I currently work in Corp Dev in a financial modeling role. My background before this job was accounting based (I have a CPA). I am thinking I want to stay in my current role, but want to expand my finance knowledge base and continue working. I was wondering peoples thoughts on getting a CFA from a professional growth perspective, or whether it would be a waste of time.
Trending Content - Corporate Finance, Development and Strategy Forum
Career Resources
Complete waste of time.
Curious as to why you say that?
The curriculum only has one reading on M&A...and it doesn't touch it again. The charter is geared toward investment analysis and portfolio management.
I'm finding that more and more Corp Dev teams are prefering CFA. The CFA is a long journey, but I can't say that it would open that many doors for you once you are already in Corp Dev. It is a great body of knowledge, but nothing you couldn't obtain through MOOCs or other certification programs.
In your situation, CFA would generally not be a good use of your time unless you want to pivot your career and shoot for an asset / money management role as your next step.
If you want to expand modeling knowledge, go through asimplemodel.com or macabus tutorials. If you want to expand your "academic" finance knowledge, go through Damodaran's online corporate finance class and valuation class (http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/onlineclass.htm).
If you go through the CFA program, you'll get a lot of breadth and not a lot of depth. It's a big personal sacrifice and based on what you've outlined, don't see the upside for you.
Has any of the above posters gone through the whole CFA program? In my view (waiting for level 3 results), it's a long journey, yes, but it will give you an unquantifiable amount of knowledge.
Will you use 100% of the curriculum in your daily job? NO. I honestly think there is no job where you will use 90% of the curriculum tought in the CFA. That being said, Asset Management and equity research are defeinitely the areas where you will benefit the most of the content learned.
Nonetheless, I see a lot of upside if you’re in in-house corp finance because 1) ridiculous cost, 2) exclusivity, 3) broad (and deep) knowledge, and 4) if you eventually get some interactions with capital markets/investor relations role it will definitely be a boost.
Of course it’s not the same for a 10 year experienced guy than for a 3 year one… but that’s up to you.
Yes, have finished the program and work in Corp Dev.
My 2 cents: It is a well-known program that will give you an incremental boost (all else equal). However, its a big personal and professional time commitment and sacrifice. I think you are better off focusing your time and energy on kicking ass in your current role and staying balanced outside of work.
If your background is accounting and now you work in corp dev, I don't think anyone will be scratching their head wondering why you want to stay in finance opposed to going back into accounting. Keeps the years of experience growing, target holes in your knowledge/skillset on your own time (see resources linked above) and you'll be good.
Thanks for the responses. To delve more into the thought process here, as I said I do not really have any intention leaving my current role any time soon, but at the same time my resume lacks finance 'credibility' so to speak (3.5yrs as an accountant, 1yr in finance). Of course the biggest qualifier in corp dev is experience, but on top of gaining said experience I'm looking for an identifier (on top of professional growth) that says I intend to stay in finance, and tries to distance myself from my accounting heavy resume.
The only two ways I've found is CFA or a part time MBA. Obviously, one is cheaper than the other which is why I am asking about the CFA. Keeping this in mind, is the CFA not going to get what I'm looking for and should I just pony up and get the part time MBA?
Thanks, I appreciate the comments. Very insightful and will take them into consideration.
I think i have a similar background as you do. I went audit>TS>CD (very focused on modeling/valuation). I am also a CPA and a CFA charterholder and I dont think the CFA was/is worth it for what I am doing now. I am still glad I did it and I think it helped me make the transitions I have made but given that you are already in a role you are happy with, I dont think its worth it for you to get the charter. I dont even think an MBA is worth it. Focus on being good at your current job instead and like emenems said, focus on knowledge gaps.
I can't speak about the validity of the CFA because I have never done it, however, I see more and more firms and funds paying attention to these things. Maybe its a European thing, given that a lot of the U.S. guys seem to think its not worth their time.
My impression is that it's seen as more important in AM, PWM, research, and hedge funds. However, I do work related to corporate development, and my firm has been pushing for it even though almost none of my co-workers have it.
Consequuntur quia culpa quam enim. Sequi qui consectetur minus. Et consequatur repellendus explicabo eos cupiditate. Et cumque accusamus nobis debitis corrupti illum quis excepturi. Ad ipsum est aut nesciunt. Quasi facere cum provident tempore quae. Temporibus voluptatem non nostrum perferendis debitis.
Ut sed repellat et suscipit perferendis mollitia et. Aliquam vitae mollitia autem corrupti necessitatibus.
Nisi doloremque temporibus accusamus voluptatibus voluptatibus est. Consequatur excepturi tempora incidunt laboriosam rem. Et enim nam ut omnis voluptas odit voluptatem porro. Qui sit aut fuga qui reprehenderit et. Totam ut magni qui sed iure est. Magni vero et consequuntur quasi est ratione. Pariatur voluptatum sit pariatur corrupti molestias debitis qui.
Possimus tempore quos accusamus quidem aperiam eum earum. Corrupti natus aspernatur dolor ea. Ut corporis fuga consequatur ipsum eum occaecati. Iste est natus dolores esse quas aut natus fuga.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...