Is passing the Level II of the CFA® useful for getting a position in corporate development or internal strategy? Assume no IB/equity research experience, but some (not top tier) consulting background and startup background.
Do companies ever hire for corporate development internally, and if so, from which kinds of roles?
Context: I am choosing between developing my tech/data science skills better or taking and passing the Level II.
Appreciate any input.
I take it you've already passed Level I? The CFA is a great tool to obtain a position in corp dev if you have no experience there. I know many companies hire externally for those type of positions, but it definitely would help your chances to be a CFA charterholder.
Would a Level II without other finance experience (remember, just 3rd tier consulting and product at a startup) be, in effect, an "orphaned" credential, or would it be sufficient, alongside the other background, to get in the door at some of these roles?
Also, any sense of what roles feed into corp dev/strat when they hire internally?
The CFA doesn't mean anything until you are actually a charter holder. I mean it shows interest, but that's really just not enough.
For the three Fortune 100 companies I've worked/interned for every single one of them hired internally into Corporate Dev/Strategy. If you're a top performer and have the mentality/work ethic of a banker you'll be able to work in any group you want.
The reason banking offers great exit opportunities is not because you're doing the most interesting/life changing work for two years(editing powerpoints for grammatical errors doesn't take an engineering grad)-- it's the work ethic, education, and drive that many bankers possess.
Mind PMing me which companies those are? I haven't seen internal hires be the norm in CorpDev almost anywhere.
Work ethic isn't the only component. Hard skills that bankers possess are superior to those coming up through the corporate tract. Not necessarily as much from a technical standpoint, but from an efficiency and formatting angle.
There is a vastly larger pool of potential candidates that can perform corporate finance functions than there is that can be successful bankers. Drive or work ethic is only part of that.
I also think that some bankers get stuck in the weeds too much and are unable to transfer their skills to Corp Dev/Strat groups. So it obviously cuts both ways a bit.
I work in the corp dev/strat group of a F50, and all executives are external hires, but just about all analysts through managers are internal hires, with the exception of an MBA intern we keep every now and then.
Internal hires mainly come from our corporate FLP, but also can be high performers in various functional areas around the company including ops, engineering, and finance. Everyone thinks differently and can add value, so it's good to have a mix of people with varied backgrounds.
When you say dev/strat, are you referring to M&A or determining the strategic direction?
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