Certified Financial Planner (CFP)

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avraell

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I am just curious if anyone has this certification or knows anything about it. If so, how hard is it compared to the CFA, how prestigious? Is it an easy exam after the complete CFA curriculum.
As a side note - passing level I did not seem to improve my chances of getting a job as far as I can tell. No one seems to care about it at all. Whenever I bring it up at interviews, people generally ignore it entirely and move on. I also know people with lower GPAs and no CFA who get jobs over me…interesting economy. Probably not going to sit for level II this year.
 
The CFP compared to the CFA in terms of prestige and especially dificulty is like comparing Hooked on Phonics to a Masters in English. The CFP is more expensive over a shorter period (usually like 3 to 5 grand depending on how you do it), and it can be completed in under a year. I know a few people who failed miserably on L1 and passed their CFP.
Not to knock it too much, its essentially apples and oranges. If you want to be client facing and work as a financial planner its a good thing to have, but if isn’t really all that applicable to most CFA career paths.
 
I hear of people even on the institutional side getting the combo recently. I’ve toyed with the idea a time or two. Of course for right now I have to get past the CFA exams first.
My opinion is that the charter is more geared to institutional management, and to a lesser extent some wealth management areas. Of course with all the IPS work in l3 I may proven wrong when I get there.
From what I understand the CFP is mainly dealing with equities, insurance, tax management, and estate planning. I hear it really has an emphasis on indexing and passive mgt. I don’t know about that stuff personally. I think if you are on the buy side in an RIA shop doing both might be helpful to just round you out. But haven’t totally decided if I will do it yet, I want the charter first and foremost.
Traditionally I think charterholders would choose financial planner /advisor types to go out and be their touch points with clients, and the CFP essentially came about in an effort to legitimize that side of the profession.
Don’t want to rattle a bunch of egos or anything in saying that just an observation. -A
 
CFP is way different than the CFA program.
I am a financial advisor mainly selling personal insurance and mutual funds for a financial company. lots of the people in this field have CFP. CFP is a credential if you want to persue financial sales (for individuals and families) as a career. It is relatively much easier to obtaing than passing CFA exams.
 
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