SOA FM exam for S&T / Quant Trading?

If I self study for the financial mathematics or probability exams, will this hinder my sales and trading / quant trading applications? I have nothing to do in the summer (couldn't secure internship) so I was thinking of self studying FM and the P exam (I have some previous exposure) to help boost my resume for S&T. I come from a target school and study maths, but will this ruin my resume?

Will recruiters think that I want to become an actuary and not pick me for S&T internships?

I want to do the FM exam because it's a structured curriculum and think it will help with my base knowledge (I have almost 0 finance background). I'm doing CFI right now but the curriculum seems very shallow and not in-depth. I'm also not eligible for CFA since I'm in 1st year right now. I would've just studied for CFA L1 if possible.

1 Comments
 

Quia cumque suscipit eos architecto vero placeat maiores. Id sit fugit similique eaque officia. Neque quia deleniti dolorem consectetur dolores quisquam. Qui eum veritatis ea voluptas porro dolores in ad. Accusamus voluptatum nihil est consectetur fuga.

Quo suscipit consequuntur numquam placeat atque id. Eveniet a dicta vel ipsum nulla aut ab similique. Repudiandae soluta magni consequatur omnis nobis qui.

Non rerum molestias quidem illum quod aut adipisci. Ipsam dolores qui in sequi. Quidem quasi velit nam dicta aut enim consectetur repellendus.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”