Forty-six percent of you are likely feeling prettay prettay prettay good this morning, possibly on account of celebratory morning drinks. The rest of you are probably in not as great a place, on account of having just thrown away the last 4-6 months of your lives.
In the event you want to express whatever emotions are running high right now, be it anger or sadness, but work in narrow-minded institutions that will presumably not appreciate psychotic meltdowns, the likes of which would have Steve Slater and Cliff Asness slowly backing out of the room, or JO&C’ing on company property, don’t be shy about letting it out right here. Tell us about how you skipped a midget-themed Memorial Day pool party for this crap and this is the thanks you get?? We’re listening.
Being in the top 46%, I am looking for 2 lemonade stands to merge immediately…
Re-taking exams is no big deal.
JFK Jr.
So this means 54% of us can’t afford new Acuras?
@3 or flip-flops
And just for kicks I urge all existing CFA charterholders not to sponsor any new member for at least 6 months so that this fuckers can’t actually use the designation.
@2, much too soon.
CFA is for girls.
-Columbia MBA ’05
CFA = worthless
~ Ackman, Einhorn, Paulson and Falcone
Passed. Now someone give me a hedge fund.
@8, see @7
CFA only useful at buy side bucket shops
Level 3 only after 4-6 months? And I’ve never heard of this CFA everyone is playing. I’m currently at level 10 of Call of Duty after 3 weeks. You guys are either retarded or just plain suck.
@7 I concur.
POP WHIRRR BEEP
STAR FAILED LEVEL THREE
ANSWERED ALL ETHICS QUESTIONS WITH “KILL ALL HUMANS”
BZZZT WHIRRR
INITIATING FLASH CRASH
@9 That’s fine. My dream is to manage the home office wrap products at Raymond James.
@10 Level 10 on Call of Duty. Im at level 47 in Xbox Live for CoA, and level 89 on Diablo 2.
I just wanna bust a nut on my CFA charter, then cry.
–Guy who busts a nut on things, then weeps like Colgate grad at Minetta’s
A CFA gave me crabs, once.
Does an education from of Colgate, Cornell or Hofstra even qualify someone to sit for the CFA Exam, or do they have to earn credits somewhere else before registering?
A CFA hung me on a hook, once.
why is there so many people trying to get it, and why did i not pass???
A CFA beat the market, once.
You know what they say buckos: if at first you don’t succeed, try try law school.
-Ross Med School Grad 2025
@17 – Just hilarious you clown. Stop with the Cornell insults as you are only showing what a fool you are. It is properly known as SUNY-Ithaca.
Ag School ’92
A CFA molested me in the back of a van outside of Minetta’s once.
MBA and CFA botha waste of time-
Head bartender at Minettas who knows a waste of time and money when he sees one
Bartender at Minettas who doesn’t report tips to IRS definitely makes more annually than a MBA from Colgate, Cornell or Hofstra
Good looking people do not get CFAs
@16 definitely FALSE as CFA holders never have sex with a partner
@24 – I take it you have both?
PASSED! Funny, I don’t *feel* richer. Maybe those MBAs were right…
28 no because waste of time, see prior statement. Come by sometime and I will shove a glass down your throat and give you a smack to your grill
Head bartender = greatest insider info gather
Sweet, I can then hold the pee in my mouth for later. Glad you did not say my rear since it is already full of markers.
- Tong
Excellent start to the week. Received my Level 3 failure notice at 9am this morning!
- AF
Suck it bitches.
-DB Commenter, CFA
How many CFA’s were/are there at AIG?
~The Tilde Capital Management Guy Who Likes to Bring Up AIG All the Time
man, I just think this is unfair. People who did the exams 10 years ago had high pass rates, easier exams and less competition and yet they can call themselves cfa charterholders. The designation is significantly harder now and the exams are so much more challenging… i failed but just barely. don’t want another 6 months of pain… gonna quit at level 3 after all the hard work.
@36 – no J.O., just C?
@36: It’s all relative. Plus CFAI wants more of your $$$ and eventually your firstborn.
how about the CAIA resultes?
