I gave CFA Level 3 yesterday and would be heading to IIM-Indore next month. So I think I can help you puys giving some reality checks about CFA.
As already mentioned before, - CFA is NOT a magic wand. It is NOT a substitute for MBA. - CFA L1 is okay, even to an extent L2, but there is no point giving CFA to get a job because CFA holds value when you have a relevant work-ex behind your back. - Do NOT even think to pursue CFA if you really lack the passion towards Finance. Course is rigorous, time-taking and difficult. Without a real passion, you may want to give it up mid-way - I was working as a Data Analyst (not relevant to Finance). After clearing L2 last July, when I started applying, I did get calls from Finance companies, but their main focus was my work-ex, not CFA knowledge
So, my piece of advice is, measure all consequences properly before diving into it because CFA will mean a lot of opportunity cost
One honest and detailed opinion finally..........thanks a lot for this......see I am a fresher and will be giving level 1 in december........I am not expecting a job profile or package which an IIM finance grad gets..........but still will I get a Rs. 30,000 kind of salary after level 1 or level 2........ PS: No work ex in finance field......Though I applied but no one takes a fresher........If you suggest me to go for a job now only can you suggest me the name of companies which takes fresheror where you have applied initially after Level 1 or 2......... Please help because it is really a big dilemma which I am unable to solve........ Thanks
One honest and detailed opinion finally..........thanks a lot for this......see I am a fresher and will be giving level 1 in december........I am not expecting a job profile or package which an IIM finance grad gets..........but still will I get a Rs. 30,000 kind of salary after level 1 or level 2........ PS: No work ex in finance field......Though I applied but no one takes a fresher........If you suggest me to go for a job now only can you suggest me the name of companies which takes fresheror where you have applied initially after Level 1 or 2......... Please help because it is really a big dilemma which I am unable to solve........ Thanks
You are right, finance companies do not prefer freshers. But you can apply to KPOs. They will be a good start for your career towards finance. Start working there and give 1-2 levels of CFA. You will also be able to relate to the concepts of Finance there. I would suggest, work there for 2 years and then make a shift depending upon your interest (like, equity research, derivatives, fixed income, etc.)
I can see you are from Delhi, so would suggest KPOs in NCR like The Smart Cube, Copal Partners, WNS, Inductis, etc. Your salary initially could be around Rs. 25-30,000.
had few queries regarding annual membership fees- 1-how much is to be paid every year in total? ive come across some local society membership fees that is to be added to 275$ in few forums..
2-from when are we supposed to pay this fees?? while registering for level1? after clearing level3? or after getting the charter from the institute? ive come across different opinions on this matter..
3-what happens if someone decides to not pay this fees for couple of years?there are few discussions that i have come across where people have been thinking of stop paying this fees as after a point according to them."charter" does not hold much of importance and it makes no sense in paying this annual fess.. can one become a member again after a gap of few years??or his membership gets permanently revoked for doing so?? thanks..
Hi Akash, I think you are still to commence your CFA program. So for you,
1. Do not worry about membership fees in local societies. You initially will have to pay a 1-time enrollment fee of $420 (will increase depending on the deadline, for more info visit the website). Then there is an exam registration fee of around $700 (again depends on deadline). This will have to be paid for each level.
2. You pay the fees during registration. As of local society fee, I would suggest go for it later, as societies are more helpful for networking, other opportunities for people who are already undergoing this program or have cleared the L3.
3. After you clear Level 3 and have 4 years of relevant work-ex, you can apply for Charter by paying annual fees (I don't know how much that is). Yes, writing CFA as a suffix to your name holds a lot of value and you may also feel proud of yourself, but if you skip paying a fee for a year or two, that doesn't reduce your market value. Im not 100% sure about it, but you can any time revoke your membership when you decide to pay the fees.
You are right, finance companies do not prefer freshers. But you can apply to KPOs. They will be a good start for your career towards finance. Start working there and give 1-2 levels of CFA. You will also be able to relate to the concepts of Finance there. I would suggest, work there for 2 years and then make a shift depending upon your interest (like, equity research, derivatives, fixed income, etc.)
