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

Gulf Coast Finance's picture
IB
(Orangutan, 307
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 9:39pm

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.

Kassad's picture

ccrosb: Studied and passed

IB
(King Kong, 1,241
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 11:37pm
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.

That_Aston's picture

I work in CF and I know a few

CF
(Gorilla, 575
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 11:37pm

I work in CF and I know a few people who have them however I don't know the extent of its relevance to their jobs.

Here to learn and hopefully pass on some knowledge as well. SB if I helped.

kingtut's picture

I'm in CF at a F50 and from

AM
(Gorilla, 634
 
Points)
 on 8/10/12 at 1:08pm

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 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.

ejam21's picture

Do any of you think that

(Monkey, 32
 
Points)
 on 8/13/12 at 6:44pm

Do any of you think that studying the CFA (doing the workbooks) for your own edification would be of benefit to someone like me who is career switching to finance after MBA?

Chrix's picture

its not super relevant. The

(Monkey, 33
 
Points)
 on 8/20/12 at 7:22am

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

In reply to mdv11
kingtut's picture

mdv11: I dont think so.

AM
(Gorilla, 634
 
Points)
 on 8/20/12 at 11:18pm
mdv11:

I dont think so. Coporate Development is more about Strategy and financial skills are limited.
What you need to know for M&A is covered in CFA level 1.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Corp Dev may be more geared towards strategy, but you absolutely have supporting data to back up your conclusions usually involving the construction of incredibly complex financial models requiring a deep knowledge of corp fi, accounting, excel, and modeling aka financial skills. You'd be fired on the spot if you walked into our CFO's office and tossed a deck on the table without back up data.

sharpie19's picture

You should probably check

 
Points)
 on 1/3/13 at 4:10pm

You should probably check this out:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/does-the-cfa...

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.

AllDay_028's picture

I'm studying for the CFA now.

CF
(Gorilla, 516
 
Points)
 on 1/9/13 at 8:27am

I'm studying for the CFA now. It has very little relevance to my current job. But i'm doing it in hopes of making the switch out of CF.

FrDax's picture

It's pretty highly valued in

(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 1/13/13 at 3:43pm

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.

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