Hi I want to know abouthte scope of CFA especially in Pakistan & generally in middle east & the UK...

Whats its starting salary? Is it a more promising profession in repect of money than ACCA/CIMA??

Are there any opportunities for CFA in Pakistan or the pak market is immature for CFA??

Usman brother!
You should not care about salary at studentship level.Because salaries are all about your experience not about you degree by and large.So if you have thorough experience then you would have dozens of opportunites to select job.

And now about scope i rarely heard about CFA in pakistan but it doesn't mean that there is no scope but i think ACCA is going far great leaving behind even CA in broad scene.

nisar bhai jaan. degree is important. you cannot say this that its not important. its in the case when you are in a business....

if there would have no importance of which degree you are obtaining then why CA's are earning much much more then an MSc or PhD in Pakistan.... yeh tu aap nay bohat hi fazool baat ki hai, my dear

Probably you haven't read my post carefully i said it depends on your "experience" that's the true power not your degree.I do not deny importance of degree but remember it is just an entry pass not the seat or salary.
Are you sure MSc and phD are not earning more than CA :D
Its not the case phD get more than 250,000 salary if they have right experience level otherwise CA sucks at Rs 2800 interneship.

I dont know about the pakistan but in singapore ACCA is more preferable than CFA :)

Well, i think CFA is more for investment banking, etc rather than accounting / audit.
ACCA is more for a career in accounting / audit.

AOA all,
Well, I live and work in Canada. I recently completed my US CPA. I am now trying to deciding to go towards CFA/CA/ACCA. I think it does not make sense to compare an accounting designation with finance designation (CFA etc). They are both very different from each other. I do believe that pakistani market is too immature for CFA. CFA is mainly about investments and portfolio management which is only seen in the stock exchange offices. In most of the other countries such as US or UK, an average person's mentality is very different about investments that pakistanis. More than 70% of the people invest their money in something either bonds, stocks or any other type of mutual funds. When is that gonna happen in Pak? Not anytime soon.

I also dont agree with Nisar about PhDs making 250,000 while a CAs making 2800. You are comparing a top top salary of a PhD that you might have known or heard somewhere but giving the lowest internship salary figure for a "CA Student" not even an actual CA. Are you suggesting that PhD students make 250,000 while CA students make 2800? Do you actually know any real CA who makes 2800 per month?

The battle of credentials
By James Goodnough, Contributor
Sunday, February 11 2007
Merits of the MBA vs. CFA.
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation? That is the question.
Which credential ultimately adds more value and helps its holder get on the fastest track to meeting his/her professional goals? There is no question that an individual with either should expect a higher salary. In fact, it would be ideal to carry both. However, time and money limit one’s ability to pursue both the CFA and MBA, so if you had to choose only one designation, which would it be?

In essence, the CFA is a far more specialized program, aimed primarily at those either interested in or already pursuing a career in the financial industry. On the other hand, the goal of the MBA is to expose its candidates to a wide variety of business streams – marketing, finance, accounting, or organizational behaviour – and give them the options to specialize or remain a generalist.

The CFA route is designed for individuals interested in a finance career. The candidate must have four years of experience related to the aforementioned tasks, or be in the process of accruing it. This designation has another caveat emptor however: Summer internships do not count.

MBA programs do not segregate candidates based on their past work experience and future work plans. However, there are a number of hurdles to jump over before entering a distinguished MBA program. Depending on which school you are interested in, you may be required to verify a certain amount of job experience (usually two years) before entering the program.
Due to fierce competition over entry into these programs, a strong supplementary application coupled with proven work experience and high GMAT scores are necessary for admission.

Now for the meat of the discussion: the costs versus pay-offs. Depending on the MBA school of choice, one will likely spend anywhere between $30,000-$100, 000 over the course of one to two years. Starting salaries also vary from school to school: Top US Ivy League schools have an average post-MBA salary of US $110,000 compared to the average pre-MBA salary of US $70,000. That is a 57% increase in salary upon graduation.
On a more domestic note, MBAs attending top Canadian business schools such as the Western’s Ivey, Queen’s, Rotman, and Schulich can expect a salary increase of 56% upon the completion of their degree; the average pre-MBA salary of US $45,000 increases to approximately US $70,000 upon program completion.

