Is Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certificate worthwhile for a software developer

Question

I am interested in Finance and Investment, but I think I will keep on the software developer track in the future several years.

Is it worthwhile to get a CFA certificate or simply grab some books to learn about it? Will it add up to a software developer's career?

For future career, I am targeting development management, architect or some role with higher level of visions. Personally, I like some interesting problems to solve, will feel bored without them. (Let me know if some other factors could be important.)

Thanks.

EDIT:

BTW, I heard some developers only target a level one (which definitely cost much less than getting the final certificate), does it make sense to do so?

Answer 1

The CFA program is meant for finance professionals who work in the investment management and associated industries. However, a lot of professionals take the CFA program with the intention of keeping themselves abreast with financial industry or want to change careers.

In my opinion take up the program if

1. You can commit about 300 hours preparation and reading for each level
2. You are in for the long haul in financial services industry / domain
3. You can manage time well between studies and work
4. You can wait for a minimum of three years to complete all levels. There are 3 levels and you cannot attempt more than one level per year. At the end of three years you will not receive any certificate. A CFA charter requires you to show 4 years of relevant work experience (i.e. investment related).
5. You are willing to compete and have been historically good at academics

For more info visit the site www.cfainstitute.org and search various CFA forums on the web

Answer 2

For anyone in Australia, I would recommend Kaplan Professional's series of qualifications. I am currently studying a Masters of Applied Finance and have been practicing software development within the financial services industry... I believe it has definitely helped me in communicating with business people that I work with. Their courses are smaller in scope than the CFA but the time & money commitment is less as well.

Answer 3

Interestingly enough, I was about to post the same question 'till I saw this. I am interested in finance and investment and have worked off and on for such companies for 3 years. It seems to me that the career path between software engineers and quant analysts(which is what I am interested in studying) are quite distinct and different, that you almost have to abandon one to land on the other? Personally I am a senior software engineer/architect, and I do a lot of designs and hands-on coding. Frankly, I am a little bored with my profession. But I feel a second career seems a little drastic, hence I had the same question as Dr. XRay. I read the other related posts and I don't think one needs a CFA level 1 cert to be proficient in developing financial software. It just helps to understand the SME's a lot quicker. In addition, it offers additional domain knowledge, which is interesting and challenging, and maybe the pay gets slightly higher, but you could very easily do so in software engineering and bump up your salary just as easily. So I am concluding that it's a personal choice between being a software geek vs quant analyst.