Unregistered |
20-06-2012 11:04 PM |
Well Intended
Quote:
Originally Posted by danieldaniel
(Post 25844)
Hi guys. I am an eng-trained professional who wants to join asset management companies. I graduated with B.Eng 2nd lower from NUS 2010 and have been working for two years. Firstly as an engineer, then as a financial advisor for 7 months. I have following doubts and hope to get some advice from you all here.. thanks thanks :P
- With my current qualification & experience, am I able to get into AM companies like blackrock, miton, etc. If yes, what kinda role? opt?
- If I must go for further study, which one is more relevant and valued: MFE?, MBA? or CFA?
- If I were to take CFA cert, working experience in financial lines s required, does my 7-month financial advisor exp count? must it be at least more than 2 years?
thanks again. feeling really miserable now.. if I received good career advice 5 years ago, things would be totally different.. haiz..
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1. With your credentials, you have zero chance of joining AM as an analyst/fund manager. Zero chance of getting into sales & trading/investment research in local banks. Most likely you will not even be able to get a backoffice ops role in major names like blackrock unless you're willing to try for smaller companies.
2. CFA takes 3 years to pass, assuming you pass each level at first attempt. I'm 99% sure you will take longer than 3 years. Im not looking down on you, but just trying to give you a realistic picture of the different options you're looking at and the difficulty level. If you can take 3 yrs to complete CFA, you would not have grad with a 2nd lower hons. Given that you will take a few years to complete CFA, your best bet is to do a "Good" MBA/MFE first and apply to become a research analyst in the smallest firms in Singapore. (I'm serious) Most people outside of this industry don't realise that there are many research analysts who grad from Ivy league unis, completed CFA etc working in small/local firms. It's very very very competitive. Ok but if you are contented to work in a big, branded company's backoffice, then a good MBA/MFE should suffice in getting you into the company.
3. Most people don't start in AM with no experience. You need to work at the "Sell Side" as a research analyst first. i.e. brokerages, investment banks, research firms etc. After 3-5 yrs, then maybe you can get a research role in AM. After some years, then you can become a fund manager. There are different kinds of fund managers, quantitative, macro, equities focused etc. A good MBA, MFE or CFA all can give you a chance to start off as a research analyst if you're good enough to snag the job. Some fund managers don't have any of these qualifications, but they are very talented proprietary traders. (i.e. you don't need academic certs to succeed if you're smart and can make money out of money)
4. Yes, your 7 mths experience as financial advisor is counted as relevant CFA experience. You need to accumulate 4 years of investment decision making exp on top of passing the 3 levels exams to become a CFA charterholder. (You mean you haven't check out the CFA website??) I hope i've given you a good introduction to AM..
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