CFA® or MBA Hedgefund Manager

dest149:

] But I haven't found a concrete answer as related to HF.

Ceteris paribus? CFA. There are a whole host of other things which are far more important. You could have a whole host of professional qualifications but if you cant raise capital and make money, you're not going anywhere.

Both? Neither? I like to say that there are no stupid questions, only stupid askers of questions.. but I'll allow for ignorance.

Your choice of degree will not lead to you successfully managing a fund. Both, either, or neither.. your innate intrinsic qualities of perspective, intelligence, and temperament matter far more to your future success. So do whatever will best help you achieve your more near-term goals, so that you may be better able to progress organically, and achieve your personal best outcome (whatever it may be).

There is no clear answer here. What I will say is this. Both a CFA and MBA require significant investments of time. If you used that time to educate yourself about the fundamentals of the markets, taking risk in the markets, learning how products actually trade, tweaking your strategy, etc - this will be a hundred-fold more valuable than either.

Nobody I know respects or takes seriously the CFA. Like the author of Leveraged Sellout wrote, "I've been chartered to practice whatever the hell kind of finance I want since I was four years old when I shouted at my Spanish maid Celia to not fuck up comb-binding my book reports."

I would guess the three business schools with highest representation in terms of active managers right now would be Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia.

Most hedge fund managers have neither. That does not mean that having one of those designations would or would not be helpful to you or that this won't be different in the future,

This is sort of a silly question. The prereqs to "hedge fund manager" are so diverse and not something that you are ever hired into based upon a degree. You want to get a job at a HF being an analyst and excel first at that. Many of your peers will have a top MBA and a CFA.

Thanks for all the input guys. And obviously, as in almost anything, there are multiple ways to skin a cat. But it's not to say that by doing certain things rather than others you can give yourself the best shot at getting where you want to go.

Having said that, I am surprised, Sir Trades a Lot, to hear you say that most have neither. But I guess proof of qualification is best shown in experience and production, so it's not crazy.

If this is not a stupid question. I'll be starting out in ER at a BB (think JPM/MS/GS) at a regional branch in Miami, how long does the average person work for in ER until they transition out (if they decide to do so at all). I know IB is like 2-3 but that's cause its known for churn and burn. Would 3-4 yrs then HF analyst be the norm. Or perhaps would it be better to do 3-4 years, MBA, then HF?

I appreciate all the insight.

I was curious as what would be the better designation for a CPA from a Big 4 firm (Audit/TAS) trying to break into ER, with the long term goal of hedge funds. Appreciate any advice!

I'm finishing up my MBA and did my CFA straight after undergrad. I think the CFA is probably more useful for a day-to-day understanding of the markets (goes into more depth than you're likely to get in a finance MBA).

However, no question that an MBA is very helpful for access to bank recruiters and the opportunity to do an internship. If your goal were IB, I would say it makes 100% sense to do an MBA just because IB recruiting is so formalized. If it's ER, I'm not exactly sure. Can you work on a sample stock pitch, follow a sector and apply to positions on Indeed, efinancialcareers and LinkedIn jobs?

There aren't many ER jobs available every year- most people either stay at their job or hop between banks, so not creating space for people without direct experience. And most banks these days prefer undergrads and don't actively recruit MBAs for Research. However, when banks have a specific need, it is usually an immediate hire advertised on internet job boards. The three year lead time to do an MBA doesn't allow you to pursue those just-in-time opportunities.

To be honest, hedge funds don't really care about MBAs but it could be an asset if you're trying to raise money later in your career. Maybe if it's HBS or Stanford or Wharton, funds will recruit a handful of people on campus, but successful candidates usually have extensive pre-MBA experience in banking and/or hedge funds.

I think passing Level I paired with your CPA would be really impressive. (You can study for Level II and III after you get an ER associate job).

Bayside,

I appreciate your response. Do you have any opinion on how to spend the "accountant trying to be a financier" situation. I did my undergrad in finance and just happened to fall into accounting, but do not want to get pigeon holed into as only an "accountant". Many views on WSO is that once your accountant your always accountant. Do you or anyone know a good way to differentiate myself from that situation?

Don't let other people define you and put you in boxes. Accounting is a well-respected profession and has a valuable skillset- especially for equity and credit research and banking. In business more broadly, I bet it's among the most represented backgrounds for C-suite executives and other members of the 1%.

I think the key is the narrative. Everyone knows that the job market for the last six or seven years has been terrible. So getting a degree in finance and working in accounting makes a lot of sense because that's where the demand is/was (even in good years, only a small percentage of finance majors are lucky to get a job in high finance right out of the gate). You have to demonstrate what you know and how your experience can make you a good analyst/investor/business person. So having a really strong, well-reasoned and well-articulated stock or credit pitch is critical. Then the challenge is to get your material in front of as many people as possible. Hopefully, somebody will give you a chance!

I forgot to mention that you should network with alums via LinkedIn and cold emails and the local CFA society. Face to face is obviously a lot better when you can manage it, since people are more vested in trying to help you out. Just ask for advice and appear genuine.

I would give it a shot on my own for awhile, say 6 months. If you're not getting anywhere at all, then maybe consider b-school at that point. An MBA is very expensive and you won't learn much unless you push yourself and take classes in other departments at the university or of course, PhD classes (which are very tough and time-consuming obviously).

Investments are a lot broader than just the handful of sell-side equity research jobs out there. There are institutional investors (insurance companies, pension funds) and RIAs (ranging from wealth management groups to a mix of individual investor and institutional clients). You can screen for RIAs by AUM since they report that information annually to the SEC.