Best education if I want to become a financial/investment analyst?

[OtZman]

I live and study in Sweden, just so you know. First a bit of history...

A little more than one year ago I graduated from high school (natural science and math program). I knew I wanted to continue my studies, but now quite what to study. I am interested in entrepreneurship and self-employment and back then I was a bit tired of all the natural-science subjects, so I was recommended to study business administration. Now I've studied this for a year and I'm a bit disappointed in the quality of the education at my school. I'm now thinking about switching to another school and study something different, more precisely Industrial Engineering and Management. I've always thought math is fun and easy (ok, I've only tried my hand at high school math, so I guess it's quite different on the higher levels) so I'm thinking I might be more suited for an engineering education where I use math to solve problems.

Anyway, to the main point of this thread. After mentioning my interest in math to a friend, he suggested that I should try to work with the financial market (tbh, I barely know what it means, which makes the whole problem worse for me. I know it's about buying/selling stock and other financial assets, but that's about it). He said that there was a lot of money to earn in this area, and that if I had an interest in math it might be perfect for me, because considerable match knowledge was needed.

My question is, do you think I would be better of by

1. finishing my current education (Bachelor in Business Administration) and then study a suitable two year master afterward, or

2. switch to Industrial Engineering and Management read subjects such as financial math during my first three years (bachelor) and then study a suitable master after this?

Perhaps there are better ways still for me to go if I want to work with the financial market? If so, please let me know. I really don't care that I'll loose a couple of years if I switch to Industrial Engineering and Management from my current education. It's a fair price to pay if I get to work with what I want for the rest of my life.

Also, how easy is it to earn a fair amount in the financial market? Is it hard to earn $100/h? $200/h?


Thanks for reading and helping me out. I really appreciate it! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[OtZman]

[ QUOTE ]
Econ ldo

[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry for being a n00b, but what does that mean? [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[RobBizzle]

Whats up otzman.

Econ is economics.

[Noodles.]

ldo = like duh obviously, which you would have known had you looked it up (just like your main question here btw) since that has been asked a thousand times before (the LDO part, LDO).

[OtZman]

Hi Rob, nice to see you.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. Sorry if the question has come up before, I didn't know it was so common.

I guess the contents of a particular education can differ between different schools and countries. To me it seems like the Industrial Engineering and Management program contains more relevant subjects, such as financial mathematics and more math in general (if I choose though subjects) than the Business Administration education I've studied for a year. Admittedly, one year might not be enough to judge it, but still.

I'm thinking I might learn to think in a different way if I study an engineering program (solving problems using math) that might be useful in the financial market.

Then I guess it could just be that my current school is crap, and that if I studied economics at some other place it'd be better.

If I were to study Industrial Engineering and Management, which does contain some economics and finance subjects, would it be possible to work with the financial market?

[dazraf69]

Any thoughts on pursuing a CFA license? Not sure though how that works overseas.

[OtZman]

[ QUOTE ]
Any thoughts on pursuing a CFA license? Not sure though how that works overseas.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've never heard of this license before, but I googled and found their website. It seems like the license is useful all around the globe, you can read about one charterholder in Poland and one in Singapore on the website. I also read that you should expect having to put in around 250 hours of studies, maybe more. 250 hours doesn't sound like very much, if I studied 4 hours a day including weekends I would be done in about 9 weeks, which is nothing if this license is as useful as they make it sound on the website.

Apparently there are three exams. I had a look at a sample for the first exam and it looked fairly simple, I even knew the answer to some of the question thanks to the basic micro- and macroeconomics courses I've taken.

Is a CFA license really as useful as they make it sound on their website? If someone here has a CFA license or knows more about it I'd like to hear what you think about it.

