Since CFA exam’s been postponed, what other certificates or licenses can be pursued in the meantime to enhance the resume? I was enrolled in FINRA SIE exam, however it was also postponed. Are there any other credentials that can be obtained online while sitting at home? Any self-development ideas?
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When I was looking at another students profile from my university on LinkedIn, I noticed he had a “badge” credential from the CFA Institute for the “CFA Investment Foundations” program.
I pulled up the curriculum and have practiced through some of the end of chapter problems. I would suspect that anyone with an undergraduate degree in Accounting or Finance would easily be able to complete this and it wouldn’t take a substantial amount of additional studying. Not like the kind of hours we have put in for Level 2.
This is something I was thinking about doing. Here is how I think about it; if someone doesn’t have an undergraduate degree in finance, or investment industry experience, this seems like the type of credential that at least says on paper, “this person has basic fundamental knowledge of the financial markets and investment industry” before that person walks in the room.
As a level 3 candidate, you may be aiming for something much higher (like financial modeling skills, etc.), but thought I would drop this here just in case.
My plan is to…
-Complete a couple more Level 2 modules
-Test for this foundations badge
-Take a Financial Modelling class that is recognized
-Write (3) Equity Research reports for companies I enjoy and envision are going to dominate the future
-Pay a few insurance premiums on paper fiat in the form of physical gold and some digital assets along the way
-Go back to slamming Level 2 practice til December comes around…
If anyone thinks this is dumb and I could spend my time wisely somewhere else feel free to chime in.
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I was also thinking about Financial Modelling courses, especially when S2000Magician has dropped a free course link.
I’ve never written equity research reports, however I think it will be great to present something in your portfolio. Do you have samples of the reports or templates? I want to learn to do it, is there any useful resources you could share?
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I did one for the CFA Research Challenge. It’s my only experience writing one, and presenting a company to industry professionals. It was brutally hard work. Like climbing a mountain… Think that’s why I like it. 
I learned so much about that company and industry doing the work that it unlocked the creative thinking “equity analyst” inside me. However, I don’t believe I’m allowed to distribute a copy of that report.
If you go to the previous champion page (https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/societies/challenge/past-champions), there is a PDF version of the file you can download and view to see how the “best of the best” wrote the report.
Stig Broderson from The Investors Podcast also sends out copies of his own type of research reports (“Intrinsic Value Assessments”) on companies if you are on his list. I could forward you one of those emails so you could connect with them and start seeing what those reports look like.
Thanks for sharing. I went to the website of Stig Broderson, and there are plenty of companies that he assessed. Does he send out the same reports through e-mail, or they contain more details?
I think that the emails are the same as the assessments published publicly. I usually only look/read them when they come through email, so don’t hold me to that. Guess I use the emails as a “notification” when a new one is available rather than checking back on the website all the time.
Oh I see, thank you for the resources.