CFA or MBA: Which is right for you?

A lot of people are wondering whether they should seek a CFA in place of the more traditional MBA. In large part, the answer depends on your focus.

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation has been enjoying a heightened profile and increased popularity in light of surging private equity activity. So far In 2007 – the program’s 44th year – 140,000 people from 156 countries have registered to sit for the three exams that determine, in part, whether one is permitted to tag those three letters at the end of their signature.

A lot of people are wondering whether they should seek a CFA in place of the more traditional MBA. Which will get them ahead? Which will make them more marketable? Which will attract a bigger compensation package?

Whether you should seek a CFA, an MBA, or both has everything to do you’re your professional goals, says Joshua Wimberley, a client partner in recruiter Korn/Ferry’s financial officers practice. Simply put, if your goals include anything but asset management, a CFA isn’t for you.

Read the complete article on : http://news.efinancialcareers.com/6302/cfa-or-mba-which-is-right-for-you/

Choosing between MBA or Chartered Accountancy

Came across this good article by Rashmi Bansal on MBA vs. CA on Rediff.com. Am copying the text:

During my last career chat on rediffcom, someone asked the following question: 
vic asked, what do u think of chartered accountant career in terms of rewards it carry? kindly suggest

this is what I answered: CA is a good and rewarding career although, like in medicine, building a practice from scratch takes time. Of course, there is the option of working for someone else -- CAs are in demand in the industry like never before.

KPOs, equity analysis and accounting firms employ a lot of CAs at very good salaries. But remember, it can be a very boring profession if you don't like working with numbers. So don't make a choice based only on the job potential!

Half-a-dozen readers sent in angry emails saying that Chartered Accountancy was a great profession -- and that I was projecting a wrong picture. That no profession can be termed as 'boring'.
Well, I'm afraid I can't be politically correct and will go out on a limb to say that CA -- despite being a respectable profession with great career prospects -- has lost out to the MBA. And, like it or not, this trend will only grow stronger.

The ABCD of CA

Ask most engineers why they did a BE and they'll tell you: "That's what all bright students who opt for science do... unless they want to do medicine."

The situation is something similar with CA. "That's what all bright commerce students do... unless they want to do MBA." Of course, the situation is a bit different. Even those doing the CA may eventually top it off with an MBA.
The difference between the CA and MBA is a bit like the difference between a five day test match and one day cricket. Acquiring a CA takes a lot of plodding and perseverance; at the end of the day, a result may prove inconclusive.
The MBA, like one day cricket, is quick, glamorous and performers get faster recognition as stars.
Okay, let's not stretch it. One day or five day -- in both cases, the players hold a bat and throw a ball. In case of CA and MBA, there is a difference. Both may join the same companies, but their job profiles would be completely distinct.
This is not to say that one job is 'superior' to the other. But the fact is that, starting as a CA, you can expect to climb up the ladder upto the CFO position. While an MBA's career path could -- in theory -- lead upto CEO. There are notable exceptions such as Deepak Parekh of HDFC [ Get Quote ], but, generally, this holds true.

Why MBAs are preferred

The reason is simple: being CEO is about vision and leadership. This would require you -- at times -- to take a leap of faith, even when the numbers are against you. For example, you diversify into a new area of business. This may mean investing a lot of money, literally burning cash in the initial phase. It may look very bad on the balance sheet for a while, but there is a gameplan and eventually it pays off.
MBAs are exposed to all aspects of the business -- their role is to take a bird's eye view of the organisation. On the other hand, CAs are trained to look at the eye of the fish. And they do a damn good job of it.
But should a CA decide to throw down his accounting and auditing arrow and don a different hat, it is not easy. The mobility into general management and consulting that comes with an MBA from a premier institute is missing for CAs. Even though the CA has battled equally hard; a rank holder in particular would be one among several thousand aspirants.
Overall, it appears that MBAs score when it comes to communication skills, presentation and customer orientation. The 'soft skills' so crucial for success in today's corporate world.
The bottomline is that certain jobs are purely in the CA domain: Statutory & Regulatory compliance, Consolidations, Taxation, International Accounting (GAAP), Internal Audit, Systems Audit, Transaction Advisory -- to name a few.
Other profiles are available to both CA s and MBAs: MIS, Budgeting forecasting, Business Planning, Equity Research, Treasury, Investment Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, Portfolio management, Fund management, Sector Analysis.
However, these are diversified roles. Many employers prefer to hire MBAs from premier institutes for these roles, as it is felt they are more equipped to provide insight and analysis.
Does a CA + MBA combination provide an extra edge? Well, it never hurts to have a double degree but there's no sure fire formula to become a finance whizkid. An engineer + MBA or a B Com with a degree from a top 10 institute stands an equal chance!

