How do you become a CTA ?

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by Samson77, Apr 29, 2005.

  1. You pay some money

    You take a test

    You pay some more money

    You make your disclosure documents

    You pay some more money

    repeat the "pay the money part", every year..



    Congratulations you are a glorified telemarketer....
     
    #11     Apr 29, 2005
  2. I just became a CPO -- the people at the NFA are SUPER helpful, if you have any questions, you should definitely call them...the process is fairly painless.
     
    #12     Apr 30, 2005
  3. MyD,
    Were you a registered CTA for an extended period of time prior to making the move to CPO? My understanding is that a CPO cannot "market" performance in the way a CTA can. This interpretation would lead me to believe it is worthwhile to start trading managed accounts as a CTA then move to a CPO. Do you agree?
    Just looking for some personal insight.

    Samson, as mentioned before, the NFA is very courteous and knowledgeable of all the necessary reqmnts for CTAs.

    Good luck in your endeavors.
     
    #13     May 3, 2005
  4. dabao91

    dabao91


    Were you a registered CTA for an extended period of time prior to making the move to CPO? My understanding is that a CPO cannot "market" performance in the way a CTA can. This interpretation would lead me to believe it is worthwhile to start trading managed accounts as a CTA then move to a CPO. Do you agree?
    Just looking for some personal insight.


    Any comment on above statements?
     
    #14     Apr 4, 2007
  5. dabao91

    dabao91



    Were you a registered CTA for an extended period of time prior to making the move to CPO? My understanding is that a CPO cannot "market" performance in the way a CTA can. This interpretation would lead me to believe it is worthwhile to start trading managed accounts as a CTA then move to a CPO. Do you agree?
    Just looking for some personal insight.




    Does any one have any comments?
     
    #15     Apr 14, 2007
  6. there seems to be a rush of people becoming series 3 lately. the retail forex boom is no doubt to blame. this thread so far has been great for providing access to good information. if anyone would offer more in depth answers on the subject i'm sure there would be great, profitable relationships kindled.
    thanks,
    jeff
     
    #16     May 14, 2007
  7. the actual test is not that bad. please do yourself a favor and study regulations and market knowledge which is not adequately available anywhere for free from what i've found. Kaplan has a good study cd. know it inside and out before you go in for the test. the test will be a little more vague with questions and involve some more dated questions that are obsolete these days compared to the study cd's. i thought i was really smart so i studied for 4 days on an old kaplan test cd and i failed by 2% on the regulations but passed market knowledge very well.
    it would be nice for NFA to provide study material for us in an accessible fashion. mainly i failed because i took too long to finish the test. i missed 25 questions in the final minutes. oh yeah go to the bathroom and don't drink coffee prior to the test. you don't want to get up to urinate 2 times like it did. that cost me passing the test basically.
    creating disclosure docs is no easy task. usually you can work with your broker to do this as they'll benefit when you bring large accounts to them.
    and of course the difference between getting the CTA and the people that say they are getting it is just like anything else. who's going to put their money where their mouth is and who's full of hot gas...
     
    #17     Jun 19, 2007
  8. Has anyone taken the Series 3 Exam lately? Besides NFA documents, I am looking for a study guide to buy. Does anyone have a good recommendation for a Series 3 study guide?

    Cheers!
     
    #18     Apr 1, 2010
  9. heech

    heech

    Just passed mine in Jan. I ordered the Series 3 teaching material (including online sample tests) from: http://www.theifm.org

    I have no complaints. I thought it did a reasonably good job, although I don't really have a comparison point.

    Good luck!
     
    #19     Apr 1, 2010
  10. Great, thank you! It looks like a pretty decent teaching material.
     
    #20     Apr 1, 2010