Designations to get for traders
Hi,
I am a finance grad from a canadian Semi-target with a 3.8 Major GPA. My career aspirations is to become a trader even though the trading industry has had its down turn and bankers are spinning off their prop desks. Currently I am studying toward my CSC and Level 1 <abbr><abbr title="Chartered Financial Analyst">CFA</abbr></abbr>.
Given I don't have much out of school experience and no internship, I see additional education as my competitive advantage, is there any other designations one could get that is relevant for trading positions and looked favorably by employers?
Lastly, I heard <abbr><abbr title="Chartered Financial Analyst">CFA</abbr></abbr> is really for portfolio managers, does this mean <abbr><abbr title="Chartered Financial Analyst">CFA</abbr></abbr> is useless for what I want to do?
Thanks
I'm not a trader yet, but from what people have told me the CFA is a huge misuse of time for traders.
The CSC is thoroughly useless for trading.
CFA can be useful if you're looking to move to the buy side in a PM role from S&T, but it won't really help you as a market maker. Had a friend who was a trader at a BB, recently got his CFA, and just moved to become an assistant PM at a startup HF. Another one got his CFA and moved to a buyside trading role. I don't know anyone who plans on staying in trading that has a CFA though.
Thats one qn bothering me too. I think CFA and FRM are good to have and I am studying for those now. CFA mainly because tons of people have it, and if u need to go thru the HR first, who know nuts about what makes a good trader, the CFA will help in the recognition. The FRM for risk aspects as you can say you take risk into account when trading, which hopefully you can crap in the interview as a plus point in today's volatile environment and banks don't want a rogue trader in their ranks.
That being said, I must stress that they are a side advantage, not a main one. The main points of what you should do is get into a good relevant trading internship, network your way into the industry, study hard and get a good GPA for your degree. If you have time, then do these extra things like CFA and FRM to stand out. You should not use the CFA and FRM as the main leverage to get into trading. CAIA too is not bad if you are into alternative investments like real estate. You can also consider CMT for skills in technical analysis.
Don't waste your time. A better investment of time and money would be opening a brokerage account and buying appropriate reading material - subscription to WSJ or FT, one solid book on options, on solid book on fixed income products, etc
I have visited trading desks on all but 3 BBs and have never once met anyone with a CFA
As a CFA Level 3 candidate and an experienced BB and prop trader, my view is that CFA does not have as many applications to trading as PM, but it is still useful and it's a good screening mechanism for candidates (shows you're disciplined and work hard and know fundamentals of finance). It won't hurt you to have it.
That said, the best objective "designations" for trading are a solid math and stat background, with enough comp sci ability to direct programmers, but not necessarily program yourself.
This is especially true in Toronto, where everyone is either a charterholder or a candidate
Become a Trader (Originally Posted: 12/26/2016)
Hello. New to this forum.
Had a simple question since I am feeling unnecessary pressure from a "peer" of mine. He has the CFA, Series 7, and 63 where as I have the 7 and 63. I have no plans to manage money and am only interested in getting my foot in the door as a jr. trader. I see the series 57 is usually a requirement along with the 7.
Does anyone have experience if the 7 is good enough to be a jr trader? I have the opportunity with my current company. I just want to know how much the CFA applies to me If i have no plans on managing money.
Trading and managing money usually imply different things. Managing money typically refers to wealth management and planning for retirement and maximizing the value of an estate, trading is what you think of when someone is behind 6 Bloomberg terminal swings trading on volatility, swings, and other technical indicators.
None of these certifications will make you a good trader/manager as they teach you just the basics. To be good at either of these it takes years of experimenting, sticking to strict investing strategies, and continual learning.
Right. But I meant getting my foot in the door. Is 57 a requirement when i have the 7/63? Trading wise.
Depends on the product. The series 57 is usually necessary for equities trading
Not true... Don't make stuff up.
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