I am in Noida Sector 20, and would like to meet people who are targeting GMAT in Aug or who have given GMAT. Kindly PM me so that I can get in touch with you.

thanks Shivgan99, really appreciate the help. if u could help me with just one more thing.
I want to do my mba from Sinapore and i as i mentioned about my marks, could i stand a chance to get into universities like NSU or Nanyang, or should i apply to jus the 2 tier universities..?? N if u could tell me what do u think about the James Cook University in Singapore. I am finding it very difficult to evaluate the quality of education through the websites coz they say one thing and it turns out to be another in itself.

Depends on GMAT, get 700 atlease
3 LORs must be highly relevant
Work exp should be good

In the coming week, i want to register for Lev.1, but i have a little confusion regarding which curriculum to select? since i have a habit to read from hard copies more than soft copy... n if selected both than cost is a bit higher...
Is there any other alternative or what does generally other candidates do..
SO WHAT TO CHOOSE ??
Suggestions / Help required.

TAke hard copy as the differnce is amount is very less...

now this is what am worrying about cfa becoming more common and net impact of this in the future.
Considering my case i really need help from all expert pguys on cfa aimr.

Lets get some clear opinion on my case.
Done with my mba finance.
Well currently am working at managerial position in bank current package 4.5 lacs expected to grow at 8 lacs in these four years.

So do mba fin + cfa charter + 4 years exp in general banking give me some kinda edge over the others.

What do you think guys package am getting then,10 + or not ,if its the thing that i had to again start with low package in year span of 5 to 10 years it will benefit me or not.........

Expert opinions do wanted from you guys, as you had made decision to go for cfa after considering time ,money value and future,do suggest your opinions

thanks in advance.

For a MBA in Finance CFA is the best thing to do, as he cannot do MBA again. So in a way thats the only way ahead.

For people who have not done MBA and want to do like MS in Fin Engg / PhD in Engg / MBA from abroad CFA L3 clearing will be helpful.

Dont expect a job out of clearing level 3, this isnt a classroom course. A full time 2 year degree program cannot match this course. The discussions with teacher students in our full time classes, internship, classroom training, internship cannot be compared with CFA which is just 6 hour exams 3 times.

If you clear level 3 and by the time u do that it will be June 2013 I am sure you will be able to touch 10 lack from 2014 (as you will get the charter due to 4 year exp in finance). Now I am not expert but this is my estimation, .

Best of luck!

Snigdhaarya Says

Hi guys, I need to start preparing for GMAT. Does anyone know about good coaching institutes in noida? How are ims, times etc.. I have no exposure to the exam. shall I go for private coaching or can join an institute?

Tough questions, given then that there are many dummy ids created by coaching institutes to recommend themselves. Better talk to moderators for this question.

You can join the study groups, virtual meetings, where each questions of OG and Manhattan will be discussed. These are peer groups of people giving GMAT and they are free, so you have no obligations.

Better go to coaching and ask for demo and score of their faculty in GMAT. Take a week free and then decide if coaching is good for you.
Private Message me in case you need more help.

Also check videos of GMAT of the coaching to get an Idea about their online inter-phase.

Best of luck

Hi,
Thanks Neo and Psycho for all the posts. i have alredy got the answer to my query but still feel the need to confirm it.
My 10th, 12th and B.com Grad marks have been very low. between 55 to 60%.
Will the universities i apply to take into consideration my earlier mentioned marks, even if i get a good gmat score.
I am looking forward to complete my MBA from Singapore. My friend has jus done his MBA from James Cook University in Singapore and he mentioned, te top colleges look at your 10th, 12th and Grad marks. Is that true?

If you have something working against you, get a lot more things in favor of you.

Have:
Good GMAT
Good Research & Publications
Good Job Experience
Good Certificates, Chartres, Designations, etc
Good reasons to do MBA
Good knowledge about the area and some background in that area, with good recommendations

There are lot of things you can do to improve your profile.

Shivgan

The only high-probability path to investment banking is through an MBA. CFA alone can almost never lead you to investment banking. And at an MBA too, only the top-notch IIMs (as far as India is concerned) - read A/B/C and L at the maximum. First of all, be assured that there are hardly any real front-end investment banking operations in India and most of the work is back-end. I've heard that SBI offers proper IB (front-end) profiles in the IIMs, but they pay only 6-7 lpa.

Even at A/B/C, there is absolutely no guarantee that you're going to get a so-called "i-banking" profile. The competition is really tough and unless you are {from the IITs with a good JEE rank and with preferably some experience in analytics} OR {you're a hot female} you cannot crack the summers, and the final placements are mostly dependent on the summers, but here the latter factor doesn't count .

Progress in CFA gives an IITian (or other good Engg. college alumni) an edge over others, nothing more. Even then he can screw up in the interview.

In the light of all this, I am assuming that you know what "investment banking" means. :drinking:

For your specific questions:

1. No, FRM has almost nothing to do with i/b. It's more about risk and its various types. Guys in credit profiles can also go for it. But it's damn tough, much more than L1 or even L2. The happy part - you can take it in two parts now, and the pass rates are >50%. So a bad paper can lead to a pass but that will never happen in CFA. In CFA, in fact the reverse can happen (i.e. even a good paper can lead you to a fail)

2. MS in QF from abroad (best), or campus placements at IITs (only for CSE/EE people). However as a general rule, a profile abroad will almost always be better than a Mumbai/Bangalore posting from the IITs.

I think that ISB has also started something at CAF, but no idea about its placements.