@36 Actually, is quite the opposite. The CFA program was destroyed when they introduced multiple choice. That’s why you peeps don’t get more $$$ when you pass the CFA.
Back in the days, your balls dropped when you passed Level II, that’s why Level III was seen as a mere formality (with pass rates above 80%).
@7 Basing your argument on managers who have yet to blow-up=worthless
-John Meriwether, Brian Hunter, Julian Robertson, Ron Beller, Ralph Cioffi,
@40 The pass rates for all levels have never been lower. This was the lowest LIII pass rate by a longshot — a test that is still 50% essay. The essay portion of LIII is the hardest test I’ve taken in my life, by a long shot.
I recently passed L2, on the first try of course because I’m the fuckin man, and it appears that one ball dropped lower than the other. Should I see a doctor?
@7 Who?
-Bill Gross, CFA
@43 – You cannot be the fuckin’ man, I have been and always will be the man. Meet me at the tav later for a duel. I’ll be the guy all the chicks are trying to talk to.
Unless you mean fuckin man as in you’re the man that does all the fuckin. In which case, let’s go do work one night.
CFA is useless. My boss (only one level above me at the office) is a CFA and he is 12 years older than me. Get your MBA.
In Fact get you MBA in Europe, it’s only 1 year long as opposed to the 2 year American MBA and you get to live in foreign country learning a new language.
- Guy who didn’t have anything funny to say, but wanted to steer those thinking about getting their CFA away.
In Soviet Russia, a CFA test me, he eat my liver with favas and chianti, once
CFA is useless. My Boss (only one level above me at the company) has a CFA and he’s 12 years older than me. Do the right thing and get your MBA, that way you don’t have to renew it and get sponsored.
In fact, get your MBA in Europe. It’s only 1 year as opposed to the 2 year American MBA and you get to learn a foreign language.
- Guy who has nothing funny to say but still wants to inform the general public about the uselessness of a CFA
Anyone know the new membership application acceptance rates to the Cat Fanciers’ Association?
“My Boss has a CFA.” That says it all, if you want to work for a CFA, get your MBA. Especially in Europe.
- Guy who wants to inform OptionsTrader that he is a douche
@50 He’s also, if you read like you are supposed to, 12 years older than me and only one level above me in the company.
Typical CFA fuck bags. Why don’t you go crunch a fuck ton of numbers like a good little CFA analyst while the MBA crowd goes and manages sectors like big boys.
Chinese Fisters Amalgamated?
@44, yeah it is really hard to beat the barclays agg bond index….oh, look at me, I buy and sell treasuries…
@51, He’s also, if you had read what you had typed like you are supposed to, YOUR FUCKING BOSS. Crying about it some more will probably help you cope a little better…
- Typical CFA “Fuck Bag” (#50)
RN > MBA > CPA > CAIA > CFA
MBA – your parents have money. Good for you that they paid for your credentials. No one fails and you lose a year or 2 of income. Great work.
What are the signing bonuses for this year’s CFA class?
Devry Keller MBA > CFA
Cornell diploma = Failed CFA Level I Candidate
I know someone who passed all 3 CFA’s in a row and only studied by reading the books in the 5 days before the exam, it can’t be that hard.
I know someone who made it through 2 years of MBA classes in a row without ever opening a book or going to class, it can’t be that hard.
I know someone who became POTUS and was a C-student/borderline drug addict, it can’t be that hard.
C++ > CFA
where are the client’s CFAs?
@62
He was a Harvard MBA also.
@42, Did you go to Colgate? Second guess, Harvard.
I am getting a CFP. Seems pretty hard so far.
@67, I hope you’re kidding. If not, pack it in. You lose at life.
CFA is the ultimate investment. Waiting for that IPO…
JT Marlin is having group interview for those who do not already have a series 7. CFAs are welcome $10 discount on your series 7 books too. Greg will be doing home visits to those who are interested.
