标题: Is it CFA a must to become a trader? [打印本页] 作者: sabre 时间: 2011-10-14 15:54 标题: Is it CFA a must to become a trader?
I was wondering if CFA is a must in order to become a sucessfull trader...
I'm very interested in the investment world, specially in the stock exchange market. My dream is to be able to earn money from this someday...
So I would like to ask you if it is a good decision to study CFA for my purpose.
Thanks.作者: yalo 时间: 2011-10-14 15:59
Usually traders don't have letters, however, as a trader (prop or hedge fund) I would want the letters since most of your work is self-driven ideas and investment thesis.
As an order flow trader or "client facing" trader I think it's essentially worthless.
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ChickenTikka Wrote:
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> Being Born Wealthy > Being Jewish or WASPY > Born
> Pretty > Top 5 MBA > CFA > Avg MBA > Born middle
> class > Born lower class > Born in crack house >
> Born middleclass in Asia and working in IT but
> looking to switch to buyside作者: redskins44 时间: 2011-10-14 16:05
Do a lot of prop traders have CFA charters, Assetman?作者: brainsX 时间: 2011-10-14 16:10
Most traders I've run across don't do the CFA. Some do the CMT, though.
There are also a lot of different types of traders. Those that are just execution traders definitely don't need the CFA... it's just way overkill for what they need. Prop traders tend to use technical analysis, overlaid with some fundamental stuff at times, depending on their approach and personality. They also need to look at the risk composition of their books, which gets into portfolio construction, but they tend to use weighting guidelines rather than optimization. Again, the CFA program doesn't really add that much value for the amount of work it is.
Portfolio managers at very small shops or who manage their own accounts will usually do their own trading. Those people often have CFA charters, but most people wouldn't necessarily call them traders, even though they have to do trades to manage their portfolio.作者: SFoyil 时间: 2011-10-14 16:16
ChickenTikka Wrote:
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> Do a lot of prop traders have CFA charters,
> Assetman?
Not that I know of, however; If I were a prop trader or any trader taking major risk I'd want it to at least have some grasp of what I'm getting myself into. If you're trading on any kind of lang term horizon (longer than 1-3 months per position) I think it makes sense to have it.
An economist or analyst can talk all day about X, Y and Z but never HAS to eat their own cooking. Traders are vindicated whether that be good or bad.
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ChickenTikka Wrote:
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> Being Born Wealthy > Being Jewish or WASPY > Born
> Pretty > Top 5 MBA > CFA > Avg MBA > Born middle
> class > Born lower class > Born in crack house >
> Born middleclass in Asia and working in IT but
> looking to switch to buyside作者: noel 时间: 2011-10-14 16:22
Assuming the OP means "trader" (swing, momentum, macro, currency, etc.) as distinct from "investor" (of the value variety), the CFA would be worthless. The biggest bang for the buck and fastest return on time would be to spend a couple of hundred bucks and get involved with the CANSLIM program through a seminar or reading one of the books on the subject. If you spend 50% of the time you would spend studying the CFA reading that book and IBD, you will make a lot more money than the average CFA.作者: ruchita 时间: 2011-10-14 16:27
CFA is worthless in getting a job as a trader.
The underlying material and macro stuff you learn from the CFA could be useful though.作者: Howd 时间: 2011-10-14 16:33
Majority of traders at my firm are Charterholders
Then again it's Investment management firm, so probably like 80% of the employees are.
CFA is a great designation...it may not immediately benefit you, but from what I've been seeing it surely can't hurt...作者: SeanWest 时间: 2011-10-14 16:38
I think maybe i was wrong when i said "trader".
Actually what I want to do is be able to choose the right assets and make my own portfolio and put my own money on it.
So i guess that to carry out this I will need some skill in Financial Analysis, which is what the CFA program is specialized, am i right?
I still dont know what are the differences between Financial analyst, PM and trader... , what i want to do is sit at home, do some mouseclicks and earn money, maybe with CFDs, my favourite...作者: Kapie 时间: 2011-10-14 16:44
I agree with above, CFA is probably an impediment if you want to become a trader. My experience with talking to many many traders...作者: SFoyil 时间: 2011-10-14 16:49
Prop trader is a rare breed... a trader's function is usually much different than that of an investor's, while both need each other.