3. I have no idea about placements at ISI. But if I-banks go there for placements, a good bachelors' background (again IITs/other good Engg. colleges) would be of help. But in all likelihood, I-banks would be picking up for their quant profiles from there.

4. "Top 100 MBA" colleges in India is nothing. If you graduate from Baba Ram Chand College of Management from Kanpur, an L3 is going to get you nowhere. In fact I wonder if recruiters might ask you what you're doing there with an L3. :drinking:

5. CFA is not supposed to make you a specialist in a particular area, even though it is somewhat geared around Equity and Asset Management. It only gives you an edge at campus placements. Therefore, its market value is there only in a particular setting and there is no general market value for it.

Ask yourself why people opted to go for CFA. The reason was because it gave you an edge few years ago, when most people did not know about it. Currently, L1 candidates are surely running into tens of thousands and several thousand of those are clearing L1. L2 cleared would also be into a few thousands. Even if a company were to consider someone on that basis, they would look for IITians. But the problem is that now even within IITians, there are thousands of IITians with L1 and several hundreds with L2. A hearsay said that for one position at Nomura, those guys get more than 8000 resumes.

The only scenario where you can land up in a GOOD position (by good I mean decently paying- nothing to do with the actual work) without an MBA would be when you're a CSE/EE graduate from the IITs with <1 years of experience (at the max. 2) and with good academics, but you somehow landed up somewhere else, maybe in IT.

Thank you, this has been a very comprehensive reply. I appreciate your efferts and time. I would be very grateful if you can provide insight on a few more subjects:

1) There are only 500 charter CFA holders in India, and all are doing good, so how can a person clearing CFA L3 and working for 4 years cannt find a good position after getting the CFA designation?

2) Ofcourse MS Financial Engineering or MBA is a must, but should someone clear CFA L2 and then do MS financial Engineering?

3) Demand and supply might suggest that IIM-ABC wants a high pay if someone with MBA from not a top college with CFA and FRM can do the same job in 1/2 the amount why will company not take him? IIM ABS are not demi-Gods, they are consistantly hardworking persons though and they will not settle for a salary less than 15-20 lac in India.

4) Being in IIT Grad in no case related to this discussion its is all about how good you are at Finance esp quant and stat. So how do u say IIT Engg grad will jump into finance and CFA+MBA will not (Good college are there like XLRI, SPJain, and other private ones)? I dont understand the comparison of CFA level 2/3 clearant with an IITian, this is finance so how can IIT Grad directly jump in this area?

5) If you believe that FRM is tough, it is obvious that it is tough for all, and with the tougness and less people it is a useful exam if one wants to go in risk. Then how can that exam be downplayed?

6) CFA level 3 + FRM level 2 people are very less and also CFA degisnation holders are quite less; I dont think after doing both one will have any problem when he has a good MBA and knows the concept well. And the path starts from Level 1&2 so why not move in this direction?

7) ISI is the best college for Quantitative and Statistics in India, so I believe the best Math and Stat with economics goes on that place, IIT dont stand in that regard. Though IITs Applied Math courses are brilliant.

8 )In a long term its about knowledge and skills, CFA seems to be a good exam to learn with the best material a superb community, so does it not seems to be only way ahead?

For Seniors:
Please comment on FRM for Investment banking?
Comment on the number of CFA Level 3 and CFA desig holders in India. I think level 1 holders are very very common, just wondering on L3 and CFAs.
Comment on CFM l3 + Frm l2 candidates

The summer examination is over and time for another season of CFA registrations for December.

For the fellow puys registering for higher levels (L2 and beyond), you would already be aware of the market value and the issues involved in the pursuit of the CFA program. If not, then it's something to worry about! :nono:

I would request fellow puys not to blindly follow the herd. India has been swept away by something like a CFA wave and to cash in on that, there are some stupid institutes ready to offer you coaching as well. And people dream of getting into I-Banks and believe that there is some kind of a "salary range" for "each level". Be assured, all parties except the candidates are minting money and you're being fooled in all this.

In fact, even the CFA curriculum has nothing to do with Investment Banking. L1 is just basic concepts, L2 is about equity and derivatives pricing and valuation basics and L3 is about asset management. I-Banking is nowhere in the picture. If you're looking for learning something about quantitative finance, CFA has almost nothing there as well except for the most basic fundamentals.

Hey thank you for the insight, then what is in your view the path to investment banking?

Is FRM better than CFA for investment banking?
What is the path to get in Quantitative Finance?
Is the only path a M Stat from ISI?
Or the path to go in Quant Fin starts out of India?
If CFA all levels are the most fundamntal, for a non finance background is it not something to start with?
What does your experience says about the market value of CFA?
What do you believe is the salary range for CFA level 3 cleared person + MBA from any top 100 College of India?


please answer these questions, thanking you in advance

hey guys.....
i m also looking fwd to enrolling for cfa level1 dec attempt.....

so wats the curriculum

wat all we hv to study i mean the topics.....

is passport necessary at tym of registration

nd one more thing as i would be starting my mba journey this year with FORE so would it be difficult for me to give dec attempt keeping in mind the trimester system wat do u think????


ny one from east delhi giving dec cfa level1......

You need passport
Don't try it with MBA, MBA grades-experience-circle-intership are more imp... CFA u can do anytime

Hey naga25french,
I will be pursuing my mba in international business, and would want to move into the fin sector.
I hv an engineering background. Would clearing CFA level 1 land me into some relevant interships

Hi,
MBA Finance would hav been a better match. Anyways, CFA level 1 is quite basic with no numerical and tough problems. Most of people get the CFA L1 done, but CFA level 2 is going to help you a lot. So pass both the levels by June 12.

Best,
Shivgan