Does the CFA® designation have any place in Corp. Finance?

Studied and passed level 1 over the spring/summer before I really decided what I was interested in. Can't decide if finishing it is worthwhile; does the CFA®have any significance in F500 CF roles? To be specific, I'd like to work my way into a corporate development role.

 
ccrosb:
Studied and passed level 1 over the spring/summer before I really decided what I was interested in. Can't decide if finishing it is worthwhile; does the CFA have any significance in F500 CF roles? To be specific, I'd like to work my way into a corporate development role.

Having taken the CFA L1, you should really be able to answer that question yourself. The answer is no.

in it 2 win it
 
Best Response

I'm in CF at a F50 and from what I have seen the CFA really doesn't have that much impact. This comes from a L3er. The exact same thing can be said of CPAs as well. Unfortunately, most of our groups seem to weight the value of an MBA much more so than the golden standard of designations in finance and accounting. We all work in hard core finance roles so you would think that companies would appreciate a designation that trains you in exactly that, but rarely is that the case.

Fortunately, the opposite is true in my group. If you're smart and good at what you do you'll be able to climb the ladder. My boss, arguably one of the sharpest guys in our entire division, thinks that an MBA, at least in our company, is a complete waste of time and money.

That being said, the CFA designation provides instant credibility to yourself in the corporate world. We have plenty of MBAs roving around the office that hardly understand some basic financial concepts and these guys come from MBA business schools ">M7 schools. An MBA looks good on paper, but from what I have seen thus far, those individuals with the CFA could easily destroy the MBAs in a battle of financial wits.

 

its not super relevant. The CFA is a very broad, and not very deep qualification. For corp fin you are much better off doing a Masters in Finance or something like that

 

You should probably check this out: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/does-the-cfa-designation-have-any-place-…

CFA is best served for: asset management, mutual funds, hedge funds, institutional investors (pensions/retirement funds). I think the name of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) is confusingly vague and doesn't necessarily define what a "financial analyst" is, it used to be called AIMR (Association for Investment Management and Research) which closely fits into the investing mold that its founders originally intended it to be. If you take a look at the curriculum, the emphasis is mostly on the valuation of financial securities and spends a brief amount of time on anything related to corporate finance.

If you wanted to get a job in corporate finance MBA is the way to go, even though CFA is cheaper and will teach you more about finance. Even though there’s more breadth of content in the CFA, MBAs are generally the ‘filter’ applied to the recruiting of corporate jobs.

 

It's pretty highly valued in my market actually. I work in corp. strat/dev. for a F500 energy company and most of us are at some stage of the program. When your analysis/recommendations end up in the hands of the CEO and Board, and they're using it to make multi-billion dollar acquisitions that you can't really come back from, the CFA is a nice stamp of reassurance. MBA's don't have much value around here because of how easy they are to get, and because "prestige" is basically irrelevant in an industry of engineers.

 

I don't think the combination is anything to write home about; most of the CPA/CFAs I've come across are the types who jumped over to finance after a period in accounting. Kind of like having a MD/CFA working at a healthcare hedge fund. Good to have, but by no means a requirement.

To answer this more specifically, is the role you're shooting for something like Big 4 CF? Those groups are very small and from what I understand like to draw on people with actual banking experience, not Big 4 advisory.

N.B.: Ex-Big 4, CPA, Level 2 candidate in the CFA program.

 

Yes. I am hoping to go into Big 4 CF..

While my current industry/experience wont allow me to PE/HF/IB would passing the CPA and going through the CFA help me in the door at the entry level analyst/associate level in the Big 4? It doesn't even necessarily have to be at the Big 4.

I need to transition into an accounting related function where I can fulfill the CPA work experience requirement for licensing

 

I don't really think it's that relevant to pursue CPA if you want to go to DCF or its ilk. Just because it's part of an accounting firm doesn't necessarily mean you need an accounting background to work in some of the groups. Some of the guys on LinkedIn have undergrad accounting degrees but went straight into a finance role before ending up there. CPA doesn't make you overqualified by any means, it's just irrelevant.

Also, why Big 4 CF? They're not even that well respected in the middle market compared to a Houlihan Lokey or Harris Williams.

 
jack callahan:
I don't really think it's that relevant to pursue CPA if you want to go to DCF or its ilk. Just because it's part of an accounting firm doesn't necessarily mean you need an accounting background to work in some of the groups. Some of the guys on LinkedIn have undergrad accounting degrees but went straight into a finance role before ending up there. CPA doesn't make you overqualified by any means, it's just irrelevant.

Also, why Big 4 CF? They're not even that well respected in the middle market compared to a Houlihan Lokey or Harris Williams.

Can you send me a link for a list of middle market guys that would fall into the category? It doesn't have to be Big 4.

The reasoning behind the CPA is because while it may not be particularly relevant, I hope it will help compensate for my low gpa.

I am actually currently in Finance... And trying to go into a financeish function in accounting, which is why I originally wanted to do the CPA

 

Hey I don't have either the CFA or CPA either, but I am working towards a charter in both, well not exactly CPA but the UK equivalent offered by the CIMA

CFA - Level III Candidate CIMA - Final Candidate (E3,P3,F3 Exams)

I want to do an MBA/MSc Fin in the future as well to break into proper buy-side; currently at a well respected AM shop in the UK

Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication ~ Leonardo da Vinci
 

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I'm unsure of the Big 4 but I'm doing Corp Fin at an F50 and in the last week I was given these two words of advice from two informational sessions:

CPA: Will be great to throw behind your name to get you a job in majority of Corp Fin positions. Any finance employee should have a solid foundation in Accounting, CPA would be a good route to obtain that.

CFA: Most Charter Holders sit within the treasury department in corpfin, that's the only place I have heard of a CFA being relevant. At our firm, FP&A and Investor Relations are also good organizations that don't have a lot of CFA's and/or CPA's, but could use them. With Investor Relations and FP&A it would be good to have a CFA and/or CFA + a solid understanding of the business itself (Possibly an FLDP?).

 

If you're not doing ER/PM, don't waste your time. I have friends who are interested in IB wrote the L1, and my opinion was that they could have spent the time wiser (e.g. networking, polishing interview skills). Just my 2 cents.

 

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