less meaningful on the institution side) If so, a CFP can serve you well. For everything else, sort of irrelevant.
If you're looking to get into a research role (fixed income, equity, portfolio manager, etc) a CFA is much better....also much more of a grind. I have my CFA and hated the whole experience and didn't feel like I gained much from it tbh.
It was basically a recap of my finance curriculum and being a recent economics and finance graduate, I found it to be less valuable.
Too many people are taking the CFA when in largely irrelevant corporate finance roles....CMA imo makes more sense for most of these roles (CPA if you meet the pre-reqs)
I did both. I am in wealth management. CFP(r) helped me on planning but CFA Charter made me smarter.
After passing the CFA exam I was promoted as they knew I would leave. I live comfortably with a family and I think I owe that to showing my value by attaining the CFA. I use concepts in my conversation but I'm my role it is just icing on the cake.
I could leave and make more but work life balance is great, especially with kids, right now.
CFP(r) will just help with planning but not really your career. CFA tells people you can go through a challenging environment and handle the pressure I think. Or maybe that's just how I felt.
Following.
As some people stated. Depends on what you plan on doing. I don’t have my CFA, FRM, CAIA, or CFP. Just networked and I got into jobs that candidates with those Creds got passed on. I am getting my masters in finance, but I don’t see it benefiting me that much.
If you don’t have a strong resume or good network I say maybe try them out. But in my experience social skills and being able to market yourself took me pretty far.
Didn’t have the family connections most people have either. So I had to do it from scratch. Both of my parents have blue collar jobs.
Cfa
F
CFA
CFP is really for client facing/advisory type roles. I'd consider it the minimum for that, pretty simple to obtain with a little bit of work. The CFA is another animal. Consider it like a postgrad degree. It'll benefit you if you're in the right line of work and will open some doors but nothing is guaranteed. A lot of higher level finance positions, PM type roles will require either a CFA or MBA so you can see the value equivalency there.
At our firm, the CFP is required if you will be on the advisor or planning team. If you plan to be client facing- get the CFP!
I got halfway through CFP, thought it was a mediocre program and went and did the CFA. It depends on what you want to do and how much time you have to dedicate. CFP is significantly easier than CFP
*easier than CFA
I recommend giving a lot of thought to what your career goals are, and how it will be most relevant to your work. Both will require very long hours over the course of several months/years, so definitely want to make sure it aligns with your goals. Not sure how the CFA works, but the CFP has education and years of industry experience requirements. On top of that, if you do not pass there are only 3 exam cycles per year to retake.