This document provides information about studying for the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation, including recommended career paths and study methods. Some key benefits of obtaining the CFA cited include building a strong finance foundation, learning how to work under pressure, gaining global recognition, and accessing an elite professional network. Various finance-related career options are introduced, such as fund management, wealth management, investment banking, and risk management. Recommended CFA study techniques include using the original CFA curriculum, building a study schedule, and completing all exercises. University students are advised to network, gain internship experience, and identify mentors to help prepare for a career in finance.

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FOUNDATION DAY
CAREER PATH & STUDY GUIDE

2. WHY YOU SHOULD STUDY CFA?
 Strong finance foundation
 How to work under pressure
 Clear career path
 Global recognition
 Interesting elite network

3. CAREER INTRODUCTION
Fund managementAlternative Investments
Wealth Management
Investment Banking
Risk Management
Compliance
Private Equity
Research and Analysis
Corporate Finance
Financial Advisory
Treasury
Development Finance
Performance
Measurement
Structured
Finance
Finance and
Investment
Industry

4. Finance and
Investment
Industry
INVESTMENT AND ASSETS
MANAGEMENT
Fund management
Alternative Investments
Wealth Management
Private Equity
INTERNAL CONTROL AND
ASSESSEMENT
FINANCE AND INVESTMENT SERVICES OTHER
Research and Analysis
Financial Advisory
Investment Banking
Treasury
Risk Management
Compliance
Performance Measurement
Corporate Finance
Development Finance
Structured Finance
CAREER INTRODUCTION

5. FUND MANAGEMENT
 What to expect
o Picking stocks, finding the right portfolio mix, and executing
trades
o Could be active or passive fund managers.
o Work closely with a team of research/investment analysts
o Start as a research analyst and climb up the ladder to
become a fund manager, chief investment officer, or higher.
 Hiring trend: Demand for talent in the fund management industry is expected to grow in
tandem with wealth creation in Asia Pacific.
 Skill needed: Strong analytical, quantitative, leadership, and communication skills are
important.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Portfolio Management | Quantitative | Corporate Finance
| Financial Reporting Analysis | Economics | Equity | Fixed income

6. WEALTH MANAGEMENT
 What to expect
o Caters to high- and ultra high-net-worth individuals
o Deliver more than a stock recommendation
 Hiring trend: As wealth in Asia grows, professionals in
this industry will remain in demand.
 Skill needed: Strong analytical and quantitative skills, excellent sales, interpersonal, and
communication skills are equally important.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Wealth Management (Level 3) | Behavioural Finance (Level 3)
| Quantitative | Equity | Fixed income | Alternative | Derivative

7. ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT (Hedge Fund)
 What to expect
o The hedge fund industry is one of the toughest areas in
the investment industry to break into.
o Deliver higher risk-adjusted returns to investors than
traditional managers.
o May work in this industry in areas such as analysis, risk
management, compliance, and sales and marketing.
 Hiring trend: China has a growing hedge fund industry, but headcounts are still relatively few.
 Skill needed: Hedge fund managers must have strong quantitative and analytical skills, as well
as excellent sales skills to market the fund and raise capital.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Portfolio Management | Financial Reporting Analysis |
Alternative Investment | Corporate Finance

8. PRIVATE EQUITY
 What to expect
o Involved in identifying, evaluating and executing
potential investments
o Maximizes gains for investors.
o Professionals with investment banking experience
or with strong local knowledge in a specific
industry or market
 Hiring trend: PE firms are sitting on plenty of capital and some firms are still hiring,
especially those with a strong China and Southeast Asia focus.
 Skill needed: Strong analytical, quantitative, and communication skills are essential. Initiative
to find investment opportunities and business acumen are also important.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Financial Reporting Analysis | Corporate Finance |
Supplemental: Negotiation skills, Financial Modeling

9. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
 What to expect
o Analyzing potential investment returns and risks, and
forming recommendations.
o Buy-side analysts typically work for asset management
firms, while sell-side analysts work for securities brokers.
 Hiring trend: Job opportunities may depend on areas of specialization that are in demand.
 Skill needed: Strong quantitative, analytical, and communication skills are essential.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Financial Reporting Analysis | Corporate Finance | Equity |
Fixed Income | Supplemental: Financial Modeling

10. INVESTMENT BANKING
 What to expect
o Advice clients about a listing, a merger, or an acquisition
o Help corporate clients tap equity capital markets through
(IPOs), placements, rights issues, and other equity or equity-
linked products.
o Competition for client mandates is stiff; hence, innovative
financing ideas count the most.
 Hiring trend: Investment banks are expected to shrink in size over the next few years. In
Asia, M&A and debt capital markets are faring better than equity capital markets.
Competition is high for entry-level investment banking jobs.
 Skill needed: Strong analytical and quantitative skills are important; so are multitasking and
communication skills.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Financial Reporting Analysis | Corporate Finance |
Supplemental: Negotiation skills | Financial Modeling