I can see you are from Delhi, so would suggest KPOs in NCR like The Smart Cube, Copal Partners, WNS, Inductis, etc. Your salary initially could be around Rs. 25-30,000.
Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestion.......feeling a bit positive now:grin:in the KPOs the position they give is of a financial analyst or a data analyst??
Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestion.......feeling a bit positive now:grin:in the KPOs the position they give is of a financial analyst or a data analyst??
KPOs have various departments. You work in Financial Research, you will be a Financial Analyst; you work in Data Analytics, you will be a Data Analyst
Generally it will be quite difficult. However, you will find some people there doing difficult things easily :) You will also get into the groove sooner or later.
My suggestion - Join IIM, check out the environment there, see the pressure, find yourself and your interests and then think of anything beyond the PGDBA. DO NOT loose focus from your core studies. Everything else is secondary.
Hi,I will be starting MBA this year at IIM L.I wish to have Finance as my major in the second year.
I went through CFA material.Read few topics related to Economics,Quantitative modeling etc.But was not sure whether I should do it as it is a huge investment.(Time as well as money...or may be opportunity cost is too high )
Please let me know whether it will be possible to cope up with academic rigour of IIM L & CFA L1 simultaneously.I was thinking of registering for it in the month of July as by that time,I will get some idea about my capacity as well.
What do you think? Other experts also can pour in their opinions.
1- India society does not charge anything currently AFAIK 2- After clearing L3. Go for it earlier if you have tons of money ! 3- Yes you can take a break, but, you will not be a member in good standing. You can check with the society for more details at that time.
had few queries regarding annual membership fees- 1-how much is to be paid every year in total? ive come across some local society membership fees that is to be added to 275$ in few forums..
2-from when are we supposed to pay this fees?? while registering for level1? after clearing level3? or after getting the charter from the institute? ive come across different opinions on this matter..
3-what happens if someone decides to not pay this fees for couple of years?there are few discussions that i have come across where people have been thinking of stop paying this fees as after a point according to them."charter" does not hold much of importance and it makes no sense in paying this annual fess.. can one become a member again after a gap of few years??or his membership gets permanently revoked for doing so?? thanks..
You are right, finance companies do not prefer freshers. But you can apply to KPOs. They will be a good start for your career towards finance. Start working there and give 1-2 levels of CFA. You will also be able to relate to the concepts of Finance there. I would suggest, work there for 2 years and then make a shift depending upon your interest (like, equity research, derivatives, fixed income, etc.)
I can see you are from Delhi, so would suggest KPOs in NCR like The Smart Cube, Copal Partners, WNS, Inductis, etc. Your salary initially could be around Rs. 25-30,000.
Hello,
Thanks for the useful information! Do KPOs hire B.E. gards? I've done B.E. Computers and I have experience of more than 12 months in IT domain. Can I apply to such companies? Is any certification required?
Thanks for the useful information! Do KPOs hire B.E. gards? I've done B.E. Computers and I have experience of more than 12 months in IT domain. Can I apply to such companies? Is any certification required?
Thanks, in advance :)
Yes, KPOs do hire B.E./B.Tech. grads. But I guess, for Financial Analytics, you need to have something in Finance, like an MBA or a CFA, or probably work-ex
hey puys, i am done with my Mba in finance(grad in pharma), currently doing job as financial analyst. i am thinking of pursuing cfa, will write level 1 next year june(i dont have passport right now and its not possible to get a passport in bangalore as i dont have the stuff required for passport), i got notes frm mumbai and currently read few topics. as discussion was goin on abt being a charter,will ROI be enuf aftr having cfa?
is it worth to spend so much money and time for CFA in terms of the package i'll recieve aftr being a charter, MBA & work ex in same field of valuations and pms? plz do a rply
i think it makes a lot of sense for u to do cfa. considering u already in analysis and valuation. it wud definitely add a lot of value and yes even in terms of package. But i agree wid u on d part that it wud require a lot of time and its recognition in India is limited till now. But its worth noting that the demand and knowledge related to this course is growing very fast here.
hi puys i am new to this thread i have some queries regarding CFA I am an engineering graduate and working in a Public Sector Bank for the past 16 months as a Probationary Officer, i want to continue to work in banking, in what ways can a CFA help me grow in banking industry. As i work in PSB i have to spend close to 10 hours in bank daily, in that case how much time i have to devote for CFA.
