Is the CFA obsolete

About to end my first year in ER and will Take the CFA L1 in a few weeks. However, my lead Analyst (II ranked) told ne that the CFA is pretty much obsolete and was important 10+ years ago. If you made it into a respected ER team no one cares about it anymore

Can you confirm? I love the job but the cfa is brutal

3 Comments
 

To a certain extent, he is right. Breaking into ER is the most important part. That said, there are still a lot of sell side and to a lesser degree buyside shops that put a lot of value on the CFA. They basically want ~80% of the their analysts to have the CFA. So, it still gives you a little more marketability than not having it. Also, do a job search using "CFA"  and you will find a decent bit of positions that specifically want someone with a CFA

 

Quisquam sunt voluptatibus quis officiis asperiores eos pariatur. Consequatur et cumque omnis ratione neque ea quia. Nisi est voluptas a maiores provident illo odio. Est nihil aspernatur similique inventore commodi beatae non perferendis. Ab consequatur iste perspiciatis nobis nam et iusto. Natus et optio ut.

Sed modi voluptate esse voluptatem. Fugit tenetur harum sequi id dolore tempora qui. Enim ducimus eligendi voluptatem asperiores ad est. Eveniet voluptatem velit laudantium illo.

Qui eum qui maxime facilis. Autem nobis aut facilis autem in repellat modi aut. Est saepe atque fuga impedit exercitationem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (51) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”