Is it any good?

No.

Depends what you want to do professionally ... for fund management it seems *the* qualification to have.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CrashedMintIs it any good?Yes

Fund management is only a profession in the sense that you can get paid for it. Other than that it is mindless and there is little need for a qualification, other than being an obese glut.Having said that, people might still be asked to show this "qualification" to get the job.But the question was: Is it any good? Answer: No!Alk

QuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: CrashedMintIs it any good?Yesto expand on this, you learn a heck of a lot about fundamental finance: CFA is the gold standard here !

It's a recognized financial education and a 'free' one compare to other available avenues.What else do you expect it to be? Good for what? It's definitely not a gold Olympic medal and not a Harvard MBA.

It's a typical professional qualification where people cram lots of information/calculations in their short term memories for a day of exams and then can't tell you much about what they have learnt afterwards. It doesn't offer much depth, except perhaps on the financial accouting side. I don't rate it very highly, especially against academic qualifications. I can't understand why employers seem to ask for it so much. Perhaps because they have one...?

I have interviewed sooooo many CFA's and found them all to be exceptionally lacking in everything from common sense (admittedly not something that you can learn) to any knowledge of Finance; not a srap better than my cat.I found that people with good highschool scores were much more "intelligent" and could at least try and work things out. CQF, admittedly scores extremely high in my interviews.Alk

QuoteOriginally posted by: AlkmeneI have interviewed sooooo many CFA's and found them all to be exceptionally lacking in everything from common sense (admittedly not something that you can learn) to any knowledge of Finance; Alk Either that -- or you lack knowledge of what they know, so you are clueless about what they know. Sort of like an auto mechanic interviewing a lawyer. The auto mechanic asks the lawyer a few questions about how to oil a car, and then conclude the lawyer is stupid because she can't answer his oiling questions.

Dude...some quants seems to believe thata THE ONLY FINACE IS QUANT FINANCE...this is not true. CFA has its good points: specially since you must understand the financial accounting side, which is THE most prevalent point of view in finance (overall). Also, if theFASB SEC etc ever created a fair value accounting...financial accouting will moved to quant in a fast manner..however, it is likley this will take a lot of time, effort, etc and...meanwhile a quant with a CFA could prove his/her worth by providing $$$$ervices in valuing assets & liabilities ..but then, you must be able to understand.The value of a certification is conditional on what you do or want to do for living...a mechanic who is an employee and has no other ambitions than changing oil for cars has no use whatsoever for a CFA; however, a mechanic that dreams to open his/her own business...will benefit from it..a lot.M

I hold a CFA myself and am aware what is taught. But it is a qualification like learning to prepare a burger at Mcdonalds - does not mean that you can cook.Stupid analogy but point is that it is not a qualification; you are not adding quality.Better of reading a book.If you want an additional qualification and a simple job, go for it.If you want to know if it is a good qualification, it is not.Alk

And a mechanic who wants to open his own business needs no CFA! That is a very silly statement!He needs book keeping, simple interest calculation and lots of taxation knowledge OF HIS JURISDICTION! No GAAP, US GAAP, CAPM, ... all completely irrlelvant to your own business but also never ever enough for a good role as a funds manager!Alk

QuoteOriginally posted by: AlkmeneI hold a CFA myself and am aware what is taught.we don't believe you: you've changed your story in this thread

QuoteOriginally posted by: MaurshIt doesn't offer much depth, except perhaps on the financial accouting side. in fact it does, although it doesn't go that deeply into financial accounting because it's not a course in financial accounting, it's a course in fundamental analysisQuoteI don't rate it very highly, especially against academic qualifications. In fact, it holds its own against most M.Fin degrees