I have unsucessfully sat for level I of the CFA exam four times two years ago. I applied to MBA programs in 2013 & 2014 and was denied admission. My career goal is to work in sales/business development for a buy side money management firm. Willing to relocate anywhere in the continenal US. What other options are there to break into the buy side without a CFA or MBA? Should I give serious thought to enrolling in CAIA level 1? Any suggestions wold be greatly appreciated.
I’m guessing you have an undergrad degree…is there not an entry level bus dev role you can apply for with an asset manager somewhere? What do you work in now? If you failed CFA Level 1 four times you may want to think of another career…don’t mean to sound harsh but 4 times is a lot. I have CAIA, it will not help you break into anywhere…just gives you a little more street cred…a little.
What’s your current background? You gave us a lot of negatives but not a lot of positives to work with to provide other options.
Undergrad degree in bus/economics from respected west coast university. I work in the back office for a financial services firm in San Diego. Brandes and Altegris Investments are in San Diego but very difficult to break into without experience and credentials(MBA and/or CFA). I have a decent undergrad gpa 3.4+, work experience in financial services but have been unsuccessful into obtaining an MBA or CFA. Just wanted some feedback and other options regarding breaking into buy side.
if you want to work in Sales/Biz Development why did you take CFA level 1 four times? What was your GMAT score?
Bus dev isn’t really what you think of when you think breaking into the buy side…I mean bus dev at a buy side firm sounds like what you want but you don’t need CFA for that…if you want to be an analyst on the buy side doing equity research or something then yes CFA could help with that.
Take time off and pass your CFA or trade on your own, write on blogs, and network at those CFA events (even if you haven’t passed). The only research analyst at our firm has a bio degree but great stock ideas. He got hired from one of those CFA events…
Hacksaw time…Do you think CAIA is easier to get if you can’t pass level 1? If you got a 3.4 GPA you should have no problem passing CFA level 1. Put in the hours for real and re-write. There is a difference between putting in 300-400 hours 4 times and failing and putting in 30 hours 4 times and failing. Get serious
Look for internal wholesaler jobs, there are lots of them. If you are workhorse, you can move up. Lots of competition, but also lots of earnings potential. Spend your time becoming a good talker rather than on the CFA if you want to be a salesperson. Most of the national accounts people I know do not have the charter.
You can pass any exam if you put in the time and you have an IQ of more than 100.