Investment Banking/Trading/Hedge Fund after ACA?

What are the chances of this happening?

Would you start at the first year analyst trainee level?

Anyone heard of this happening before?

First of all I think ACA is a great qulification and is a definite plus, but the only downside I see with possessing ACA is that you'll be asked why you particularly want to work in banking as opposed as an accountant (as ACA is an accountancy qualification).

Some firms such as KBC have accounting roles where you value securities etc and have input in what the company invests in..something like that would be great..not just a finance role in a bank, which i think alot of ACAs go to?!

What kind of roles do accountants do then?..i can think of 2..preparing accounts and checking accounts (audit)!..im thinking accountants must be very useful when analysing financial statements for example, and they can be more accurate in judging the companys financial position..because companys are good at manipulating their accounts!..I remember one of my lecturers does this in her spare time..this would be the ideal role!

there are a handful of ACA holders in ER here at GS - so if by banking your also incorporating this sector, then by all means you stand a brilliant chance

any man/women who can pass the ACA/CFA first-time without re-sits I have great respect for, the sheer volume of information one has to learn does not make it an easy thing to achieve

Only at ER? Do you know about trading?

I haven't seen any in trading (but by all means I haven't met every single trader in the firm obviously)

I have met quite a number though and (as I was considering the ACA/CFA route as one of my back-up options should I not get a FT offer), I would always ask if there were traders who came from an ACA/CFA at a Big4 background and the answer was no

Therefore in terms of spider-tree effects (i.e. although I ask 1 trader, he knows x number of traders and continue this with a number of traders I had the chance to meet with etc) it has grounding

The general response I would get was, no in trading (although there may definitely be some at other firms or even at GS), but a resounding yes in ER - there is also a guy in the Pharma division of IBD who did a CFA at KPMG CF (but KPMG tend to be the most respected out of the Big4 with the banks, or here at GS anyways, as they lead in Audit (yes I know PwC has the largest market share in the UK, but that is b/c they had an advantage in being the first to form from the what is now, the Big4, and there loosing market share fast as others have formed and shown there excellence et al) and their CF in particular)

If you can get a firm to sponsor your ACA/CFA, it's definately a excellent route to take into IB if the traditional one fails (+ you get a valuable qualification on your side)

Will you sponsor yourself? Or will you join a big4/ finance dept of a bank, and after completing ACA move onto pastures new?

A good chance. The ACA gives you a broad set of skills and is well respected.



I think you would start at an associate level (I would be glad if someone more knowledgeable could confirm this). But you would have some kind initial training, probably technical in order to familiarize with the technical aspects of the job.



It is common for newly qualified ACAs to make the move from whatever industry they are in to banking. I don't know about trading or hedge funds though.

I am that person and yes you do start at associate level after doing an ACA from one of the big 4 in London. I have people become traders after the ACA (rare) but the more common path is into IBD as all the valuation knowledge you get is good from M&A. Lots of PE guys did a ACA at some point earlier in their careers. Couple of bad points, it takes 3 years of hard work plus you'll never get a bird as you're an accountant!

Oh come on...