Welcome to NexusFi: the best trading community on the planet, with over 150,000 members Sign Up Now for Free
Genuine reviews from real traders, not fake reviews from stealth vendors
Quality education from leading professional traders
We are a friendly, helpful, and positive community
We do not tolerate rude behavior, trolling, or vendors advertising in posts
We are here to help, just let us know what you need
You'll need to register in order to view the content of the threads and start contributing to our community. It's free for basic access, or support us by becoming an Elite Member -- see if you qualify for a discount below.
-- Big Mike, Site Administrator
(If you already have an account, login at the top of the page)
I'm considering getting NASD certified and would like to solicit feedback from those who have or haven't. In particular, I am looking for any primary advantages (and disadvantages) to becoming certified. I know some of the legal things, I am more interested in your experiences.
Normally, I would never consider there to be a downside to being certified, but a trader once told me he purposely did not take his Series 7 due to liability. I'd like to explore that more and get your input.
One of the big downsides to getting registered is you have to pay the professional level for stock quotes and such. Futures quotes are about the same price. Another downside if you become a CTA is the CFTC will want to come in and audit to see what you are doing.
That is what brings me to the thread question --- I thought I would get certified "just to be certified", having gone through the motions, etc. Besides, never know when I want to open a hedge fund
But, I would like to fully explore all the disadvantages of being certified as well, can you name any that have not been mentioned already?
It's all where you see yourself. I was at a bar the other day and happened to meet a professional trader from Morgan Stanley. He was in town buying a proprietary execution platform from a coder.
I did it because I'd like to eventually mange funds for clients, you learn what are traditional capital preservation investments and the tax implications of different strategies.
For example there are some variable life insurance policies that have historically returned 24% on the cash value of the policy minus the cost of insurance in a given year. There is no downside risk to such a policy. You have to have a 6 or 7 to sell variable life and annuities products.
There are many, many other options available to someone with the professional certifications than without.
I learned a lot taking the 7 & 3 exams and the Annuity exams, 63 is worthless, but necessary if you work in the industry. Was even asked to teach as I got very high scores on both. But never did that.
Since, I do not hold myself out a being active I see no downside, as far as I can tell. When I open an account I tell them what I have done and I have been considered the same a normal investor.
R.I.P. Andy Zektzer (ZTR), 1960-2010.
Please visit this thread for more information.