Jim Young
All of you guys who are dissing the cfa should really attempt level 2&3. These are by far the hardest exams. I have an MBA and the CFA was exponentially harder. I know a guy who has a CA, an LLB and a CFA and feels that the CFA was by far the hardest. I’m not commenting about job opportunities or how much coin you will make by doing these degrees/certifications but I’m simply stating that in terms of difficulty none of these degrees beat the CFA. Sure, it may be harder to be an MD or an aeronautical engineer for NASA but the CFA is harder than the CA, MBA, LLB and the CPA by miles.
@71 I don’t think anybody is debating that a CFA is a tough exam. I think the debate lies in it’s usefulness and applicability to portfolio management and financial analysis which it was designed for.
Essentially, by putting in far less effort and money (depending on your money X time) you can achieve an MBA which yields better results, therefore making it a better investment.
I only hire CFAs
The most artificial thing about it is that they only hold L2 and L3 once a year. Seems like they’re determined to put and artificial roadblock in the way of the test takers: the inevitability of forgetting half of what you know between exams. Kinda seems more like a monk’s vows than a finance exam.
I gotta admit, if I see a resume of someone who got their CFA in too short a time, I always ask myself, “what sort of low-effort job did they have that they were able to study that much?” I’ve never quite figured how your 80-90 hour week and having time to do a CFA go together.
Of course, there’s always recessions…
I’d say the split between CFAs, top MBAs and PhDs is quite on IB prop desks and hedge funds. A lot of people have got into the industry after undergrad don’t get MBAs these days. In terms of difficulty it’s basically conventional wisdom.
PhD in math >> PhD in hard sciences/engineering > actuarial exams
> >CFA > CPA > MBA finance exams
but getting into top MBAs is obviously harder than signing up as a CFA level 1 candidate.
75 here- “is quite even on IB”
“who get into the industry”
@72, how on earth can you say the CFA program requires more money than an MBA? CFA should require at most $2k/level. The $6k for the whole program is a fraction of a year’s tuition at a top MBA program. If you factor in lost wages, you’re easily talking about commiting 50x the cost of the CFA program to an MBA.
@74: It’s called hard work – you should try it sometime.
I’m with @71, I have my MBA from a top 3 school and my CFA. My money making ability did not change with either but they are both very helpful keeping my technical skills sharp. The CFA seemed a lot harder than my MBA but the MBA was much more technical in certain aspects.
@74, it’s called hard work – I run my own firm and am probably 100 times busier than you, I also have a family and I did it in 2.5 years (Dec 08, Jun 09, Jun 10). So when people look at my resume – people know I dont fuck around.
As Jigga says “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t” I know its only Canada but our banks are still open here, check out the salaries for each.
http://johnmolson.concordia.ca/en/graduate-programs/mba-with-complete-cfa-integration/program-overview/student-profiles-pass-rate
based on these posts… I wouldn’t hire ANY of you.
-Luckily not your boss, MBA, MSF, CFA
81 here – I WOULD hire 79. He sounds like he has his grown man on!
THE CFA IS WORTHLESS. NOT ONE PERSON HAS EVER CONTACTED ME BECAUSE OF MY CFA CHARTER. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE GET A JOB BECAUSE THEY HAD THE CHARTER. EXPERIENCE IS #1. THE CFA CHARTER IS A SCAM.
The CFA Institute is loaded with cash. It’s worse than Jim and Tammy Bakker. GET AN MBA FROM AN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL OR GET INTO PROGRAMMING. THAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’LL EVER GET.
A cfa is basically an undergraduate degree in finance… if you think a CFA= a job on wall street, think again, fago
83 is on the money. Ivy League MBA is the key and sorry NYU Grads, you are not Ivy League. Brown and Cornell do not count either….
Top notch programming skills are probably the most valuable skills anyone can have on Wall Street besides sales ability.
It’s clear that the Street doesn’t need thousands of bottom-up/top down stock pickers or equity traders anymore. HFT algorithms and index products will phase these people out completely.
@86- That’s ignorant. Computers, models, and algorithms have and will continue to significantly cut these jobs, but we will still need some people to digest news, analyze the world around them, and decide how that will effect their holdings – i.e. think like a human – not something computers will easily do for a quite some time if ever.
Why can’t it just be that MBA/CFA are both helpful yet neither is the be all and end all?
Oranje, CFA