Top 5 Finance Certifications: CFA, MSF, CAIA, FRM, CFP, Career Paths, Salary, Cost, and More 

I think it's not always about fear, Sometimes realistic factors discourage people from reaching their goals in life. For instance, I've tried investing in the stock market several times but always got discouraged by fluctuations of stock value

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Thank you!

Thank you Tyler! We’ll make sure to keep it coming so stay tuned! Love your entrepreneurial focused videos, everyone take notes, you really don’t have to work for anyone but yourself!

Facts! You can only fake it so much. Everyone needs the knowledge within these programs, the letters are just so you don’t have to prove yourself every time. There are no replacements for true skill and knowledge.

experience and internships

shreyas sridharan glad you liked it, thank you for watching! Let us know any other content you’d like to see!

Thank you! We are about to be posting more content so stay tuned!

I don't really have an opinion on the top 10, because i) I haven't done the research (Maybe Nik can comment), ii) I think a lot of it is based on the type of career you are wanting to pursue. For instance if you want to work in VC maybe it's Stanford, if you want to work in a hedge fund maybe it's MIT, economics maybe Chicago, Energy maybe it's Houston, etc. Just focus on where you wanna end up, what the famous graduates or current professors have gone on to do from that school, and dig into their curriculum to make sure it aligns with what you want to learn. Think about some of the professors you may have, do they run a VC firm when they aren't teaching, are they up for an economics prize for key research, do you wanna learn from Damodaran for valuation? What are your classmates likely to be doing in 10 years? Questions like these are what I'd be asking, it's 100% about the people you meet and surround yourself with during a master's program in my opinion, not the name of the institution. And as to your other question, I'm biased because I'm pursuing a lot of charters and certifications but no degrees, but objectively speaking it really matters on your financial situation, your ability to get into a top school and the opportunity cost you give up by taking time off for school or the financial opportunity cost of paying for a possibly overpriced degree. Anyway, I know this wasn't a specific answer, but I hope some of what I said maybe gave you some additional perspectives to think about when framing your decision.

Ahmed, glad you are thinking ahead. I'll go ahead start off with the ultimate cop out... it depends. Specifically it depends on what type of role you'd like to end up in, investment banking, wealth management, hedge funds, venture capital, private equity, corporate finance.... I could go on but point is there are a million things you could pursue with a finance degree. But to answer your question without knowing what you want to do, I'd get some experience while pursuing certifications and make sure this experience is marketable towards what you want to eventually end up doing (don't be an accountant and expect to become a trader for a hedge fund or a financial advisor and expect to work in investment banking). After you've gained some experience maybe gotten a certification or two you're likely to be in a much better situation to apply for the jobs you truly want, because you likely won't get them right out of school. Employers most important thing when evaluating a candidate is experience. Certifications and master's degrees are great but sort of in the way that socks are nice to wear with your shoes, they aren't necessary but they sure help you apply to jobs more comfortably. You don't wanna walk around outside in the mud with just your socks on and you also don't wanna apply for jobs with no experience and just a bunch of letters by your name. You're not gonna know everything going in and your first employers know that. preparation is great, that's all those certifications are, but they are not going to teach you what the real world is like. I'll say personally I've learned more on the job as analyst then I have from studying for my certifications, in fact I had to study less for my certifications because I was learning fast on the job. To sum up, go get some relevant experience and do that studying/testing during your free time, at your own pace. Next thing you know you'll have 3-4 years experience and 1 or 2 certifications. That'll get you in the door most places if done correctly.

I found it pretty hard since I didn't really give myself adequate time to study and I'm kind of a slow reader for a timed test. I feel like there was a lot of overlap from the CFA level one and my job though, so I feel like that saved me. Also I used a Wiley study guide which condensed the material a lot. I wish I had more practice questions though because all I had was the CAIA provided ones. How did you find it? Did you take it online or at a testing center?

@@SeanHallisey How was level 2? I'm thinking of CAIA I+II in lieu of anything else (6 years of IB, stock exchange, and financial modeling, thinking CAIA is the way to be appealig to PE/VC/HF/etc)

I think that’s a great certification for learning some extra valuation and modeling skills! However I’m not sure how much of that sort of work you would do as a financial planner or advisor. May be useful in a wealth management context if you actively manage client portfolios with individual securities though. However, I think that is more meant for corporate finance people and investment analysts. I doubt your traditional advisory clients will even know or care what the FMVA is. Sorry for the late response, hope that helps!

Not worth it. Masters is better

I don’t think it would be weird at all, especially if you’re working in the consulting/ advisory part of the firm. Anything that boosts your skills and shows you’re competent can’t hurt you’re chances. Sounds more like you should nail down what your goals are. If it’s audit and tax I’d focus on the CPA, if you’re more advisory focused I’d get some overlap of accounting and finance making FMVA a solid choice! I’m no accountant though so don’t take just my word for it.