So, how do you decide?

Reasons to do a CA include:

1. Dad owns a CA firm, it makes sense to join the business
2. Professional qualification chahiye. CA is a good one -- nothing stops you from doing an MBA later.
3. You genuinely like accounting. It's what you've always dreamt of doing in life.
As few 17 or 18 year olds know what they want in life, Reason 3 is rare. But Reasons 1 and 2 are perfectly valid.
If lucky, you may find that you enjoy the subjects and become an excellent CA. If not so lucky but smart, you may not like what you study but still become a competent CA. If neither smart nor lucky, you will probably remain a frustrated 'trying to clear my CA' student.
The perception is that the CA success story is 'all or nothing'. Either you clear the exam  -- rather, three different exams -- or you get left behind. Whereas, in the case of an MBA, while only a few make it to the top 10 institutes, there is always the hope of the next 10 and then the next 10.
However, things are changing on that front. In a recent interview, T N Manoharan, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, stated the pass percentage has risen dramatically in recent years. 'Gone are the days when the pass rates were 2-3 percent. Now, if you consider both groups at the final level, these are at 15-20 percent. In a single group, it is often as high as 30 percent,' he said.
What's more, 83 percent of the 7,445 candidates who passed out in 2005 were absorbed by industries. Out of a total number of 1.3 lakh CA professionals, 10,000 are settled abroad. Of the rest, 55,000 were employed in industries, and the rest were practitioners. ICAI believes there is a requirement of 40,000 more CA professionals in the country.
In fact, it does appear that ICAI has woken up and taken the challenge posed by the 'lure of the MBA' seriously. A new syllabus will be launched this year, and the duration of the course condensed to four years.
That's still two years more than an MBA though!
ICAI is also undertaking marketing itself aggressively. For example, by screening films at schools 'to sensitise teachers, students and parents to the importance of the profession.'
Most importantly, ICAI has started offering 'campus placements.' Not only is this great for newly certified students, it's a good revenue earner for the institute. Like premier MBA institutes, ICAI charges recruiting companies -- Rs 1.2 lakhs is the going rate for  'Day 1' at the Mumbai [ Images ] and New Delhi [ Images ] centres.
Top recruiters during the February/ March interviews were Progeon (which offered 163 jobs), Gecis (160), Tata Sons (68) and Reliance Industries [ Get Quote ] (63). The average salary would be Rs 4 lakhs while the highest salary offered was Rs 12 lakh per annum.
But it didn't make headline news, unlike IIM salaries...
The basic problem
ICAI can shout itself hoarse over the great new career opportunities a CA degree brings -- and rightly so. But it is impossible to fight the MBA. At best, it can hope to attract some of the very bright students who become CAs first and MBAs later. 
The very nature of the profession -- exacting, detailed and dealing with numbers will put off many students. And there is nothing that anyone can do about it.
That is all I meant when I made my original statement -- that CA can be a boring profession. That does not imply that all those who become CAs are either bored -- or boring.
But just like you can't become a doctor if you faint at the sight of blood, you can't become a CA if you are unable to make sense of numbers. Realising this simple truth would save many young people a lot of wasted time and effort.

