CFA outside of banking?

CFA General
#1

Hi everyone,

I am wondering if the CFA is useful for pursuing a career outside of banking / Portfolio management? My question refers in particular to CFOs / startup CFOs (SaaS, internet…) - Does the CFA cover fundraising/financing/company valuation? - Does the course cover specificities of SaaS/internet startups ? - Is the CFA certification only recognised on the job market after completing the 3 levels? What about when passing level 1 or 1 & 2 only? Thanks a lot! And best of luck for the ones passing the exam next week !

#2

  1. Lots of depth in valuation/financing, not so much in fundraising. You would wind up studying a lot of things you wouldn’t need to know. CFA is relatively uncommon in investment banking for this reason

  2. No

  3. No - there is no partial designation. All 3 or nothing.

If you want to peruse what each of the 3 levels covers, check out this review summary card. It’s intended for review but you’ll get to see a bit under the hood: https://www.efficientlearning.com/cfa/resources/wiley-cfa-exam-smart-sheet/