Hi guys,
Do you have any insight about the corporate finance Qualification offered by the ICAEW?
Since I'm currently working in CF in a Big 4, after rejecting an FT in a BB (may God kill me for this), but I'm considering trying to move to the banking side in 3-4 years , I was wondering if this qualification can help me to make the move.
I've seen some job openings for associate position within BBs and Top Tier Boutique specifically targeted at ACA or CFQ but, since the CFQ is quite new, I cannot find any decent feedback on the net.
Did any of you sit for the first step (certificate in corporate finance)?
Not worth it. Just to clarify, by CF you mean the actual boutique IB of a Big 4 (likely KPMG or PwC)? Or is this another role? In my opinion, the best credential is to get an MBA (from a top program) or maybe the CFA. From there, everything else may not be worth the time you could otherwise spend networking.
Thanks for your opinion. I will consider an MBA as well.
Anyway, I've seen on LinkedIn that some people at Barclays, Macquarie and RBC in London are getting it (Certificate in Corporate Finance) so I was wondering if someone has direct experience and can tell if it can be helpful...
Why'd you turn down the FT BB offer?
^^^ Seriously...
When I say CF I mean the kind of corporate finance advisory services that range from M&A advisory to valuation to business planning and so on. The kind of things that the Big 4 do and that other firms (HL maybe) may do as well.
Cause they did not make me the offer at first because they had no headcount. So I found another job, initially enjoyed it and realized only a month later that I did a huge mistake (btw the position was not in NYC, London or HK so the deal experience that I could have had was pretty limited (read: no PE/VC exit ops))
I have it. It is useful if you didn't study anything business related during Undergrad and gets you up to speed on the essentials. Given your experience and the fact that the content is entirely theoretical, I'm not sure it will add much and a Bank would be indifferent to it.
If it is ACA vs. CFQ, I would go for the former just because a Chartered Accounting programme will get you further than a CFQ (all things being equal).
Suffice to say, the easiest way to jump from Big 4 to Banking is to work in the transaction services team. I would suggest you look at their Restructuring teams since the Big 4 are stronger in this and it is more applicable than say doing due diligence work or trying to work in their debt advisory side (reason is that their restructuring teams tend to be stronger in the market than their advisory teams but that is just from my experience and I would be happy for people to tell me if I am wrong).
An ACA (or even CFQ) and a few years experience in Restructuring would be very useful for a bank.
Ok, thanks for your advice. I would look at Restructuring! As you said Restructuring is likely their most respected practice since, sometimes, they do compete with IBs for mandates or work with them on some deals.
No, it is not ACA vs CFQ. As you said, ACA is stronger and will get me further than a CFQ but, unfortunately, it is not an option (I am working in continental europe and my firm does not offer any training for the ACA (UK) nor sponsorship or anything. I was thinking about CFQ because it is easier to obtain considering my university background and daily job).
There is an additional upside: if you are advising the lender group you will have plenty of networking opportunities with banks and funds.
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