Hi everyone, I am new in Canada, have CFA Level 1 and good experience in CB. I am looking for the analyst, CB or IB positions.Thinking about doing MBA at Rotman. Is it worth that money (80k)? or should I follow with CFA? what is an average salary/position in Toronto after CFA? thanks in advance
step in line for those kinds of jobs. Rotman’s expensive, but if you get in, you should go; average salary for a Rotman grad in Finance is like $76,000 or something like that if I remember their slide show correctly… but Rotman usually won’t accept anyone with less than 3-4 years of good work experience, and you need pretty good gmat as well. I got turned down by Rotman, but my gmat score sucked balls (640) and my work experience was not fancy; just phone sales and administration. As for salaries for CFAs in Toronto, I would figure it depends heavily on number of years employed, but according to some BS web site I found, an average CFA in toronto pulls in just under 80K, so about the same as a rotman grad. http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Certification=Chartered_Financial_Analyst_(CFA)/Salary/by_City
I would say,Toronto CFA’s salary is way below the industry average if you consider US,UK and Japan. I remember seeing on CFA website that average CFA salary for US is about $150-160K;UK is about $170K and Japan is about the same. Canada,however is about $78K or something like that. It is a highly competitive job market because of the relative size of the market is very small. I heard someone here talking about WLU because of the co-op program. You should try that maybe.
Also, it seems like practically all Canadians in finance-related jobs take the CFA exams. So, maybe the low salary is because more Canadians in low level positions have CFA charters compared to other countries.
Toronto has the highest number of Charterholders per capita in the world…go figure! A CFA will probably not get you anything in a place like Toronto, but a CFA+MBA will.
Interesting topic here… What are your guys’ thoughts on IVEY MBA? (u of western ontario) The average salary for graduates is ranked the highest in Canada (beating U of T, UBC, Queen’s etc)… is it more difficult to get it?? Also, IVEY MBA is only one year… which in terms of opportunity costs, this is a massive saving compared to U of T…!!
Check Schulich’s stats…the starting salary rivals Rotman but the tuition is at 50K. Schulich has been ranked best ROI for a few years now. That’s why I did it there (half way through it so far). I think any tier 1 will land you a good opportunity - Queen, Ivey, Schulich, Rotman. About CFA in Toronto - seriously, wait in line. There are so many people with that charter in this place that saying you have a CFA only makes you get a glance rather than a throw in to the garbage bin. MBA+CFA means nothing if you don’t have the experience. In this job market in Toronto, experience is the trump card.
Internationally, Rotman is ranked well ahead of Ivey (though Ivey was definitely king $hit back 10 years ago or so). I dunno if you’ve walked into a Rotman classroom, but it was really diverse; lotta Indians/asians/misc brown folks, and a handfull of white people i guess, but not too much. When I think of Western, I picture a room filled with arrogant white people from rich families, but that’s my uneducated stereotype based on what little I know about their reputation. The one year thing sounds really appealing though, I kinda wanna do that now. Follow up on salary talk; my gf called me yesterday all excited cuz she has an interview; after 8 years of part-timing her communications degree from Laurier, and a couple years of working as a dog walker, someone saw her resume fit as a candidate for a “Corporate Assistant”, which doesn’t sound like much, but the job pays 58K. The lesson here; dog walking is an excellent gateway to higher paying jobs. Being blonde with DD boobs doesn’t hurt either.
MFIN— Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Interesting topic here… > What are your guys’ thoughts on IVEY MBA? (u of > western ontario) > > The average salary for graduates is ranked the > highest in Canada (beating U of T, UBC, Queen’s > etc)… is it more difficult to get it?? > > Also, IVEY MBA is only one year… which in terms > of opportunity costs, this is a massive saving > compared to U of T…!! The fact that Ivey MBA is a 1 yr program means that most candidates already have a lot of experience in the field that they want to move up. Rotman offers a summer internship, so someone like my buddy who was an IT guy was able to switch careers into finance. You won’t have this luxury with an Ivey MBA, unless you network your @ss off and one of those contacts actually gets you a job. Also, you can tap into Ivey alumni across Canada, they are reasonably helpful as soon as you mention you’re an Ivey grad. Rotman is better in my opinion.
