In addition, you should note that earning an MBA is “easier” than being a CFA. In the CFA, you have three levels challenging you. Under the three levels, you either pass or fail. Nothing supports your performance but your HEAVY 1000 HOURS studying. However, under the MBA, you have many other things to support your grades and success. Such things as, quizies and midters (before the final exams), attendace, participation, communication with professors, etc. Therefore, there’s no cutoff point like the Pass/Fail CFA. If you failed the midters, you have the final exam and maybe other quizzez to balance you. If you are abit below the passing exam criteria, you have your attendece or term project to lift you up.

Regards,

Thanks for the comment!

I think liberal arts, when taught thoughtfully, can have more lasting benefits on a business mind than a direct business degree. At this moment, most business degrees still stress more on the technical and the modeling, and little to really expand one’s horizon beyond the box that defines the business world.

Yet to be a really outstanding business person and shrewd investor, one needs to possess the ability to challenge conventions and ask tough, sometimes heretical questions. Nurturing that kind of curiosity is usually not part of the curriculum.

Business education, and education in general will have to change. With time, I think it will. The rise of technology and various issues raised through this recession will have an impact on that.

Thanks for the comment!

I think liberal arts, when taught thoughtfully, can have more lasting benefits on a business mind than a direct business degree. At this moment, most business degrees still stress more on the technical and the modeling, and little to really expand one’s horizon beyond the box that defines the business world.

Yet to be a really outstanding business person and shrewd investor, one needs to possess the ability to challenge conventions and ask tough, sometimes heretical questions. Nurturing that kind of curiosity is usually not part of the curriculum.

Business education, and education in general will have to change. With time, I think it will. The rise of technology and various issues raised through this recession will have an impact on that.

Though I would like to point out that, many of the great trend calls are not made by MBA’s or CFA Charter holders; Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff, Marc Faber etc.. As much as the people that hold the charter say that the CFA is still relevant, it’s evident that it’s tough to see the forest for the trees when trained to focus so intently on the minutia.

Thinking the liberal arts might be more useful.

Regards,
James

Though I would like to point out that, many of the great trend calls are not made by MBA’s or CFA Charter holders; Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff, Marc Faber etc.. As much as the people that hold the charter say that the CFA is still relevant, it’s evident that it’s tough to see the forest for the trees when trained to focus so intently on the minutia.

Thinking the liberal arts might be more useful.

Regards,
James

Thanks for commenting. Good to see you on the blog, but whoa, easy there!

I don’t have an MBA, but I do have an undergrad business education (as it’s done in Canada), I’ve also worked on my CFA (I’m a level II candidate if that matters), so I get the gist of things.

I think the point one of my CFA charterholder sources was trying to get across is that at least prior to the crash, the majority of MBAs go into either consulting or finance (a fact, any b-school career centre pie chart will show you that) after graduation. MBA does offer a much more diverse selection of courses and more exposure to all fields of business administration, whereas the CFA is finance with a sprinkle of accounting.

But as far as most investment-related firms are concerned, a CFA holds just as much weight when it comes to finance-related knowledge as an MBA, if not more. Besides, in recent years, there does seem to be a dilution in the value of an MBA, with more and more people shelling out money to get those letters behind their names.

Not all MBAs work on Wall Street, of course not, many work in industry, some are even unemployed. Same with CFAs: not all work in large wealth management firms or hedge funds on Wall Street or Conn. There’s a shift of CFAs now doing portfolio management work with smaller investors.

Again, thanks for dropping by, and all the best in getting both under your belt.

Thanks for commenting. Good to see you on the blog, but whoa, easy there!

I don’t have an MBA, but I do have an undergrad business education (as it’s done in Canada), I’ve also worked on my CFA (I’m a level II candidate if that matters), so I get the gist of things.

I think the point one of my CFA charterholder sources was trying to get across is that at least prior to the crash, the majority of MBAs go into either consulting or finance (a fact, any b-school career centre pie chart will show you that) after graduation. MBA does offer a much more diverse selection of courses and more exposure to all fields of business administration, whereas the CFA is finance with a sprinkle of accounting.

