CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst! I was thing for last few weeks to right on why you should do CFA, when so many other programs are already in the market.
CFA is seen as the best alternative to MBA-Finance. I did my MBA and over two hundred thousand students do MBA every year from 1200 B-Schools in India.
However, here are my top 10 reasons why you should do CFA and this you cannot reject 🙂
1. Specialized Program
CFA is a specialization in investments and financial analysis. If you are a CFA, you are in the community of the world’s best 100,000 financial analyst.
MBA is a management program, developed for business administration not financial analysis. That’s why students from top b-school are appearing for CFA exam after their MBA.
2. Jobs across the globe
CFA is recognized in 130 countries, this opens the window to apply for jobs in almost every country. You can look for jobs abroad even after CFA Level 2.
3. Awesome Salary
Average salary of a CFA® in the world is $100,000 per annum. Apart from that they earn from investment activities in stock and bond market. Another benefit is you can earn while studying, as this is a self-study / distance program.
4. Demand & Supply
There are almost 400,000 MBA passing every year and around 800,000 CAs are registered with CA institute. Comparatively, only 20,000 candidates are appearing for CFA Exam every year.
5. High passing rate
If you are looking for a seat in top 10 B-School. You need to be in 2% of 200,000 students, who write CAT exam. CAs are having an average passing rate of 5%. If we look at CFA exam, it has average passing rate of 38%. You can read this article for best time to prepare for CFA exam.
6. Earn as you learn
You can get a job just after CFA Level 1. So, You don’t have opportunity cost of 2 years like in MBA program and 5 years in CA program. You can earn after CFA level 1 and study with the Job.
7. Recognition
CFA program is awarded GOLD standard by Wall Street Journal. It has world recognition. Over 200 MNCs are employing CFA® across the globe.
8. Low Cost
If we compare CFA fee to MBA, MBA costs you around INR 400,000 to INR 1,500,000 in local market and around $100,000 if you want to get a foreign degree.
CA registration fee is very low. However, tuition fees for all the subjects and opportunity cost is very high.
CFA will cost you around $1200 for CFA level 1 and $800 for CFA level 2 and 3. Also, cfa coaching fee is comparatively very low in India.
9. Premium Job
If you are pursuing MBA –Finance other than top-10 B-School in India. There is no guarantee of getting a premium or desirable job in finance industry.
So, if you are an already an MBA from tier 2 colleges or planning to do MBA; my suggestion will be go for CFA as it’ll give you opportunities to work with one of the world’s finest companies in Finance.
10.Easy to study
CFA program is designed for 300 hours of self-study. However, if you join a good cfa coaching class you may need to hardly invest 1 hours daily for 4 months to easily pass the exam.
Conclusion
No doubt CFA is one of the finest programs in investment and finance for those who want to work with top investment bankers, hedge fund, portfolio management, mutual fund, commercial banks and brokers. It’s easy to pass and low on pocket. It can be done with your job or while going college for any other fulltime program.
Feel free to comment if you have questions. Go, ahead an share this post on your facebook or twitter account so, that your friends will be more aware. Happy learning 😉
