CFA - Is it Worthwhile?

I depends on your personality.

An MBA/CFA will teach you nothing about trading...
Or how to make money in the financial markets.
My brother is a smart, successful MBA...
But is laughably clueless about the ** mathematics of trading ** despite trying really, really hard.

If you want a steady job with a nice income...
And be a nice Cog is the Securities Industry Sell Side Skimming Machine...
Then by all means get MBA/CFA.

But traders have an entirely different breed...
With a different skill set and mindset... and an outlaw mentality.

Personally...
When evaluating "trading talent"...
I would eliminate CFA plodders and grinders...
And view them as mediocre talent, absence of creativity, bean counters, aversion to risk.

There is nothing duller or safer or less creative...
Then grinding out a CFA to get some corporate job.
 
Quote from GBL:

If you want to manage other peoples money forget the CFA and get CPA (Certified Public Accountant).

Why? Because it eliminates the cowboy trader image and its a different way to sell yourself to potential clients or employers. They respect you and see honesty.

I did it and worked for Citigroup's prop division in Sydney. Me and my mates at work have looked at the study books for CFA and all came to the same conclusion: 3-4 years of hard work and less time to get laid.

Get on with making money because life goes quick.




:D
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This is stupid advice, who the hell is going to hire a Public Account to manage money. No wonder you are stuck working for a bank, which by the way, are last on the financial food chain as -far -as salaries go.
 
Hedge funds now???

Minimum:
Programming and Quantitative Analysis.

Best:
Successful track record for over 5 years when it comes to discretionary traders. (3 years if it's systematic)

Nothing really changes.
 
Quote from JamesVU2000:

i think hound dog is right. the guys who are great traders live, breathe, and die trading. A CFA would never cross there mind.
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You're going too far here. Again, though I recommend programming or financial engineering first, you're dead wrong if you think a CFA designation would be looked down upon by reputable firms or funds.
 
trader1966,

I am a prop trader in the bank that has all the benefits of a prop shop with a base salary. My base salary would be more than your trading profits for the year.
 
Quote from jasonbraswell:

You're going too far here. Again, though I recommend programming or financial engineering first, you're dead wrong if you think a CFA designation would be looked down upon by reputable firms or funds.
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You sort of missed my point.

Above all in a pro trader you need:

(1) Life-long obsession with Zero Sum Games.
(2) A track record of intelligent risk taking.
(3) An outlaw or enterpreneurial spirit.

This sort of person would NEVER be grinding out a CFA...
So he could sit in a cubicle for the rest of his life.

If someone come to me...
And could ** prove ** that they have been consistently profitable on Party Poker for a year or two...
Then you got a potential "trading talent".

I wouldn't even interview a CFA...
They can never be deprogrammed...
From the total BS thay have been spoon fed by the Securities Racket...
And would waltz in with an air of superiority.
 
Quote from GBL:

trader1966,

I am a prop trader in the bank that has all the benefits of a prop shop with a base salary. My base salary would be more than your trading profits for the year.
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How is your cubicle?
How is your daily commute to work?
How is your 30 minute lunch break?
How is your 2 week annual vacation?

It's Conformists like you that never, ever change the world.
 
Quote from HoundDogOne:
It's Conformists like you that never, ever change the world.
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Someone seems to have a deeply romanticised view of his own "outlaw" place in the universe... I think if we scratched you we'd find a person with faults and shortcomings like everybody else, so what's the point in pushing the thread towards personally offensive comments?

Suss
 
Quote from HoundDogOne:


I wouldn't even interview a CFA...
They can never be deprogrammed...
From the total BS thay have been spoon fed by the Securities Racket...
And would waltz in with an air of superiority.
More...

You're an arrogant dipshit to refuse to interview a person because he has a designation that only a handful of people have the tenacity and intelligence to get.
 
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