Sorry, CFAs. An MBA Will Get That Investment Banking Job You Want

JonFrank

Hey guys, I know a lot of people want to work in investment banking after graduation, but they wonder about doing other degrees programs VS MBA, so I want to share this article with you and I think this would apply well to you if you want to know the answer.

If you want to land a top slot in investment banking, get an MBA over a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Spending four years and hundreds of hours studying for a finance certification may not be worth it. A much larger share of managing directors at banks worldwide have master’s of business administration degrees than Chartered Financial Analyst designations, a recent study shows.

Efinancial Careers, a London-based financial-services website, analyzed résumés from their database of 17,000 people with 10 years of experience. In addition to the prevalence of MBAs among managing directors, the study noted that just 13 percent of people with CFAs are managing directors, compared with 18 percent of those with MBAs.

The study gets at the heart of a fierce debate about which set of letters people should pursue to make themselves eligible for a top slot at an investment bank: MBA or CFA. Two years at business school leads to the first, and about four years and a total of 900 hours of preparation for three exams leads to the second, a Chartered Financial Analyst credential. While to some, two years away from work seems like more of a sacrifice than taking a handful of tests while on the job, it is notoriously difficult to become a so-called charterholder.

Most people fail the exams, even after sinking whatever precious hours they have away from their cubes into studying. Just 44 percent of the 47,000 financial professionals who took the first level of the exam in December passed it, which was actually an increase from the depressing 42 percent who passed in June. Business school is more expensive, but also a surer bet for people intent on adding a new acronym to their e-mail signatures. Two years at a top MBA program can cost more than $100,000, vs. the $3,000 that people generally pay to take the CFA exams, but the majority of people admitted to business school finish with a degree in hand.

If you have a question about your applications, feel free to leave a comment here or send me a Private Message. I'm happy to help!

cheesechan

http://www.businessinsider.com/mba-vs-cfa-2013-4?IR=T
just for reference.

我本人對MBA vs  CFA 這類話題沒啥興趣和意見的, initial investment相差太遠了.
當然, 中介是一定推薦MBA的, 要麼他們哪來的生意.

spotty

Thanks for sharing Jon!

But imho the proper way should be to compare the percentage of people who become MDs after getting their CFAs with the percentage of people who become MDs after an MBA, not the way the article shows.
Another concern of mine is that, CFA is a globally standardized test, whereas MBA has top, mid or low tiers... So in general I would say that Top MBA > CFA > Mid/Low Tier MBA (for launching into IB insudtry).

Sekki

CFA holders are mostly investment managers (mutual fund/hedge fund managers, etc), not investment bankers. You really got to know the different between these two career paths.

我系大P

I might agree because MBA provides a better platform for career transforming. Assuming you are not in IB after undergrad and want to get into IB after completing the CFA exams, the possibility is much lower than for a MBA grads.

However, to someone who want to go well in the IB path, i believe CFA is a plus and you should pursue it before or after your MBA. Even a student with straight business/finance background can't understand the capital market thoroughly. What do you think the MBA can teach you in 2 years. In fact, increasing number of ppl simply take the CFA level 1 to at least have a big picture about the financial world.

zsyks

ppl who work for deals like ib don't need cfa, only who do investing are typical cfa candidates, also you should consider overlays
if the poll is limited in equity research analysts or fund managers you'll get a completely opposite result
both cfa and mba are big commitments, as far as i reached, most firms weigh mba and cfa (holders, not candidates) equally
the shortcoming of cfa is you need relevant work experience, but your exam costs are usually covered by the banks, it's a tradeoff

fw227

that's just a pointless comparison dude

小厨子

感谢分享！               

shower1102

We could not take income as the only character in measuring MBA experience. Of course, ROI, of after MBA income matters to everyone, including me, but there are much more pushed me to pursuing a MBA degree. CFA only makes you competitive if you are in financial industry/function (especially in quantitative research). Meanwhile, a MBA degree could help you knock the doors of nearly all industries.

cheesechan

shower1102 发表于 2015-4-20 23:19
We could not take income as the only character in measuring MBA experience. Of course, ROI, of after ...

except it is a joke that CFA is useful for quantitative financial research, I will 100% agree to the rest.
=> pointless to compare MBA with CFA...

不禁令人懷疑某些疑似中介拉客時吹牛的稿都沒打好.......