CFA and IBD

jerryhz

I am currently pursuing MBA in a school with traditional reputation in Finance and my career goal is to work for IBD (Corporate Finance). Just want to know if CFA is really helpful to get into IBD. There are so many classmates who want to do IBD in my school and want to know if CFA will improve my candidancy for IBD. 

I have no finance background and was a Software Engineer in the US before MBA. I will take CFA Level 1 this Dec. and I found preparing for CFA did take some time. So trying to figure out if I need to continue to take CFA Level 2 next June. Considering my heavy study load, I am not sure if I really have time to prepare for CFA Level 2 in the next half year. Some of my classmates said CFA is not that helpful to get into IBD since CFA mostly focuses on Investment Management. While some classmastes siad CFA might be helpful to get into IBD, especially for people without Finance background. BTW, I am not interested in Investment Managment.

I heard most of bankers in IBD do not have CFA. Is that true? Do you guys think it worths my time to continue to perpare CFA Level 2 and Level 3 in order to get into IBD? Any comments?

Also, if I cannot get into IBD, I am thinking about going back to my previous employer (a large IT company) to do corporate finance. Do you think CFA is helpful for my career in that track?

Thanks for your time!

excel

以下是引用jerryhz在2006-11-4 3:26:00的发言：

I am currently pursuing MBA in a school with traditional reputation in Finance and my career goal is to work for IBD (Corporate Finance). Just want to know if CFA is really helpful to get into IBD. There are so many classmates who want to do IBD in my school and want to know if CFA will improve my candidancy for IBD. 

I have no finance background and was a Software Engineer in the US before MBA. I will take CFA Level 1 this Dec. and I found preparing for CFA did take some time. So trying to figure out if I need to continue to take CFA Level 2 next June. Considering my heavy study load, I am not sure if I really have time to prepare for CFA Level 2 in the next half year. Some of my classmates said CFA is not that helpful to get into IBD since CFA mostly focuses on Investment Management. While some classmastes siad CFA might be helpful to get into IBD, especially for people without Finance background. BTW, I am not interested in Investment Managment.

I heard most of bankers in IBD do not have CFA. Is that true? Do you guys think it worths my time to continue to perpare CFA Level 2 and Level 3 in order to get into IBD? Any comments?

Also, if I cannot get into IBD, I am thinking about going back to my previous employer (a large IT company) to do corporate finance. Do you think CFA is helpful for my career in that track?

Thanks for your time!

It's true that in New York, the IB division of banks may not support CFA exams.  CFAs are generally for investment management guys.     

The knowledge of CFA exam may be helpful, however, in your IBD interviews for Hong Kong offices.     

uptownmusic

Yes IBD jobs do not require a CFA charter.  But considering your background I suggest you take this exam.

eternalwind

IBD more requires communication skills and devotion, rather than any certificate

whowho

IBD不用cfa,cfa的东西大部分在ibd都用不上 accounting比较重要点

cfa在buy-side的asset management行业比较常见 sell-side的equity research有个cfa也比较好

summerchen

Yes, buy side, CFA is useful. also for VC