[a_slew_of_mice]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Any thoughts on pursuing a CFA license? Not sure though how that works overseas.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've never heard of this license before, but I googled and found their website. It seems like the license is useful all around the globe, you can read about one charterholder in Poland and one in Singapore on the website. I also read that you should expect having to put in around 250 hours of studies, maybe more. 250 hours doesn't sound like very much, if I studied 4 hours a day including weekends I would be done in about 9 weeks, which is nothing if this license is as useful as they make it sound on the website.

Apparently there are three exams. I had a look at a sample for the first exam and it looked fairly simple, I even knew the answer to some of the question thanks to the basic micro- and macroeconomics courses I've taken.

Is a CFA license really as useful as they make it sound on their <a href="www.cfainstitute.org" target="_blank">website</a>? If someone here has a CFA license or knows more about it I'd like to hear what you think about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm currently studying to take the Level 1 exam in December. The subject matter of the test isn't very hard, but the breadth of the test makes it difficult for many to study. You need to be on top of: Financial Statement Analysis & Accounting, Micro & Macro Economics, Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, Statistics, Ethics, and Pricing Equity, Fixed Income & Derivatives. It's not too bad if you've already done your undergrad work as a Finance major. Level 2 and 3 cover pretty much the same topics, but go into more detail.

The CFA is a great designation if you want to get into Portfolio Management or Equity Research. Sadly, from what I've been hearing lately, simply passing levels 1 and 2 doesn't carry a lot of weight to many bigger firms. This is especially true with NYC firms. But in the long run, becoming a CFA Charterholder will pay off.

Check out http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/ for more info about the CFA

[OtZman]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Any thoughts on pursuing a CFA license? Not sure though how that works overseas.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've never heard of this license before, but I googled and found their website. It seems like the license is useful all around the globe, you can read about one charterholder in Poland and one in Singapore on the website. I also read that you should expect having to put in around 250 hours of studies, maybe more. 250 hours doesn't sound like very much, if I studied 4 hours a day including weekends I would be done in about 9 weeks, which is nothing if this license is as useful as they make it sound on the website.

Apparently there are three exams. I had a look at a sample for the first exam and it looked fairly simple, I even knew the answer to some of the question thanks to the basic micro- and macroeconomics courses I've taken.

Is a CFA license really as useful as they make it sound on their <a href="www.cfainstitute.org" target="_blank">website</a>? If someone here has a CFA license or knows more about it I'd like to hear what you think about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm currently studying to take the Level 1 exam in December. The subject matter of the test isn't very hard, but the breadth of the test makes it difficult for many to study. You need to be on top of: Financial Statement Analysis & Accounting, Micro & Macro Economics, Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance, Statistics, Ethics, and Pricing Equity, Fixed Income & Derivatives. It's not too bad if you've already done your undergrad work as a Finance major. Level 2 and 3 cover pretty much the same topics, but go into more detail.

The CFA is a great designation if you want to get into Portfolio Management or Equity Research. Sadly, from what I've been hearing lately, simply passing levels 1 and 2 doesn't carry a lot of weight to many bigger firms. This is especially true with NYC firms. But in the long run, becoming a CFA Charterholder will pay off.

Check out http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/ for more info about the CFA

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the link. How much time do you think one would have to put in without that much prior knowledge to the different topics? Does 250 hours sound too little?

When looking at various rankings I see that Harvard is topping the charts... I guess it's very, very hard to get in there, but after looking at some information about Harvard's students' wages I'm thinking it might be worth a shot. I would have to loan money for every dollar that isn't covered by financial aid though. If I managed to graduated with good grades from there, do you think it would be worth it? How hard is it really to get in?

Oh, I also mailed D.E. Shaw & Co and asked what chances they think I'd have when competing for a place in their company with a bachelor or master in engineering from one of the biggest Swedish universities. Let's hope they reply. Are there any other major finance/investment companies I could try? I don't know if they even have the time to answer this kind of queries, but I can't think of a better source of information. Perhaps there are forums/sites where I can find more information?

I know so little about this area, and it seems almost impossible to get a grip of it.