Hoping to get some thoughts/advice on how I should be thinking about career progression. Short story on my background: Worked at an institutional consulting firm in both the research and consulting sides of the business for first 5.5 years of my career. Completed the CFA while in this role. Recently moved into an investment role with a single family office doing asset allocation and manager research. Long term goal is to progress to CIO role with an endowment/foundation/family office.
My question is whether or not I should pursue an MBA? I can’t afford to take 2 years off work and its not possible for personal/family reasons for me to commute to a top-5 business school every weekend for three years. I know everyone’s feelings about “hacksaw” MBA’s and I generally agree, but is it a box I need to check to get to where I want to be? I’ve spent some time looking at job listings for higher level positions at university endowments and similar orgs and many seem say “mba OR cfa”. Is the CFA enough?
CFA is enough I think. If you told me you were a history teacher your whole career up until now then I would say MBA is a MUST if you wanted to be CIO of said firms, however, this isn’t the case and I think you will be good to go. It won’t be worth the 100k plus you’ll pay for a top 20 MBA.
I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. What matters is your overall desirability as an employee. If your career achievements are spectacular by themselves, then you won’t need CFA or MBA to look appealing to employers. Either of these things give you some points, but don’t put you into an entirely different category by themselves.
#1 For a career change. few years in back office but wants front office role. you said cfa or top 10 mba…let’s take UCLA MBA just outside of top 10. This back office person goes to UCLA MBA. High chance he will land front office finance job or mgmt consulting job. Just a fact. More likely than landing a higher position in back office. But if this person were to take a CFA…more likely this person will stay in back office.
#2 Person is in front office at a hedge fund (i work at a fund in nyc so i will stick to what i know and avoid asset managers or banks). Now if he wants to be a PM or CIO which you need luck and great network (skill here is given)…this person would get a top 10 MBA for the show and networks. This person will most likely not going to take CFA and learn about deferred tax assets or DuPont model or how to calculate standard deviation LOL. nonsense.
This topic has been beat to death… heck some candidates go a step further than you and compare cfa to masters in financial engineering or even top 5 MBA or even med school (compare CFA to medical doctors and surgeons!!!) etc. whatever makes people feel good about themselves i guess.
The question OP asked is ‘or’. If he has a CFA and can land an interview and prove himself capable of the job it is fine. I don’t think both are needed. I meant the ‘or’ to mean if you don’t have a CFA, you better have a top 10 or 20 MBA.
Here is the thing. I don’t think anybody disagrees that a 100k plus top B school MBA isn’t going to land you a front office Associate role at a BB bank, AM of HF or top consulting firm, but that’s the thing…It’s over 100k lol. Now, technically, if you are in the back office you really shouldn’t be allowed to have “CFA” next to your name. From what I understand, the CFA institute says you must contribute to the investment decision making process in order to be granted the charter. That being said, if your resume says “Passed Level III of the CFA Exam” and you have been in the back office your whole career and have an undergrad from a non tier one school, then you are going to have a tough time landing a FO role unless 1). you are well connected 2) write a really impressive cover letter maybe?, or 3) get on at an AM or Fund that has managers/directors that share your alma mater.
Example: I was looking for an analyst role out in SoCal a few years ago and stumbled across this AM that I kid you not, had 13 out of 16 graduates in there “Investment Professionals” website section that went to UCLA. It was actually kind of funny. Didn’t go to UCLA so obviously didn’t apply
yeah well you get what you paid for…100k is a lot of money but with it you get not only salary increase but also intangible benefits such as networks and new friends that can potentially open grand doors in the future and last a lifetime.
Also, last year CFAI came out with their annual survey. I don’t remember the numbers exactly and don’t want to login and search in the CFAI website. Roughly 25% were in the reporting/audit area. Technically, yes, these folks should not have received their charter but CFAI will take their dues and send out the charters in the mail.
I think the problem is the CFA exams are not as tough as many people think they are…pass rates are around 40-50% for each section…Just finish in the 50th place out of 100 people and you will pass…
to the OP, you don’t need an MBA…just need a solid track record, great references (great as in the persons giving you references somehow know your future employer), and most importantly the right people (why i suggested mba could be a good path).
