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The CFA Golden Ticket to Finance“I have no relevant experience, no industry contacts, I don’t know how to network, but I’ve passed CFA Level 1. Why can’t I break into finance?”

The above quote is a fictionalized, yet all too common plea from those who are on the outside trying to break into the world of finance.

There is a common misconception that passing a CFA exam is a golden ticket to the world of finance, as if Johnny Depp will welcome you with open arms and give you are finance job for life. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

The good news is that the CFA program can help you break into the industry in asset management, equity research, and hedge funds.

The bad news is that there is a lot more you need to do than just passing the exams.

In this post, I’ll discuss everything you need to know when using the CFA to break into finance, including:

  • History of the exam,
  • An overview of the CFA program,
  • The benefits of the CFA program,
  • How to find out if the CFA program is right for you, and
  • How to effectively use the CFA program to break into finance.

The CFA program really can help you break into finance, but you need to know the proper path to take. So, let’s get started …

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Career Path“My goal is to get into IB or HF.”

This is probably the most common career path desire of all the readers I see here and at M&I. I always smile when I read those sentences because the IB and HF career paths are really quite different.

Maybe they aren’t all that different since they are both in the field of finance, but they are different enough that lumping them together is amusing.

Time to choose. Which one will you choose: Investment Banking or Hedge Fund?

Still don’t have an answer? That’s OK. I just wanted to get your attention and point out what you are really saying when you say, “My goal is to get into IB or HF.”

“My goal is to make a lot of money.”

That’s what you are really saying. I get it, I really do. Investment bankers and hedge fund managers can make obscene amounts of money. Picking up the tab for bottle service for some of these guys is like the average person picking up a McDonald’s value meal.

They are society’s outliers and can do things in life that the average person only dreams about. The desire to make a lot of money is what brings some of the brightest minds in the world to finance.

Now that we’ve identified your true career goal (making money!), we need to spend some time discussing investment banking versus hedge funds so you can pick the career path that really is right for you. It’s not a life-or-death decision, but you need the right information to make an informed decision.

The way I see it, there are three different career path choices to choose from when evaluating IB vs. HF:

  • IB for Life
  • IB with Exit Opportunity to HF
  • HF for Life

I’ll discuss the pros and cons of each on their own and then offer some information so you can choose the path that’s best for you and your career goals (ahem, making money!).

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