Am doing the FMVA as well & will soon do an MSc in Accounting

ツLeo nice! Best of both worlds, great idea if you want a backup route out of accounting down the road.

Following

I've definitely heard of this, certainly carries some weight in the industry. I'd say it's probably interchangeable with the CFP in the context of this video without doing much research on it. If I decide to make another video on certifications or similar career focused content I'll try to make sure and include the CWM.

@@openmarketanalytics7440 thanks 😊

The entirely depends on what career you'd like to go in, but you seem better off than me resume wise TBH. I'm assuming this IB experience was in India or you wouldn't be asking me. My advice to you is to network with people in the area of finance you plan to enter. Just reach out to people on LinkedIn who are doing things you find interesting, start a genuine conversation with them surrounding their work and ask for their advice on how you might get to their position. Just send them a connection invitation, don't come off like you're trying to sell anything though. They aren't going to hire you, they're going to point you in the right direction. Just say something like "hey I noticed you're doing some really interesting things in ___ and I'd love to make your connection. Have a great week." If they accept your invite shoot them a message clarifying what you're most curious about and ask them if they are available for a call after you exchange a few messages. Don't try and schedule the call unless it's late. Anyway, if the conversation goes well, and you do this a few times you'll have a much better idea of how to market yourself in that area of finance.

@@openmarketanalytics7440 Thankyiu so much for the reply .. yes I hv investment banking experience of India .. so when I shifted to USA in 2018.. I tried my best to get a job here ...but they don’t consider my experience of india ... bad luck ... so from 2018 to 2020 ... there is break in my career ... so now again want to start my career.. but m confuse ... what course to do for good opportunities.. As I hv wasted my 3 years... In USA they don’t consider my home country job experience... I will follow ur advice.. FRM n CFA is not my cup of tea so that’s why I am looking for some courses ...

There was a similar program at my school as well. It’s a no brainer if you want to be a CPA and it’s very useful if you want to work for an accounting or advisory firm, but I don’t think it’s too comparable to a MSF. A master of accountancy takes you down a completely different path and you definitely wouldn’t get the same networking connections that would benefit you in an investment/finance focused career. Also if finance is what you’re pursuing and you decide the MSF is for you, I would get it from a separate school so you have another alumni network/ pool of connections to tap into. That’s where I believe the true value is in a master’s program. You can learn just about anything online and and take a test to certify knowledge in some form. The only reason employers want a graduate degree in finance is to tap into your connections honestly. It only makes sense in accounting because depending on your home state you likely have a grad school requirement to become a CPA and it’s convenient plus network doesn’t matter near as much in accounting. Hope that answers your question!

If your intention is to work in a front office role at an investment firm, then I would advise you not to pursue that program. Accounting backgrounds typically lead you to back office roles at investment firms. If accounting is what you want to do, you can still work at investment firms preparing financials and investor reports, as they also need accountants. A program like a masters in accounting can potentially lead you to a controller title at an investment firm, which is also a high paying job, but it's not within the scope of an investment analyst position.

CAIA is A LOT faster than the CFA. I like them together since I plan on working with investments of all sorts but they both have value for anyone in IB or buy side investing (not so much an advisor). I just took the CAIA lvl 2 this week (passed the lvl 1 in Sept 2020) so ya if you study hard enough you can get it within 6 months (+ a month or two to get your results). And I did both of those in between CFA 1 & 2, I take 2 in August. Very doable but I also have a finance background, however if u passed the level one of the CFA straight out of being an art journalist I’m sure you can handle that easily, it’s mostly just learning concepts with a bit of math. Nothing too complex. Anyway to sum up, I wouldn’t go the full CFA path unless you are super serious about finance/ investing as a career. However the CAIA teaches you a lot of very *unique* finance knowledge in a short period of time I’d recommend that if it’s more of just a way for you to stand out in a less portfolio management focused role.

@@openmarketanalytics7440 Thanks so much this is super helpful!! Really appreciated. Can you tell me a bit why CFA and CAIA are more for buy side not sell side?

@@jiayinchen1952 Well they can be for either and they both make you more credible from a sell side perspective. That being said CFA is tailored towards portfolio managers. It does increase your credibility a lot in either case, but you can still get a role on the sell side without a CFA. If you want to be a buy side portfolio manager it's almost a must to have a CFA. CAIA on the other hand I think would be great on the sell side, especially if you are looking to work in investment banking. CAIA would be a priority for me if I wanted to work in IB (depending on the area within IB). IB's get hired to deal with complex financing and alternative assets of all kinds making specific knowledge of these pretty useful. CFA's will not focus as much on this fringe stuff as they just need to understand it on a more broad level (in the context of how it affects their investments). In either case an investment focused charter is always going to be tailored to the buy side first. Now opinion

They cut off my response it was too long lol. Anyway point is i'm not focused on the sell side so I don't have a strong opinion, but with your art background additional certifications would be a plus. You just have to decide what your time is worth and where exactly you'd like to end up within the industry.

