I recently ran across an online post titled “Is the CFA losing its luster?” and had a good laugh. I laughed for multiple reasons.
The first reason was that an image of the seal on my CFA charter (see photo) becoming tarnished came to mind.
The second, and more important, reason was that online forums are full of people who are not CFA charterholders but like to weigh in on the validity of a program they know nothing about. (It would be like me weighing in on which theory of quantum mechanics is the best one.) And, as usually happens when people are jealous of things other people have, they decide to bash the very thing they covet but do not have.
Even worse, some claim things like “I am a CFA” and then proceed to bash the program.
I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions, but if any of you are considering doing the program, do yourself a favor and ignore those people. Their opinions are based on bullshit. They have either not completed the CFA Program or they failed miserably when they tried.
Or they are imposters, who are so much cooler online. The imposters are easy to spot because they often break the first rule of the CFA club:
Never talk about the CFA club.
Wait. Wrong club.
I meant to say: Never use CFA as a noun. These faux-CFAs (see—using the CFA as a noun again) are trolls living in their mommies’ basements, watching CNBC and pretending to be top investors. They will never make it in the money management business, nor will you if you take their advice.
It’s time to set the record straight on the CFA Program and the myths that surround it.