But as far as most investment-related firms are concerned, a CFA holds just as much weight when it comes to finance-related knowledge as an MBA, if not more. Besides, in recent years, there does seem to be a dilution in the value of an MBA, with more and more people shelling out money to get those letters behind their names.

Not all MBAs work on Wall Street, of course not, many work in industry, some are even unemployed. Same with CFAs: not all work in large wealth management firms or hedge funds on Wall Street or Conn. There’s a shift of CFAs now doing portfolio management work with smaller investors.

Again, thanks for dropping by, and all the best in getting both under your belt.

I see your point, these things do differ from place to place. The MBA is much more general, and the CPA will enable you to do much more specific work in your field. Good luck with the choice!

I see your point, these things do differ from place to place. The MBA is much more general, and the CPA will enable you to do much more specific work in your field. Good luck with the choice!

How can you claim that a CFA with some work exp is the same as an MBA? They are two different things with two different career paths. How many Fortune 500 CEOs are CFAs? Now how many of them are MBAs? Remember not every MBA works on Wall Street.

I’m sorry if this looks like a personal attack, it’s not. It’s just obvious you’ve bought into the whole media bull-honky about “Wall Street” and “MBAs” and any other media buzzword.

The CFA is all self-study. The MBA is teamwork and problem solving. Both can be very successful but both only cross paths in maybe 10% of the workforce. Yes CFAs are held to a code of ethics, that’s the whole point of a certification. An MBA is not a certification, it is a representation of additional education, not merely passing three tests.

I’ve studied for the CFA and have been accepted to b-schools, it’s not unlikely I’ll carry both after my last name a few year down the road. This is especially the case since my career path takes me directly into both, where if you don’t have both you hit a road block in the career.

I see what you were getting at with this post but you really made a mistake here from overgeneralization and it’s obvious you are either clueless here or simply not involved with the fields.

How can you claim that a CFA with some work exp is the same as an MBA? They are two different things with two different career paths. How many Fortune 500 CEOs are CFAs? Now how many of them are MBAs? Remember not every MBA works on Wall Street.

I’m sorry if this looks like a personal attack, it’s not. It’s just obvious you’ve bought into the whole media bull-honky about “Wall Street” and “MBAs” and any other media buzzword.

The CFA is all self-study. The MBA is teamwork and problem solving. Both can be very successful but both only cross paths in maybe 10% of the workforce. Yes CFAs are held to a code of ethics, that’s the whole point of a certification. An MBA is not a certification, it is a representation of additional education, not merely passing three tests.

I’ve studied for the CFA and have been accepted to b-schools, it’s not unlikely I’ll carry both after my last name a few year down the road. This is especially the case since my career path takes me directly into both, where if you don’t have both you hit a road block in the career.

I see what you were getting at with this post but you really made a mistake here from overgeneralization and it’s obvious you are either clueless here or simply not involved with the fields.

I’ve got my MBA, but I don’t have my CPA. I just can’t seem to find the motivation to take the exam anymore, not even in this crappy economy.

I’ve got my MBA, but I don’t have my CPA. I just can’t seem to find the motivation to take the exam anymore, not even in this crappy economy.

Thank you for the comment, although I’m not sure I understand your question. Are you saying there are MBA programs out there that require only one additional course from the CPA program you were partaking? I find that pretty hard to process, since most business educations have a max/min requirement on the mix of classes. So unless all your courses were chosen in the field of accounting, with no IT/finance/strategy/marketing/HR component to it, how is that manageable? That is, if I’m interpreting your comment correctly.

But as to why you would forgo a MBA for a professional designation: time commitment and flexibility (many professional designations are self-study, while MBAs are still taught in a class setting), cost, quality.

As to standards and requirements? CFA doesn’t work on a course fulfillment basis as most accounting designations. I had friends in biz school that fulfilled most of their accounting requirements while in school, and only had to take a few more courses outside of school to satisfy the requirements. CFA charter is granted based on the attainment of a bachelor’s degree, examinations, and work experiences. More often than not, these trainings are more rigorous than what one receives in business school. And as accountants, CFA charterholders need to abide by a code of ethics as well. I don’t think MBAs do that just yet.