I am hoping that Nicholaf or someone else can assist. If I am successful in completing the CFA Level I, II and III, then does that mean I automatically receive the CFA qualification? Or is it like the Series 7, where one must be working for / registered with a broker/dealer?
A little different from both. You don't need a sponsoring firm, but you need to demonstrate that you have 3 years of relevant work experience (as I understand it).
I'm quoting directly from one of the books. THe Charteded Financial Analyst designation is a professional designation granted by AIMR to persons that AIMR considers to be qualified for the professional practice of financial analysis. To be grantedthe right to use the CFA or Chartered Financial Analyst designation, persons must satisfy the following requirements imposed by AIMR. - Successfully complete the CFA program. -Make an ongoing commitment to abide by the requirements of AIMR's Professional Conduct Code -Maintain active membership in AIMR If a CFA charterholder fails to meet any one of these requirements including failure to file an annual professional conduct statement or failure to pay dues for any year, the right to use the CFA designation is automatically suspended. Once suspended, individuals MAY NOT hold themselves out as CFA charterholders. next question is how much are the fees. I don't know. I think a couple hundred a year??? maybe ??? I have no idea. But I do know that companies that you work for usually pay for you to have the designation. contact http://www.cfainstitute.org/ for that one. good luck
After you pass the level III exam, you don't auto qualify - you have to have 3 years of work experience which AIMR (Now the CFA institute) deems as applicable experience. Of course, you can work while you take the CFA exams, so if in the ideal situation that you pass all three exams in a row, you would have three year's of work experience. Then you would need to apply for a membership in your local CFA Institute society. then after all of this, you'd get the charter
CAIA is two levels only, and much easier than CFA, After doing series 7, 55, hope i have time to go for CAIA. For CFA you need intense reading everyday for 3 years, secondly i had taken a look at thick CFA books don't think they will enhance you intratrading and short-term trading in no way Sure CFA is more recognized than CAIA, they don't seriously do any good to your career if you can't trade, correct me if i'm missing somthing here?
I am a pro trader, my honest adivce to you is simple: the CFA will definitely open doors for you but mostly entry level analyst jobs I would say to you that it sounds like you have a great job now, making cosisent money and I am guessing reasonable hours. *Think about the lifestyle change and paycut you will endure. Your hours will be crazy with any type of money managment. If I were you I wouldnt even consider making the switch. Stick to your nice cushy gig making good money living a a life where you actually have time for vacations and family I am working all the time and when I am not I am thinking about work. Good luck with whatever you do
I'm writing the CFA level III exam in June, and I am quite disappointed with the quality of the materials I've read so far for this level. I've learned more about alternative investments/strategies reading other books than following the CFA curriculum. The program as a whole will prepare you to become a decent financial analyst/mutual fund portfolio manager (whose major challenge would be to outperform their benchmarks), but it can be a huge distraction to your trading endeavors because you're constantly forced to read about how the market is efficient, and that technical analysis is bs blah blah. I'm doing it because I've already been working on it for 2+ years and it doesn't hurt to have the designation but I have to say that as I trade for a living, CFA program isn't useful for my daily work routine.