Why You Should NOT Pursue a CFA

Or frankly, any designation

Mar 08, 2023

In the context of investment research, as someone who has partially gone through the program, I believe CFA is a poor use of your time, with a few exceptions.

You can WATCH this article:

The Chartered Financial Analyst program is a professional certification program that is well-known in the global finance industry globally. It entails passing three 4.5-hour examinations, and acquiring relevant work experience and letters of reference from current CFA designation holders (also known as “Charterholders”) to be accepted into the club.

Why CFA is not a good use of time

CFA is about breadth and theory, not depth and applicability: For example, the exam teaches you formulaically how to analyze financial statements, but it does not educate you on the nuances of dealing with companies changing reporting segments or identifying shenanigans in footnotes. Frankly, many FinTwit accounts do a better job of sharing applicable skills.
CFA is a huge time and money commitment: Per the CFA website, a candidate needs at least 900 hours of studying to pass all 3 levels of the exam that costs $3,600 in fees (price just increased to $1,200 per exam from $1,000) and a $450 one-time enrollment fee. I suggest instead allocating the time and money to a good financial modeling course and great investing books.
For those already in “front office” finance (ie. revenue-generating functions such as Investment Banking or Sales and Trading), CFA adds no incremental credibility. It’s all about job performance once you are in.
Supply of Charterholders could skyrocket in the future as the CFA Institute (the “non-profit” organization behind the CFA designation) offers the exams more frequently. It’s hard to verify, but if we know how many of them are reconciling trades instead of analyzing stocks or managing portfolios, you would know CFA is not a magic bullet to your dream job.

Some counterpoints to my view

The exam has good breath. For a non-finance professional who wants to be perceived to speak the finance language, having “CFA exam candidate” on the resume can improve the interview response rate (though how much incremental I am not sure).
Many investing legends have a CFA designation: To name a few (pictured above, from left to right) – Bill Gross (bond king of PIMCO), Howard Marks (Oaktree), and Mario Gabelli (GAMCO). It’s a good club to be in. That said, they are famous because of the value they created for investors. I highly doubt they are respected just because they have a CFA.

Should you do the CFA?

No, if you think

Having three letters behind your name makes you cooler - It doesn’t.
CFA boosts your MBA application profile. No, it doesn’t help nearly as much as a higher GMAT score, or stronger professional accomplishment. CFA is also overkill after getting an MBA.
CFA helps you get into a hedge fund. No, the only thing that matters is: Can you make money?

Yes, if:

You are an outsider to finance. Passing the first two levels of CFA signals that you speak the language and have the basic technical skills (the third level pertains to more portfolio management concepts, irrelevant to fundamental research work). However, once you get the interview, you need to demonstrate on-the-job competency to get the offer, which the CFA does not provide.
You work in multi-asset roles, where the knowledge of a broad range of financial products (eg. Equity, fixed income, derivatives, etc.) is valued. I think CFA in this case provides a great foundation, but becoming a true expert requires more on-the-job training (tying back to how the CFA lacks depth and applicability.)
You need it to be promoted. Many mutual fund companies (the long-onlys) require the CFA designation to be promoted to a senior analyst or portfolio manager. Rumors have it that allocators check off boxes of allocating to long-only portfolio managers who have a CFA, maybe the letters correlate to better performance or better ethics? My hunch is neither. If you want to progress, do what you have to do.
You work in parts of the world where not having it will hurt you (but won’t help if you do because everyone also has it)

Conclusion

The world doesn’t need more people who have three letters but cannot do the job. The world needs more people who can do the job so that they don’t need any letters.

This is particularly relevant today where so many credible investors are sharing their investment process publicly online, so no one can make an excuse of not knowing where to start on self-teaching skills. It’s not the $4,500 that hurts the most, but the 900 hours that you (and I) will never get back in life. So please think long and hard about why you are pursuing the CFA designation (or any designation or professional degree.)

If you want to advertise in my newsletter, contact me 👇

Advertise with The Equity Analyst

Resources for your public equity job search: