CFA & Investment Banking: Be Careful What You Wish For

Many youngsters want to get into Investment Banking (IB) with a big firm. It’s their holy grail. 

Goldman! JPM!! BofA!!!

I get many queries on this topic, so I’ll dish out some brutally honest advice. 

I can see the attraction. IB is better paid, you learn a lot and you get big brands on your resume. 

But it’s tough to get in + you’ll have zero work/life balance + the stress, travel and long hours can burn you out + you may have to work in toxic cultures with grade A assholes. 

So lesson # 1 is it’s not about good or bad but grasp the Pros and Cons, be careful what you wish for and know yourself well. IB is not meant for everyone. 

Lesson # 2 is that in my opinion CFA is NOT the vehicle to get into IB and this is a common misconception. IB requires skills in presentation, financial modeling, project work etc little of which you’ll pick up in CFA. Get into a top MBA school (target school) if you want IB; the big firms come for campus interviews. A MBA can also help hugely in making a major career shift eg from engineering to IB. 

CFA is NOT a “passport to finance”. It is the gold standard for 3 areas (Asset Management, Wealth Management, Investment Research) and has limited application outside these. 

Don’t be naive. Make the right choices.