Any CPAs who are also CFAs?
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From: Napa
Well street smarts helps. I'm not the best CPA in the world but I have other business qualities sometimes lacking in clients. Like the clients who gave their money to loan brokers when I said they shouldn't. His good deals that had to be acted on fast, turned out to be the blackjack tables where he lost all their money. Or the client that bragged about the high return on her oil investment and didn't listen when I said it looked fishy to me. They were paying her from new investments, not from income, of which there wasn't any. I could go on, but you get the picture.
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From: Yorba Linda, CA
Originally Posted by Morris,Sep 8 2005, 11:47 AM
Or the client that bragged about the high return on her oil investment and didn't listen when I said it looked fishy to me. They were paying her from new investments, not from income, of which there wasn't any. I could go on, but you get the picture.
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From: Oregon
Originally Posted by Morris,Sep 8 2005, 11:47 AM
Well street smarts helps. I'm not the best CPA in the world but I have other business qualities sometimes lacking in clients. Like the clients who gave their money to loan brokers when I said they shouldn't. His good deals that had to be acted on fast, turned out to be the blackjack tables where he lost all their money. Or the client that bragged about the high return on her oil investment and didn't listen when I said it looked fishy to me. They were paying her from new investments, not from income, of which there wasn't any. I could go on, but you get the picture.
So many CPAs are so hungry to get a cut of the brokerage/managed assets/financial planning business that they're getting licensed as RIAs and farming out the portfolios to various large firms. (I don't want to mention names, but they're usually on the coasts for some reason). They do a risk-analysis and pick a model portfolio and away we go. The CPA/RIA is absolutely not involved in the day-to-day running of the money, yet continues to be paid a cut of the fee for their involvement. I hear from my college buddies at the SEC that there may be some changes coming on these sort of arrangements. It's pretty funny when you think about it. Client - "How come I'm not making any money this year?" CPA/RIA - "I don't know, let's call XYZ company and find out what the hell they're doing." Client - "I remember something about me paying you to be on top of the portfolio." CPA/RIA - "Yeah, you're right. Let's move the money to another company."
When you add up the fees for these programs, disclosed, hidden and inefficiencies, it boggles the mind that they're allowed to exist.
It's hard to blame the CPAs for getting suckered into the scheme - firms have been courting them forever to pick up the assets.
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From: Vice City
Thanks for your input on this so far, everyone. If not the CFA, then how about a CFM designation? I am not that interested in attaining a CMA since I never liked managerial accounting. Not sure if that would help me so much. What's the difference between a CFM and CFA? Would the CFM designation be better suited for me?
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