CFA? Actuary?

J

Johnone

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So if you have your commerce degree (BCom) majoring in financial/investment and risk management, what do you do?

Go for your honours in investment management and sit level 1 to 3 for the CFA exams? Which will take about 4-5 years, depending on how many times you fail the exams :erm:

or

Start a new degree in mathematics and statistics and try to become an actuary? :whistle:

:confused:
 
Hi Johnone,

I've tried the CFA exams and am also currently trying to slog through those Actuarial exams. They are all quite lucrative and do open up a lot of doors.

Changing from a commerce degree to actuarial science can be quite a steep learning curve as the mathematics involved is quite a lot more. That being said, it isn't impossible. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat some more.
 
i disagree go with CFA. Actuaries job is pretty boring and those exams takes years to get through.
 
It all is relative. I've had some jobs that are incredibly interesting and some that are quite boring. An Actuaries skills are much more transferable to different environments than a CFA's would. The CFA's often focus on the pure financial disciplines whereas an Actuary learns a lot of the actual theory and not just the applications.
 
Do you intend to become fully chartered in either field? It's a difficult decision, yes actuaries will earn more but it's a VERY long road to fruition that you're looking at now. I'm not for quick wins, I just know that chartered actuaries are rare for a good reason.
 
alf101 said:
Depends what the CA does. They don't all just sit and fill in the general journal and ledgers.
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Lol, I am not saying the people are stupid I just feel that CA is a very over valued qualification.
 
I doubt that "majoring in financial/investment and risk management" will prepare you for the actuary route in any meaningful way. i.e. That will be a serious uphill battle imo.

I'd do both Hons & CFA in your position.

Though I think your missing the obvious angle: What do you want to be doing in 10 years time? You are kinda deciding your life's course here...
 
Well, I don't know what I exactly want. Maybe something all of us want: A high-paying job with little stress.

But my reasoning is just this: if I spend the following 4-5 years completing honours and CFA exams and then enter into a relatively more stressful career, I might as well change route and do the actuary thing where the job is less stressful and higher paying.

So, I'm just looking for some wisdom to decide which route is best. CA is out of the question, cause it would be like slowly killing myself studying what they study; whereas, mathematics I actually like.

BTW, how much do student actuary earn in SA? You know, the straight out of varsity guys with many an actuary exam still to go?

And, how highly is CFA valued in SA? Is it the 'gold standard' of charters like in America, or what? But I reckon Portfolio and Asset Managers who are CFA charterholders earn also their bucket-load of cash. But how stressful are their jobs? And how healthy are their lifestyles? :sick:
 
Johnone said:
Well, I don't know what I exactly want.
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Then you certainly won't find the answer here. ;)

Johnone said:
And, how highly is CFA valued in SA? Is it the 'gold standard' of charters like in America, or what?
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It is valuable...but only for some companies. i.e. You'd have to be in something trading or bank related for it to really count.

Johnone said:
CA is out of the question, cause it would be like slowly killing myself studying what they study
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Haha. Its not as bad as you think.

No idea about the student actuary salaries, but I reckon it'll be like 12-18k.
 
Johnone said:
Well, I don't know what I exactly want. Maybe something all of us want: A high-paying job with little stress.

But my reasoning is just this: if I spend the following 4-5 years completing honours and CFA exams and then enter into a relatively more stressful career, I might as well change route and do the actuary thing where the job is less stressful and higher paying.

So, I'm just looking for some wisdom to decide which route is best. CA is out of the question, cause it would be like slowly killing myself studying what they study; whereas, mathematics I actually like.

BTW, how much do student actuary earn in SA? You know, the straight out of varsity guys with many an actuary exam still to go?

And, how highly is CFA valued in SA? Is it the 'gold standard' of charters like in America, or what? But I reckon Portfolio and Asset Managers who are CFA charterholders earn also their bucket-load of cash. But how stressful are their jobs? And how healthy are their lifestyles? :sick:
Click to expand...

A student actuary will earn between R20000 and R30000 depending on the job (finishing CA1 usually bumps up your salary quite a bit). Once you've become an actuary, doing your CFA while working is pretty easy. A lot of it you'll know already, assuming you study investments in your actuarial degree. What do you mean by 'start a new degree'? Start in first year and complete honours? It is a 4 year degree and you can basically be an actuary after these 4 years (technically you need to work for three years afterwards and complete some extra exams to be called an actuary, but these are a technicality), and doesn't take as long as some people think.

You don't need to start a new degree if you have a good education in University maths 1 and 2, but the statistics is what will get you. You can attempt the economics and financial economics exams thru ASSA (Actuarial Society of SA), but I wouldn't suggest wasting your time on the more difficult ones.
 
I wouldn't put CFA and 'easy' in the same sentence, lol. But it's not just about investments, it's that and everything else financialy related, including ethics. The mountaneous volume of work is what demotivates many a CFA-aspirant.
 
Most of it is covered in actuarial examinations. I know a few actuaries who study only about 2 days before the exams
 
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