CFA Career Paths

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In your opinion, what is the best career path (or job) for a CFA candidate or a freshly minted CFA member, and why?
 
How you define financial satisfaction is up to you. A reasonable career path to PM, would include getting a job out of school as a jr. analyst, working up to senior analyst and then PM. You could probably do that on either the equity or fixed income side. I doubt PE or HF will fast track you for a PM role.
 
Thanks JonnyDee. To objectively restate “financially satisfying” - means the path with the highest financial compensation on average. Also, any thoughts on Buy or Sell sides for the analyst position?
 
This is a very poorly posed question. Your question is “what is the best and most satisfying career?”. Obviously, the answer is NBA Player-Dinosaur Wrangler-Ninja-Astronaut. Just because great career paths exist doesn’t mean that they are accessible to all people with CFAs.
 
Obviously, if I wanted to be and NBA star I wouldn’t be practicing the CFA exam questions for 3 years. But I appreciate your humor.
 
My point is that your question is irrelevant unless you actually have a choice between those careers. For instance, if someone says that “hedge funds” are the best career, are you *not* going to apply to any of those other jobs? While having a long term goal is important, if your main objective is to just get some job in “front office” finance, you should aggressively pursue all opportunities that you’re qualified for.
 
I agree with your point, but it doesn’t hurt to get opinions about career paths from knowledgeable people in the industry. Now, what else do you know about this?
 
You can open a friendfinder operation for classy babes. I’m sure FrankArabia would pay a lot of $ to use the service. After a few thousand clients, you could use your CFA skills and IPO your company. Riches will follow. Then get more classy babes. (repeat cycle)
 
@OP Look, these types of broad questions come up all the time here on AF and at a lot of other financial forums. That’s why you are most likely going to catch some flak for this, and I highly doubt you are going to get the answer you’re looking for. In the investment world there are many different paths and no generic formulas to follow.
If you’re really trying to find some answers I suggest asking something a little more specific. Are you currently working, at school, applying to open positions? If you have a question on a specific area of finance/CFA or on your own situation there are many people on this site willing to give you some good advice.
But if you’re just looking for some generic dialogue on working in the financial industry then read through the forum, there is plenty of information already out there.
 
I’ve done my reading, and I feel somewhat knowledgeable about my career path. I just wanted to see what other opinions people in the same field have. I’m relatively new to this forum, but I must say that I expected the CFA candidates and members to act a little more professional, even when remaining anonymous. Unfortunately, some cannot avoid posting snobby or kinky opinions. But nonetheless, all good constructive opinions are appreciated.
 
Part of your problem is that you basically said what pays the most with a CFA, and that rubs people the wrong way. There are a lot of douchebags that only care about money, and what can make lots of money one year may not be so next year
 
I see your point iteracom, but I’m a capitalist and I do not feel apologetic for caring about money. Most businesses in the investment industry are for profit. If someone hates making money, perhaps they should study philosophy or marketing. And I know in the investment industry the compensation is often tied to performance. I think it’s pointless to be jealous or hateful of someone who is more knowledgeable or experienced. However, it’s a totally different thing when someone is being unethical. I think a few unethical individuals in the industry just gave the wrong perception of the industry, creating general hate for anyone caring about profit.
 
stupid question…but you forgot to mention a lot of career paths for ppl with CFAs…back office, middle office, branch retail etc…..not sure if a CFA will lead you to M&A….given the way they recruit, chances are it won’t……
given the fact you asked this question, doubtful you will end up in those good jobs anytime soon…
marketing is about making money too…….problably more so than your average analyst sitting in front of a spreadsheet crunching numbers…..
 
Well, thanks for your opinion. I take it you don’t know the answer to the question, otherwise you wouldn’t call it stupid. The question was very simple request of opinion: What is the best career path (or job) for a CFA candidate or a freshly minted CFA member, and why?
 
what is the best type of girl to date for a freshly minted wannabe millionaire? should she have big boobs? blonde, brunette, asian? what about the ability to wear high heels?
as a matter of fact, what should I get for lunch today? i’m quite not sure, can you help me out? i’m kinda hungry but not really really hungry, but hungry enough to eat a decent sized meal…..
 
Frank, there are other forums for those type of questions… if you don’t have a constructive opinion, then please don’t pollute.
 
But it’s not a simple question. That’s the problem. First of all, not all CFAs are equal. You could be a CFA who just graduated from Harvard Business School after working at Goldman Sachs, or you could be a CFA who is an unemployed IT graduate in India. Obviously, the opportunities are vastly different between these two people. Thus, the answer to your question is different depending on who is asking.
Plus, “best career” has different definitions for different people. Some people value high compensation. Others value work/life balance or intellectual stimulation. Thus, this question is also impossible to answer. Even if we are to assume that you just want to be paid a lot of money, the answer depends on your qualifications. Some people can make a lot of money trading complex derivatives. However, if you don’t have a math background, you will fail in this field. Different people will succeed in different things. So again, there is not enough information to provide you with an answer to this question.
I apologize if you perceived the responses here to be hostile. However, the reason that your question has not received a good answer is that it is not a good question. Learn to accept criticism constructively. If one out of five people gives you a hard time, then that person is probably the problem. If five out of five people are giving you a hard time, then you are probably doing something wrong.
 
Thank you, great reply! You see I don’t have a specific person in mind. I agree, the question is somewhat expansive. But I figured people would just write about their preferred career path. I guess in my next threads I’ll have to be more specific with my questions. Anyway, thanks to everyone who contributed to the discussion.
 
@OP, the same three or so questions get asked every few months or so on this forum, and as such I don’t find the reaction you received out of the norm.
However, in response to your question: Why don’t you give some background for us to comment on?
For example, your username seems to indicate you are a CPA looking to transition int a CF…err.. a CFA Charterholder (*looks over shoulder for CFAI*).
If so, what kind of accounting background do you come from? Is it in industry or public accounting? Do you work for a large firm, Big 4, public company, consulting firm, etc.?
Also, what kind of role do you like to play? Front, middle, back office? Where do your skills lie?
See what I’m getting at here? Give us a bit more info, use the search button to augment your search, and get a feel for the atmosphere of the forum. I’m sure once you do you’ll get some more constructive responses.
 
I’m fine with the other’s reaction. I realize that there are a bunch of people out there who post similar questions and the people who are knowledgeable and been in this forum for years, like many of the authors in this tread, and are pretty tired of answering the same questions.
As for me, I’m pretty set with my career path, which is to culminate with a PM position. I have CPA and back office financial reporting background, primarily in the IM industry. As JonnyDee above described my path is pretty straightforward: Jr.Analyst -> Sr.Analyst -> FM or PM… over some 10 to 20 years. This is what I researched and what I know.
I was really trying to see what other career paths people may have in mind, specifically where CFA is beneficial. It does not have to relate to me, but to anyone pursuing CFA designation.
 
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