11. RISK MANAGEMENT
 What to expect
o Identify potential problems, assess their impact, and mitigate them.
o Play an important role in maintaining a healthy balance between risk taking and profit
making
 Hiring trend: Efforts to curb excessive risk taking following the global financial crisis have
resulted in a wave of regulations.
 Skill needed: Strong analytical and quantitative skills are important; so are multitasking and
communication skills.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Quantitative (Level 1,2) | Risk Management (Level 3) |
Equity | Fixed Income | Economics | Derivative

12. FINANCIAL ADVISORY
 What to expect
o Performing painstaking analysis to assess the potential value
and risks of a transaction.
o Perform a wide array of tasks: due diligence and financial
modeling, valuation assessments, design appropriate
accounting, etc.
o Work on various projects with diverse clients.
 Hiring trend: The world’s largest accounting firms are among the leading providers of
transactions advisory services.
 Skill needed: Strong quantitative, analytical, organizational, and communication skills are
important.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Financial Reporting Analysis | Corporate Finance | Equity |
Fixed Income | Supplemental: Financial Modeling, Negotiation skills

13. CORPORATE FINANCE
 What to expect
o Involves a lot of number crunching and analysis, financial
modelling and forecasting, and strategic thinking.
o Ability of puting numbers into a business context for
management and the board to use in their decision making.
 Hiring trend: Hiring for various roles in corporate finance remains relatively strong as
companies focus on delivering value to shareholders
 Skill needed: Strong quantitative, analytical and technical skills are essential.
Communication, leadership, and influencing skills are also important.
 CFA module focus: Ethics | Financial Reporting Analysis | Corporate Finance | Equity |
Supplemental: Financial Modeling, Financial Forecasting

14. FUND MANAGEMENT CAREER PATH
Graduation
Internship
Analyst
Senior Analyst
Team Manager
Head of Fund
Director/ Fund company owner
Finance/Accounting/Business degrees are
good starts. But they are not the only choices.
CFA
Equity Funds, Securities Firms, Private Equity,
Investment Banking … can offer the jobs. No
matter where you works for, consistent jobs
are preferable.
CFA program provides useful expertises.
CFA is a gold standard in the industry
Less job positions, more challenges, and
highly respected

15. HOW TO BALANCE BETWEEN PERSONAL LIFE AND CFA
Expectation management
o For you
o For your family
o For your employer
Building a good schedule for studying and working
o Decide when to start
o Think about your big plan
o Build a weekly plan

16. RECOMMENDED STUDY METHOD
o Use curriculum – You should start soon
o Reading through to get the big picture of the topic before coming to class
o You could just review learning outcome
o Finishing all exercises in curriculum for each reading
o Having your own note for each reading, section and subject
o Trying to draw mind map for each reading
o Refering to extra papers recommended from lecturers if you have time

17. WHY YOU SHOULD USE THE ORIGINAL CFA BOOKS
o How you could become analyst if you can’t read 2,500 pages in 6 months.
o The goal of CFA exam and preparation is to prepare for you the pressure in the
industry
o You could have a big picture of the subject with CFA curriculum but not for
Schweser Note
o You can have good memory when learing with Curriculum
o You could approach the experience of CFA Charter Holders through case study in
the Curriculum
o This uses the language of the exam and the investment world

18. HOW TO USE CURRICULUM EFFICIENTLY
o Making questions about the topic of section and reading before you read
o Skiming and Scanning to have a big picture first
o Take note for what you have read
o You should summarize each reading with your own words
o You should also create mind map for each reading
o Do all exercises at the end of each reading, especially for Quiz section

19. WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD PREPARE AT UNIVERSITY
NET WORK
DUE DILIGENCE
CAMPUS ACTIVITIES
INTERNSHIP
MENTORS
o Meeting people in Finance and Investment Industry and learn
from them
o Research all finance areas and prepare for them: What do
people in each specific filed do? Job requirement? Skills and
qualification to be achieved?
o Extra-curricular can build up your skills: leadership, time
management, collaboration and other soft skills. CFA Institue
Research Challenge and similar competition should boost up
your knowledge a lot.
o Fresh graduates are understandably short on work experience
when they join the job market. Then internship opportunities
help you exposure to the experience.
o Practical insights and advice from mentors and sponsors can
help you save time in penatring into the industry.

20. Q&A