Did not major in Finance in college but will be pursuing a Wharton MBA next year with concentration in Finance. I only took one Finance course in college (Intro to Corporate Finance) and do not honestly remember much from it. I have a CPA so have some general business knowledge which should help me study Finance on my own.
Before the Wharton entry, how can I spend time to learn about Finance as much as I can? I am thinking of pursuing pre-MBA internship this summer in Investment Management, so want to spend a few months networking with people but also studying so that I can at least sound knowledgeable during the interviews.
I was thinking of a few options below, let me know which one of them may sound better suited for my needs.
1) Read Finance books that are used in college; or,
2) Read CFA prep material books (around 500 pages for each level) and learn what I need from them?
Let me know what you think may get me up to speed faster.
I don't understand how people like this guy are smart enough, driven enough, and qualified enough to get into a WHARTON MBA WITH A FINANCE CONCENTRATION and PASS THE CPA EXAM but don't know how to use Google and type in "finance for beginners"
haha I knew someone would call me out here
I tried googling but there are many different opinions on what to read and how to study, etc. So thought it would be best to ask on this forum and get someone's professional opinion.
My main question is: will I be better off going through the CFA books in order to learn? Or are those books only sufficient if you have prior knowledge from college Finance classes?
I'd say slog (and sit for CFA L1) You can skip areas that you know. (Presumably you know GAAP but not IFRS) Both a Wharton MBA and the CFA charter convey equal levels of knowledge in the industry. Interestingly, the MBA is all about connections. A charter after your name and a good linkedin can beat a Wharton MBA with bad connection forming.
So you mention that Wharton MBA and CFA convey equal levels of knowledge. Does it mean that it's a waste of time to take the CFA if you are doing Wharton MBA, and vice versa? Or the combination of Wharton MBA + CFA is better than any one of them alone?
they are very different. A MBA is all about networking, and getting your CFA Charter is all about technical skill. In my little fund department the one guy without his charter has a Master's in financial mathematics. Everybody else has it. The one guy I know with a top tier MBA (HBS, not Wharton) works on building out and selling one of Goldman's services/technical products and has no shot of getting into AM.
Edit: There's a joke about a Wharton/HBS MBA: the toughest part is getting in.
CFA book might be overwhelming but the level 1 should be give you a good overview. For me, if you really want to be granular without actually buying books, use safari books online. Another way to learn is youtube "MIT finance theory" and watch the course. Very vanilla and the professor goes into fixed income, equities, portfolio theory and such. Another really good book for first time financer is the "The Practical Guide to Wall Street: Derivatives and Equities".
It depends on what career you want to get out of your MBA. CFA curriculum is a waste / overkill for traditional front office IB, but is practically a prerequisite for ER.
Read the financial Analysis Prep Book and the book that covers fixed income. Go on coursera and take an intro to financial accounting course. This should be sufficient prep.
You are going to be attending the best finance program on the planet and they will teach you all you need. I wouldn't overthink this. Just brush up with an intro corporate finance text and give the McKinsey Valuation book a read, also spend some time working through financial models. Crush your classes and join the finance club and you should be fine come interview time. Sitting for the CFA is complete overkill.
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