hi puys i am new to this thread i have some queries regarding CFA I am an engineering graduate and working in a Public Sector Bank for the past 16 months as a Probationary Officer, i want to continue to work in banking, in what ways can a CFA help me grow in banking industry. As i work in PSB i have to spend close to 10 hours in bank daily, in that case how much time i have to devote for CFA.
ive heard of ppl being in treasury roles in banks wid just a level 1 on der resume. it depends on ur network really as far as PSB is concerned. but not to say that u cant get treasury roles widout cfa. Especially in a PSB whic does not hav much wealth management and portfolio management functions, the value of a cfa is quite less, and does not make dat much sense.
as far as devoting time is concerned, u need to give atleast 2 hours daily an 4-5 hours on weekends for crackin level 1.. but it depends on ur background education and ur understanding. ive seen CA's clear level 1 wid just 7 days of preparation.. all the best, hope d info helps u
hello every1 ..... i have just started working as a BUSINESS ANALYST , done comp. engg. with 62 % . Now i want to do mba from a good foreign b school , actually got 730 in GMAT . I know i need work ex. for that .. in between if i do cfa level 1 will it make my profile better .. also will cfa level 1 help me in my profession as a business analyst . plzzz reply ... ALSO is there any other certifications which will help me getting through good b school ...
hi puys i am new to this thread i have some queries regarding CFA I am an engineering graduate and working in a Public Sector Bank for the past 16 months as a Probationary Officer, i want to continue to work in banking, in what ways can a CFA help me grow in banking industry. As i work in PSB i have to spend close to 10 hours in bank daily, in that case how much time i have to devote for CFA.
hey mercury_rising, As you are engineering graduate, i assume that you haven't studied finance in proper manner as it should be, the CFA Program will provide knowledge you requires to excel in field of banking and finance. There may be many areas( risk management, quantitative finance etc.) which might have not discussed in detail in CFA Program but after completing CFA program you will be in a position to decide your career path.
Time required for exam preparation depends on person to person as well as prior education, experience and interest in the subject as well. As per cfainstitute website, "Successful candidates report spending an average of 300 hours preparing for each exam." For each level of the curriculum, there are 18 study sessions, so a good plan is to devote 1520 hours per week, for 18 weeks, to studying the material. Use the final four to six weeks before the exam to review what you've learned and practice with sample and mock exams.
From CFAI site announcement "June 2012 Level I and II exam results will be e-mailed on 24 July, after 9:00 a.m. ET and will be available online after 9:00 a.m. ET on 25 July. June 2012 Level III exam results will be e-mailed on 7 August, after 9:00 a.m. ET and will be available online after 9:00 a.m. ET on 8 August."
9.00 a.m. ET is 6.30 pm IST Best of luck to all those who appeared!
hello every1 ..... i have just started working as a BUSINESS ANALYST , done comp. engg. with 62 % . Now i want to do mba from a good foreign b school , actually got 730 in GMAT . I know i need work ex. for that .. in between if i do cfa level 1 will it make my profile better .. also will cfa level 1 help me in my profession as a business analyst . plzzz reply ... ALSO is there any other certifications which will help me getting through good b school ...
hi ankitsingh1991,
CFA will definitely add value to ur resume if u want to go for MBA from foreign university. at the same tym if u r planning to do mba in finance, it will add immense knowledge. you can also look for FRM or CIMA.
hello every1 ..... i have just started working as a BUSINESS ANALYST , done comp. engg. with 62 % . Now i want to do mba from a good foreign b school , actually got 730 in GMAT . I know i need work ex. for that .. in between if i do cfa level 1 will it make my profile better .. also will cfa level 1 help me in my profession as a business analyst . plzzz reply ... ALSO is there any other certifications which will help me getting through good b school ...
hi ankitsingh1991,
CFA will definitely add value to ur resume if u want to go for MBA from foreign university. at the same tym if u r planning to do mba in finance, it will add immense knowledge. you can also look for FRM or CIMA.
........If you suggest me to go for a job now only can you suggest me the name of companies which takes fresher
or where you have applied initially after Level 1 or 2.........