can independent trading/investing count as CFA work experience?

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sublimity

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hi all,
if you are an independent investor investing the funds of ~10-15 investors, doing the research and making the trades yourself for four years, would this qualify for CFA work experience?
the CFA website says:
“Qualifying activities, such as:
- Evaluating and applying financial, economic, or statistical data involving securities or other investments, or producing work that adds value to the process
- Supervising persons who practice such activities
- Teaching such activities”
I think the answer to my question is “yes” but I couldn’t find a definitive answer using the search function, so I am unsure. (If this has been discussed already, my apologies ahead of time.)
thanks in advance!
 
Do you have the license to trade for these 10-15 people? Did you start a company to manage this fund?
If nothing is formal, then I think it doesn’t count. You might also have broken the law already.
 
I have not taken any investors yet, but am entertaining the idea provided I build up a good enough track record in 3-5 years. In which case, I would be able to get some money from friends and family.
(I am not implying I will be a superstar or even be successful in those 3-5 years, but I just want to keep my options open to pass the exams and get the charter while thinking of things in more entrepreneurial terms.)
 
ymc Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Do you have the license to trade for these 10-15
> people? Did you start a company to manage this
> fund?
>
> If nothing is formal, then I think it doesn’t
> count. You might also have broken the law already.
Okay another question here - “Does investing for oneself full-time count as valid work-ex?”
Many people who trade full-time are definitely investing and taking lots of decisions for which they use knowledge gained from reading the CFA curriculum. I am not sure if this qualifies as work-ex though. Maybe some Charterholder can pitch in here.
 
interesting, yes, say you are an independent investor…you would satisfy the work requirements at least in spirit, if not in letter
 
sublimity Wrote:
——————————————————-
> I have not taken any investors yet, but am
> entertaining the idea provided I build up a good
> enough track record in 3-5 years. In which case,
> I would be able to get some money from friends and
> family.
>
> (I am not implying I will be a superstar or even
> be successful in those 3-5 years, but I just want
> to keep my options open to pass the exams and get
> the charter while thinking of things in more
> entrepreneurial terms.)
I am not sure how easy it would be to add credibility to a track record and thus investing experience w/o having a custodian or some other BO arrangement. It might be a good idea to look into that if you plan onto use the track record for marketing or CFA experience requirement purposes.
 
There is no chance that CFAI will approve work experience of “independent investor”. Everyone in the world would have work experience that qualifies. If you ran your own investment company, that would work. Running your own money while working as a computer programmer does not work.
 
So it seems the answer is “no” unless I am running my own registered company full time. Makes total sense.
That’s pretty good still, I was a afraid that it was a necessary condition to actually work for someone else or for some company that I myself didn’t establish. So I’ll just finish up L2 and L3 since the knowledge is invaluable, and delay getting the charter until I get the required work experience, hopefully from a company I own.
If the company succeeds for four years, then I’m OK. If it fails, then my question is irrelevant anyways.
Thanks all, especially JoeyDVivre and ymc.
 
Is the answer still no if he did it full-time and his only income was through his trading?
 
Here is a cut and paste…
What’s acceptable work experience?
You are required to spend at least 50 percent of your time in qualifying activities to accrue your required professional work experience. Summer, part-time, and internship positions do not qualify. Managing your own investments does not qualify.
 
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