@@openmarketanalytics7440 Thank you so much! I really appreciate it :) I will try to pass CFA level 1 and also go for CAIA the same time. Your channel is amazing!

Yes, but you’ll need at least 1 year of financial industry experience and a bachelors degree (doesn’t need to be finance focused). Also it will require a lot more studying since you’ll have to learn the basics too, so plan accordingly!

But anything is possible! Learning is as fast or slow as you make it.

No sir, but if you don’t have one you’ll need 4 years of financial industry experience.

@@openmarketanalytics7440 Better to the bachelors...makes it a lot easier. wonderful video.

No doubt they could, but you can do also do that without getting all of them. There’s so much overlap and the last three I talked about are so specifically tailored to different career paths that it’s very unlikely you’d find a job where you can use the skills that come with all three of them. Maybe a sophisticated wealth management office, but even then it’s probably unnecessary to get all of them. Are you looking to get all 5 of these designations? If so what are you planning on going into?

@@SeanHallisey I seriously don't know sir. I love finance that's it. I consider money is just a by product and love for finance will push me to do. Can u suggest a role for me after completing all these course.?

@@shreyassridharan4276 I love the enthusiasm, but like I said I wouldn't suggest anyone get all 5 of the designations discussed in the video. I also wanted to get every certification under the sun at one point, but at a certain point it just becomes a waste of time and money. If you are not sure what type of role you'd like in finance you should start studying for CFA, it'll give you broad exposure to just about everything in finance and is probably the most marketable to employers. You can even take the level one of the CFA while still at university, so I'd start studying now while you have some overlap in your classes. If you are still in your undergrad at university you have plenty of time to explore the different career paths in finance. If I were you I'd also consider signing up for hackathons and case study competitions. They really push you to learn specific uses of what you've already been learning. Lastly, don't let your main focus be getting these certifications. Find out what you want to do, find out what experiences, knowledge and skills are needed for that role and focus on that. If you find out that a certification helps you learn these things or qualify for these experiences then it's a good use of time. Otherwise, just learn for free and put yourself in a place where you can apply and develop those skills further through experience.

@@SeanHallisey wow. Perfect clarification sir. I'm 21 right now. Looking forward to explore many areas at finance. Thank you so much sir. Want to have touch with you. How can I. Is it possible to share your personal number?

@@shreyassridharan4276 Haha no problem, glad you find our channel helpful! Anyway, if you'd like to chat privately feel free to email us at OpenMarketAnalytics@gmail.com. If you'd like to exchange numbers there we can, I just don't like to drop my personal number in the comments. Also we're thinking about starting an online forum/ group chat for our subscribers, so keep an eye out for that. I look forward to keeping touch!

@Mario, I would say the most important part of VC path is your network. Of course, certifications like CAIA would help but to get started in the industry you need to connect to people who can mentor you. At least in my experience, most of the topics that I studied in finance don't apply to venture because startups do not have a lot of financials to analyze. As a result, your investment decisions are based on founders and their product/idea. But Sean may have a different opinion on that.

@@nikitademidov9144 @Mario Padilla I would agree with Nik when it comes to networking, you can not be successful in PE without an extensive network of possible investors at the firm level and you likely won't be able to get into the industry unless you develop relationships with established players. You can do this simply by reaching out to professionals or starting at a firm that directly serves the industry (such as Valuation/ M&A consultants). I would say a CAIA would be great for VC, but most likely isn't totally necessary, what it will do for you is show that you know your stuff without having to constantly prove yourself which I believe makes it worth it. There are some hard skills/ knowledge you can learn to get more familiar with the space. Nik is correct that there isn't much to look at financial wise at least historically speaking. What will likely matter most in VC is your ability to structure a deal and align the interests of founders and investors. This includes knowing the proper entity structures (LP, LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp, etc.), being able to evaluate the budgets founders give you and ask tough questions (As they often don't actually know how to make a realistic budget), and knowing how to size up a market that likely doesn't exist yet. How to realistically determine a proper discount rate depending on how probably the projected cash flows are is crucial as well.

Thank you both, this responses have been really useful. Im currently doing an internship in a finance boutique that has an Equity-crowdfunding platform. Im working as an Investor Relations. I thought this experience would get me closer to Vc world. But i don’t want to get stuck. I see some internships positions but I don’t think that starting from the bottom will develop my career. As far i am concern, starting from IB will open many windows for opportunity. But it is the only path?? Thankss you rock!! I hope your channel grows Im sharing it!!

@@nikitademidov9144 🤙🏽🤙🏽

@@SeanHallisey 🤙🏽🤙🏽

Sean here. To be honest this is the first I’ve heard of it, but in my opinion with or without this certification if you can demonstrate you have superior math or programming skills you will be head and shoulders above the rest. Most don’t feel like they have the aptitude to become an expert in such things, but if you feel competent by all means make that your edge! Can’t really speak to how people see the CQF specifically though.

Too expensive, NO!