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

[OtZman]

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short answer:

as long as you're at a good school and do well, any major is fine, and anything mathematical/analytical is even better - IE/M certainly looks like it fits that criterion.

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Great! Right now I feel more like studying something engineering related than pure economics, so that's perfect.

When it comes to the school I choose, should I try to get into the one with the highest ranking on the various ranking lists that exist? I know this is hard to answer, and that it depends on the employer and which country I look for a job in, but in general. What about if I tried to find a job in the USA (or some other country) after graduating from a Swedish university. Do you think the employer would make a different decision depending on which university I graduated from and how well it fares in these rankings?

Here are the different options I'm considering (rankings from www.webometrics.info):

- LINKOPING UNIVERSITY (ranked 1st in Sweden, 8th in Europe, 62nd in the world)

- ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (ranked 2nd in Sweden, 11th in Europe, 74th in the world)

- CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (ranked 4th in Sweden, 38th in Europe, 143rd in the world)

- LUND UNIVERSITY (ranked 5th in Sweden, 46th in Europe, 162nd in the world)

At the moment I feel like studying at Chalmers University of Technology (CUT), because the city seems nicer and I know quite a few persons there already. However, it's not the best one in Sweden in this or other rankings. If the ranking of the school I go to does have an impact, I could go for one higher up on the list. CUT does have a good reputation, and is considered to be among the best engineering schools in the country.

What do you think?

[edtost]

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When it comes to the school I choose, should I try to get into the one with the highest ranking on the various ranking lists that exist? I know this is hard to answer, and that it depends on the employer and which country I look for a job in, but in general. What about if I tried to find a job in the USA (or some other country) after graduating from a Swedish university. Do you think the employer would make a different decision depending on which university I graduated from and how well it fares in these rankings?

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my guess is which swedish uni you went to would make a much bigger difference in london vs the us when looking at finance jobs, but i could be wrong.

[OtZman]

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When it comes to the school I choose, should I try to get into the one with the highest ranking on the various ranking lists that exist? I know this is hard to answer, and that it depends on the employer and which country I look for a job in, but in general. What about if I tried to find a job in the USA (or some other country) after graduating from a Swedish university. Do you think the employer would make a different decision depending on which university I graduated from and how well it fares in these rankings?

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my guess is which swedish uni you went to would make a much bigger difference in london vs the us when looking at finance jobs, but i could be wrong.

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That sounds pretty reasonable.

[dazraf69]

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

[OtZman]

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

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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]

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

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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.

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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]

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

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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.

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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

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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.

[Dice Spadez]

Honestly man CFA licensed = best title for anyone who wants be a financial analyst. It, along with CA I believe, is the only internationally recognized financial accreditation. I plan on studying for mine in the future and think it is a fantastic program. Good luck with it!

[PRE]

Ya CFA is tougher than people are alluding to in this thread. The material isn't hard for Level I, but like one of the posters said it's scope is huge. Level II is a different beast. I was planning on taking it in December but was too busy with school/getting a job so I decided to push it back to June. I think I'm going to begin studing in November for it.

[OtZman]

Thanks for the replies.

How many hours do you think you'd have to study to pass all three levels, if you haven't got that much previous experience or knowledge in the different subjects? For example after studying engineering, but with some financial and economics subjects?