The CFA works a little differently. It consists of three tests that can be written once a year, and provided you pass all three of them on the first try, you can obtain your designation in three years. However, that is a big “if”. According to studies, one needs a minimum of 250 hours to study for all three tests. However, the pay-offs are lucrative: CFA holders enjoy an average salary of $180,000; that is 54% higher than those without the designation.
Furthermore, CFA holders with ten years of experience demand 10% higher salaries than their MBA counterparts. Considering that the program occurs over the course of three years, and taking into account that the preparation material and tests cost about $7,000, the immediate returns of a CFA are higher than that of an MBA.

Salaries aside, according to Managing Directors and Associates at TD Securities and CIBC World Markets, most professionals with a finance focus will be required to pursue their CFA at some point. In fact, employers with the largest number of CFA holders include CIBC, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, RBC, and UBS. For today’s young finance professionals, a CFA is a far better investment.

Mr Nisar is a person who want to poses his ideas on others he is very extereme in his ideas but what will happen when comparing reality with ideas..............

I am 10000000000000000000000000000% agreed with ahmad_cpa a very good post made by him a very real one and his sayings that paki markets are very immature for CFA's are absolutly right and you can confirm his and my posts by reading the above article which i posted here.

a huge sums of salary can rearly be affoard by paki industries :oops: :oops: :oops:

Is it possible if someone is in practice industry rather then in investment. Can he start studying CFA after that? Can he use same experience in CFA requirement?

Sallaam
I am new member on this forum
Bilal bhai i want some clarification from u about CFA as i am planning to obtain this qualificaion
i am in waiting for result of C.A inter. I want to know what is CFA its courses, eligibility etc,

Regards

Well, CFA related with investment and portfolio management studies. You can get admission in it on the basis of graduate or 3-4 years experience. It is best course in USA, EUROPE and developing in ASIA nowadays.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/index.html visit this official website of CFA. If you have some specific question then do share i will try to reply. Might be i do not reply properly because i didn't start it yet but in future inshaALLAH but best soruce is official website or email them.

thanks

A.O.A
Thanks brother. sure Allah will help u to start CFA and my prayers are also with u.

Regards

Can anyone enlighten us which universities or institutes offering CFA studies in Pakistan. I do not have idea about pakistan institutes. And which companies/Banks working exclusively on investments and asset management specially in karachi.


Pakistani banks list, how many of them work on investment

PUBLIC SECTOR COMMERCIAL BANKS :
National Bank of Pakistan
First Women Bank
The Bank of Punjab
The Bank of Khyber


SPECIALIZED BANKS :

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Islamabad

The Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank, Lahore

Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan, Karachi


SME Bank Ltd, Islamabad

MICRO FINANCE INSTITUTIONS :

Khushali Bank, Islamabad
The First Micro Finance Bank Limited, Islamabad
Network Micro Finance Bank Limited, Karachi
Rozgar Micro Finance Bank, Karachi




Private Sector Commercial Banks:

Allied Bank Limited, Karachi
Habib Bank Limited, Karachi
Muslim Commercial Bank Limited (MCB), Islamabad
United Bank LImited, Karachi
Askari Commercial Bank, Faisalabad
Bank Al-Habib Limited, Karachi
Mybank Limited (formerly Bolan Bank), Karachi
Bank Alfalah Limited, Karachi
Crescent Commercial Bank Limited, Karachi
Dawood Bank Limited, Karachi
Faysal Bank Limited, Karachi
KASB Bank Limited, Karachi
Meezan Bank Limited, Karachi
Metropolitan Bank Limited, Karachi
NIB Bank Limited, Karachi
Pakistan Industrial Credit & Investment Corp (PICIC Commercial bank)
Prime Commercial Bank Limited, Lahore
Saudi Pak Commercial Bank Limited, Karachi
Soneri Bank Limited, Karachi
Union Bank Limited, Karachi


Foreign banks:

ABN Amro Bank, Islamabad
Habib Bank AG Zurich, Karachi
Al Baraka Islamic Investment Bank, Lahore
HSBC, Karachi
American Express Bank Limited, Karachi
Oman International Bank, Karachi
The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi Limited, Karachi
Rupali Bank Limited, Karachi
Citibank N.A., Karachi
Standard Chartered Bank, Karachi
Deutsche Bank AG, Karachi


Development financial institutions:
Pakistan Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation (PICIC), Karachi
Pak Kuwait Investment Company (Pvt) Limited, Karachi
Pak Oman Investment Co.(Pvt) Limited, Karachi
Saudi Pak Industrial & Agricultural Investment Company Limited, Islamabad
Pak. Libya Holding Company Limited, Karachi
House Building Finance Corporation, Karachi
Investment Corporation of Pakistan, Karachi