CFA designation - What's it good for?

Grob109 · Mar 14, 2006

Quote from FortuneSmiles:

I really want to be a money manager/portfolio manager/daytrader/positiontrader/etc...

I have a BA degree in mathematics from a good school in Costa Rica. I have never taken a finance course in my life and know nothing about financial statements or any of that. I have done a little trading but feel the need to learn more about the financial markets so I can make decisions like Fund managers do (i.e. get x% long oil y% short dollar/yen z% cash....etc...). Up to this time, I have only daytraded single securities at a time. I know nothing about portfolio management whatsoever. I have never been long or short multiple securities at the same time. I want to learn how to make decisions regarding portfolio management. I want to be analyze current state of affairs in the world and make portfolio decisions based on what is observed. I don't know where to start. I don't know how to go about doing this.

Rather than do an MBA, I was thinking about pursuing my CFA. It's cheaper than an MBA, and seems to be a respected designation in the Mutual Fund/Hedge Fund/Money Management world. Unless, I have been misled. If anyone out there knows differently, please post your comments here.

Do big firms like Goldman Sachs/Bear Stearns/CHASE/Lehman Brothers look favorably upon candidates who have passed all three levels of the CFA? If I have a BA and the CFA designation will I be able to compete against people who have BA and MBA? I am talking, specifically, about hedge fund, mutual fund, and money management / investment positions.

I will be very happy to hear responses from anyone with an opinion on this topic.

However, I am particularly interested in responses from people who possess the CFA designation (or have passed x number of the three CFA levels), people that are in managerial positions at top banks/hedge funds/mutual funds and that have experience with hiring CFAs or MBAs. Or, if you work in a hedge fund or mutual fund and can tell me what you've seen as far as the people that you work with (i.e. how many of them have CFAs, to what exent is the CFA respected in your organization, and etc...). Thanks so much for your help.

I will post another message about the CFA on this forum asking for a list of names of famous (rich) investors who have the CFA designation. Thanks again
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CFA designation - What's it good for?

Grob109