@ Deep2002 Some friends had the same thoughts as you, and I definitely see the merit in the MBA CFA combo, but how do you get the job if you dont have the experience? Are you doing co-op with Schulich?
SM2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @ Deep2002 > > Some friends had the same thoughts as you, and I > definitely see the merit in the MBA CFA combo, but > how do you get the job if you dont have the > experience? > > Are you doing co-op with Schulich? Its not easy getting the job unless you have deep connections. From my experiences, this industry is all about schmoozing and connections. The only other way you would get experience is if your a super genious 4.0 gpa math/engineering/statistics wizard or you happen to be at the right place at the right time. I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time. You have a higher chance at landing experience at the small boutique firms so that is where I would look first. As for schulich, I’m doing the part time MBA on weekends. I love the flexibility of switching between full time and part time each semester the most. I checked so many different rankings to see where the canadian universities ranked (I had rotman acceptance as well) before I made the decision to go to schulich.
isn’t MBA sort of networking program?I don’t think you will learn anything special from MBA program. But network is all you need to get a job.
FRMer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > isn’t MBA sort of networking program?I don’t think > you will learn anything special from MBA program. > > > But network is all you need to get a job. Yes MBA is about networking but aside from that I actually learned some very valuable things in my courses so far. I had one economics course professor that was amazing at teaching invaluable information about macro and micro economic policies. Compared to the CFA economics section, I actually learned something compared to CFA making me memorize a bunch of things.
deep2002 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As for schulich, I’m doing the part time MBA on > weekends. I love the flexibility of switching > between full time and part time each semester the > most. I checked so many different rankings to see > where the canadian universities ranked (I had > rotman acceptance as well) before I made the > decision to go to schulich. Are you able to network via a part-time program though? I would think this is one disadvantage for a part-timer against a full-time MBA student. No?
Anybody here (from actual experience or reliable sources) know a reasonable entrance scholarship to U of T MBA, or IVEY MBA? I have a 4.0/4.3 in a MFin degree, as well as 3.85/4.3 in B.Comm…and I plan on finishing the CFA exams before I apply…GMAT 660 IVEY MBA recruiter told me the avg entrance scholarship was $8,000 but I’m wondering if I would be able to get higher than that or would this be considered avg? Also, U of T seems to offer alot of large scholarships… would I be a candidate for even a mediocore scholarship? Any feedback would be appreciated as I have high hopes for an MBA in a few more years but money is a major issue… I finance master of finance entirely through debt to be able to do it… and please don’t simply say the company will pay for it as my plan is to use MBA as a networking tool to change career paths and would like to be free to do so.
First of all which university did u take your MFin and Bcom?? I will then be able to offer you the best solution. I’ve Master in MGT Finance(Queens), CIM , CFA in progess and am into Portfolio Mgt side
the Queens finance degree you have is pretty good. CFA in process doesn’t mean anything to anybody; and lets be honest about the CIM designation; anybody who finished a basic undergrad in business would be able to bang that out in about 2, maybe 3 months of regular study. I know cuz I have it too, and to date, it hasn’t helped me with anything.
@magicskyfairy- maybe we are in different industry here. I am an Associate Portfolio Manager with local Investment Counsellor firm. For you to be registered as ICPM, you need to have CIM & Level 1 CFA. Thats how i got my license. If u completed CFA, you can also be registered as ICPM,…BUT why wait if you can bang CIM in one month and CFA level 1 in 2 months??? FYI…CIM is not for you to get a job…it for those who are into portfolio mgt side For IB, Private equity etc…CIM is just a piece of junk
Well, here is my industry; data processing and basic administration for a large international Banking group (has its hands in mortgages, private equity, brokerage services, Ibanking, all that stuff). If getting a job as a portfolio manager was as easy as completing the educational requirements necessary to do that, everyone would be a portfolio manager, and there would be nobody out there doing any actual work 
My point is just this; all those little CSI designations are really easy to obtain, and I’m pretty sure employers know that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I don’t think anyone should be hired as even an analyst, let alone a portfolio manager, if they haven’t finished the CFA exams AND gotten an MBA.