Just do CFA please. Things we forget in finance; Knowing what I do, knowing my capabilities,
I try to be very careful what I say and what I do. I try not to say things that I don't know, I try not to do things that I don't know for one reason.
There is nothing scarier in this world than a person who doesn't know what he is doing. In medicine, these people are discovered and punished pretty quickly. But in finance, these people can go unnoticed for an extended period of time. Once they are found, they are normally just fired from their job and find another one with another company.
Just like a prom queen who is eventually exposed to be just a stupid girl who doesn't know what she is doing, it takes a while to find those people in finance.
I think there is a huge gender bias here. Athletes are never arrogant, particularly those of us who play a team sport. We know our place, we know our limitations, we know when to listen and when to speak out (this carries a risk of you getting expelled from the team). Prom queens and popular girls, female counterparts, on the other hand, are merely good at "socializing."
This is why I am gradually turning into a strong advocate of a view that every asset manager, everyone who works in Asset Management, must pass CFA all levels and get themselves chartered.
The CFA not only teaches you basics of finance (well if you complete first, I'd say you know more about finance than "investment bankers" who spend a lot of time in their offices) but also teaches you what you don't know and the depth of the field. So it makes you less arrogant, more intelligent, more humble (in a good way).
And you will know when to speak up because the chartership teaches you to think for yourself and act in such a way to maximize the wealth of the ultimate investor (given his or her preferences). This "speaking up" will not be seen as arrogance, it will be seen as you fighting against the illiteracy in investment.
It's a bizarre post, but let's try not to be the guy who doesn't know what he is doing. Asset Management is difficult, we have to learn. I think that's the right attitude.
This post was very enlightening. It reminded me that humility is the most important trait in investing. Thanks for sharing.
I don't follow this argument at all.. for one, have you ever heard athletes talk? They are some of the most arrogant people ever, from high school to pros. Also there are women athletes, so it is not mutually exclusive that men are athletes and all women are trying to be prom queens. Plus not all of them are dumb. So two sides to that point that don't make sense to me.
Take the fact that people don't know what they're doing and use that to your advantage, be the go to resource and prove you are someone that can be relied upon. So if the CFA is part of your approach to doing that than by all means do it. (I am a charterholder FYI just for perspective) I think there is still a lot more for me to learn though before I can consider myself an "expert". But since I already finished CFA, the bad thing of everyone gets it, it dilutes the value of the designation putting it more on par with the CPA, which is like a prerequisite to go into public accounting.
"So it makes you less arrogant, more intelligent, more humble (in a good way)"
OP Maybe once you pass the CFA you can become all three of these things.
Being a CFA Charterholder myself, I wonder often if it was worth the time, or back when I was unemployed in 2010 and started the process, if I should have done Army Officer Candidacy School instead and then go to MBA afterwards on the GI Bill. Grass isn't always greener.
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