Trader is a street smart guy, people with CFA may be book smart guys, but in no universe getting a CFA can tag you street smart.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 03:41AM by BangBusDriver.作者: justin88 时间: 2011-10-14 16:55
Bit of a cliche all this trader stuff. How do these guys get in the door? You don't just walk in and start trading because you are street smart. A lot of mythology really. Here is street smart for you: use the information advantage that your firm possesses to make money. Flows / order books / unwitting clients etc. It is not because you are really something extraordinary, maybe just willing and able to use the information advantage at your disposal. It is about having the odds stacked in your favour and being given the opportunity to put capital at risk to take advantage of this fortunate circumstance they find themselves in. The rest is time and place. Ok, you have to have cojones to put on the risk, but the amount of blow ups suggest that they weren't street smart after all, just overly confident. Explains why all traders need an independent risk manager to stop them doing it more often. I accept that you have to have a certain amount of nous to use the privileged information at your disposal to your advantage. This is why CFA is of little relevance. Why have some theory of markets to fall back on, when you can buy a can of pop at $0.5 and sell it to a consumer at $1. That's all we're talking here.作者: neil1234 时间: 2011-10-14 17:11
>
> I'm very interested in the investment world,
> specially in the stock exchange market. My dream
> is to be able to earn money from this someday...
>
When you figure out how to do this, let the rest of us know
"Without American production the United Nations could never have won the war."
-Joseph Stalin, Tehran Conference: 1943作者: ohai 时间: 2011-10-14 17:17
Dude_CFA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bit of a cliche all this trader stuff. How do
> these guys get in the door? You don't just walk in
> and start trading because you are street smart. A
> lot of mythology really. Here is street smart for
> you: use the information advantage that your firm
> possesses to make money. Flows / order books /
> unwitting clients etc. It is not because you are
> really something extraordinary, maybe just willing
> and able to use the information advantage at your
> disposal. It is about having the odds stacked in
> your favour and being given the opportunity to put
> capital at risk to take advantage of this
> fortunate circumstance they find themselves in.
> The rest is time and place. Ok, you have to have
> cojones to put on the risk, but the amount of blow
> ups suggest that they weren't street smart after
> all, just overly confident. Explains why all
> traders need an independent risk manager to stop
> them doing it more often. I accept that you have
> to have a certain amount of nous to use the
> privileged information at your disposal to your
> advantage. This is why CFA is of little relevance.
> Why have some theory of markets to fall back on,
> when you can buy a can of pop at $0.5 and sell it
> to a consumer at $1. That's all we're talking
> here.
You mean to say traders feel a superiority complex, and they aren't any different from other analysts except that they (traders) use privileged information?作者: KungFuPanda 时间: 2011-10-14 17:22
Dude_CFA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bit of a cliche all this trader stuff. How do
> these guys get in the door? You don't just walk in
> and start trading because you are street smart. A
> lot of mythology really. Here is street smart for
> you: use the information advantage that your firm
> possesses to make money. Flows / order books /
> unwitting clients etc. It is not because you are
> really something extraordinary, maybe just willing
> and able to use the information advantage at your
> disposal. It is about having the odds stacked in
> your favour and being given the opportunity to put
> capital at risk to take advantage of this
> fortunate circumstance they find themselves in.
> The rest is time and place. Ok, you have to have
> cojones to put on the risk, but the amount of blow
> ups suggest that they weren't street smart after
> all, just overly confident. Explains why all
> traders need an independent risk manager to stop
> them doing it more often. I accept that you have
> to have a certain amount of nous to use the
> privileged information at your disposal to your
> advantage. This is why CFA is of little relevance.
> Why have some theory of markets to fall back on,
> when you can buy a can of pop at $0.5 and sell it
> to a consumer at $1. That's all we're talking
> here.
I agree, might as well just get a job at Goldman.作者: jbaldyga 时间: 2011-10-14 17:28
stelin2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think maybe i was wrong when i said "trader".
>
> Actually what I want to do is be able to choose
> the right assets and make my own portfolio and put
> my own money on it.
>
> So i guess that to carry out this I will need some
> skill in Financial Analysis, which is what the CFA
> program is specialized, am i right?
>
> I still dont know what are the differences between
> Financial analyst, PM and trader... , what i want
> to do is sit at home, do some mouseclicks and earn
> money, maybe with CFDs, my favourite...
------ If all you want to do is trade at home on your own account, you could be high school dropout and do that??? If you have enough capital to start, or can get an investment loan, go ahead and open a brokerage account and get started!!
?? Am i confused here...of course CFA will give you the knowledge, but in reality everybody makes trades differently anyway and go ahead and start trading....maybe you'll have some beginner luck. If your question is literally just about whether you can buy stocks and create your own portfolio, then yes you can do that without ANY qualifications...i wouldn't advise this unless you know what you're doing a little bit lol...作者: mamuka12 时间: 2011-10-14 17:34
In fixed income, CFA has more value. Many of our traders have CFA, MBA or both. Our business is client driven so having a good grasp on client objectives and the market is extremely important.