Top Careers for Finance MBAs

Finance -- the sector most battered by the global meltdown -- is making a comeback. News streaming in from top B-school campuses such as the IIMs talks of finance positions once again claiming their place in the sun. Financial heavyweights are flexing their muscles once again on Day Zero. Names currently doing the rounds are Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse, UBS, HSBC, RBS, Barclays, Bank of America -- Merrill Lynch, Nomura and many more.
Although a lot of us may want to take advantage of this, a lot of questions may also arise in our mind.
What are the roles these financial companies offer? What is the meaning of all the perplexing finance positions in these companies? What does one do exactly? What is the skill set required? How much does one get paid?
Finance as a career option is a very wide term. In a survey by an education portal, it was pointed out that over 75 per cent students took finance purely because they felt that it paid the most. That shows one thing: mostly students and job-seekers find who opt for this specialisation do not know what they are getting into.
This is an attempt to simplify some of the financial career options students should look at when contemplating a career in finance.
1. Private equity: The role of private equity is to raise funds from large investors and invest the money directly into businesses. The usual manner is to raise money from overseas investors and then find businesses in the growth stage. Most private equity funds 'exit' the investment after a period of time by selling their holding in the business to some other investors or doing an initial public offering of the shares of the business.
2.Investment Banking: Investment banking comprises two major businesses. One is the advisory/ corporate finance role which entails mergers and acquisitions. This would entail understanding valuations, finding targets, negotiation and compliance with legal regulations. The second role is what is more popularly called equity capital markets role. This entails helping corporates raise funds from investors or the public. So it may entail working on IPOs or Institutional Offerings.
3. Fund Management:
As a fund manager, one is an important decision-maker typically at a mutual fund. The fund manager has a good overall understanding of the macro factors which affect the markets as well as the micro factors about which company to invest in. He invests money in stock market, debt market, directly into companies, etc depending upon his fund mandate.
4. Equity Research & Sales: The role of equity research is to find out the correct value of the stock which is trading on the stock exchange doing various types of research namely fundamental and technical analysis. There are two types of ERs though. One is the sell-side research which belongs to a brokerage, the aim is to do research and sell investment ideas to investors so as to earn commission on trading by the investor. The second is buy-side research, which is a part of usually a buy side fund like a mutual fund. They analyse the research results of various brokerages in addition to their own research on investment ideas for the fund manager.
5. Project Finance & Debt Syndication: This role entails arranging for long-term finance for infrastructure and industrial projects which will take a long time to pay back. The first step is to understand the project, conduct a feasibility study, risk assessment and a detailed financial model. This is done with the purpose to rope in equity partners (known as sponsors) and lenders. Generally the lending part is done by multiple banks under leadership of the syndicate bank.
6. Financial Risk Management: Financial risk management is the practice of creating economic value in a firm by using financial instruments to manage exposure to risk, particularly credit risk and market risk. Similar to general risk management, financial risk management requires identifying its sources, measuring it, and plans to address them. Financial risk management can be qualitative and quantitative. As a specialisation of risk management, financial risk management focuses on when and how to hedge using financial instruments to manage costly exposures to risk. In the banking sector worldwide, the Basel Accords are generally adopted by internationally active banks for tracking, reporting and exposing operational, credit and market risks
7. Corporate Finance: This role entails the entire plethora of banking services required by corporates. Corporate can be divided into largely two sections Large Corporates and MSME which is Medium and Small enterprises. A corporate banker would thus have companies as his clients and service them. Within corporate banking some of the departments are:
•Credit Borrowing to companies for their expansion and working capital requirements. Would entail doing a credit evaluation on the company and sanctioning the loan
•Treasury Help companies manage various types of risks such as foreign exchange, interest rate fluctuations. Treasuries also take proprietary positions to make profit in the 'forex' and bond markets.
•Cash Management Solutions: As most companies have a large number of customers, distributors or branch offices across the country it becomes a huge challenge to deal in money. Banks offer cash management solutions to help streamline this entire operation for its corporate customers.
8. Wealth Management: Wealth management is an investment advisory discipline that incorporates financial planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services. High net worth individuals, small business owners and families who desire the assistance of a credentialed financial advisory specialist call upon wealth managers to coordinate retail banking, estate planning, legal resources, tax professionals and investment management.
Wealth managers can be independent, certified financial planners. One must already have accumulated a significant amount of wealth for wealth management strategies to be effective. Wealth management can be provided by banks, brokerages, independent financial advisers or multi-licensed portfolio managers whose services are designed to focus on high-net worth customers.
The fallout of the events of 2008 has produced a high level of skepticism and distrust among investors, and they will demand greater transparency from their providers to understand what they own, the value of their investments and associated risks.

9. Retail Banking: Also known as consumer banking, it entails dealing with products / services for individual customers. So the scope encompasses getting business for products such as credit cards, savings accounts, personal loans and auto loans. Operational roles would entail teller, authorising, clearing, remittances and customer service.
10. Corporate Finance: A career in corporate finance means you would work for a company to help it find money to run the business, grow the business, make acquisitions, plan for its financial future and manage any cash on hand. You might work for a large multinational company or a smaller player with high growth prospects.
The job of the financial officer is to create value for a company. As a corporate finance professional one is typicall involved in four main activities to meet its objectives: 1) designing, implementing and monitoring financial policies, 2) planning and executing the financing programme, 3) managing cash resources, and 4) interfacing with the financial community and investors.
Jobs in corporate finance are also relatively stable. Performance in these jobs counts, but your job is not going to depend on whether you're selling enough this week or getting good deals finished this quarter. Rather the key to performing well in corporate finance is to work with a long view of what's going to make your company successful. Many would argue that corporate finance jobs are the most desirable in the entire field of finance. Some of the benefits of working in corporate finance are:
•You generally work in teams which help you work with people
•It's a lot of fun to tackle business problems that really matter
•You'll have many opportunities to travel and meet people and
•The pay in corporate finance is generally quite good
Thus, a budding financial wiz should look at understanding which area interests him/her the most and build skill sets which can help take the leap into financial sector.