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For those considering a finance career, the great debate has been whether to go for a specialized Master of Business Administration in Finance or the Chartered Financial Analyst certification. Both have their advantages, but which qualification has the potential to best advance your financial career and help propel you up the career ladder?

Together with the Academic Director of the Professional MBA Finance, Prof. Manfred Frühwirth, two current students Alexander Ovchinnikov, Head of ALM at Raiffeisen Bank, and Ivaylo Penev, Member of the Board of Directors at ELANA Fund Management, discuss the pros and cons to each educational path and outline their personal motivations to pursue both the CFA and the MBA.

Here is their interview which may help you decide which route is right for you.

Question: Many career experts recommend doing a CFA rather at the beginning of a career, whereas the MBA is designed for more experienced professionals. Do you share this opinion?

Frühwirth: Absolutely. Most business schools demand between four and five years’ work experience from those they admit to their MBA programs. The CFA is usually undertaken by people at an early stage of their career or, increasingly, by undergraduates or those studying in a Masters in Finance program.

Penev: The CFA can be a great career booster at the beginning of your career development. A lot of analysts and investment banking associates enroll in the CFA program to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to progress from entry level to more senior positions. At this stage, an MBA is most likely not possible as they lack sufficient management and work experience as a whole, and – with a price of around $ 4,000 for three exams – the CFA is by far the cheaper option. After people have advanced in their careers and switched into more management-oriented positions, or want to switch to such a position, a business education like the MBA is needed.

Q.: What are the main differences between these two finance educations?

Penev: The focus on soft skills as well as other non-finance disciplines offers a much broader view of a business that goes way beyond churning the numbers in the balance sheet and income statement. The CFA is an excellent choice for quick advancement in the field of finance, but a holistic business education is what takes one’s professional development to the higher stages. An MBA provides you with an excellent professional network and different scopes and aspects of business. These new perspectives from experienced peers and instructors can foster a student’s future business initiatives.

Ovchinnikov: I fully agree. If you will, the MBA is a mile wide and a foot deep, while the CFA is a foot wide and a mile deep. The CFA provides a nice toolkit for investment professionals and financial analysts, primarily having the asset management industry in mind. Although it is an excellent way to organize and structure your financial skills, it could be that some of the areas that you have to study in great detail are simply not needed for your professional career. For example, level 2 extensively focuses on DCF equity valuation.

The Finance MBA, on the other hand, is much broader and targets a wider audience. Here, the focus is on strategy, leadership and other core skills which are relevant for every manager.

Q.: Another distinctive feature is the format. The CFA is based on self-study, whereas with the MBA the students mainly learn in groups. What does that mean for the students?

Frühwirth: The advantage of an MBA is that the knowledge obtained in the program is valuable also in other industries outside of the investment world. Many MBA students come from areas outside business or finance, which adds tremendous value to the class as they bring in fresh and new perspectives. So students learn from each other and, in doing so, they also improve their management, social and leadership skills. Thanks to this intensive format, including preparatory work, group exercises, case studies and post module assignments, the students get to know each other very well and build up a comprehensive professional network.

Penev: The business core modules of the Finance MBA were great! After every module I came back to Bulgaria with ideas or with discoveries about potential weaknesses in our business model, so for me, the program was a real eye-opener. Sharing experiences and ideas with a bunch of smart guys was very stimulating. I am even considering starting a business idea with a colleague from the business core.

Ovchinnikov: I am a believer in continuing education, which I consider very important in order to keep myself in good shape. When I enrolled in the MBA, I had two goals: the further development of my managerial skills and an intense exposure to new ideas and people from diverse backgrounds. Both goals were successfully achieved, also judging from the feedback I get from my colleagues.

So what is your conclusion, if you only had 30 seconds to explain the difference between a CFA and a Finance MBA?

Frühwirth: An MBA allows for more flexibility in the career, as MBA graduates have a broader education and can better adapt to a never-changing work environment. The CFA is the right choice for you if you want to solely focus on the investment world, as it provides you with the necessary know-how in investment analysis, portfolio strategy and asset allocation.

Ovchinnikov: Both CFA and MBA designations stand for hard work, dedication and strong skills. So both will help to positively differentiate yourself from other candidates.

However, the focus is slightly different –the CFA is a professional qualification targeting the investment industry, whereas the MBA is better suited for managerial positions, which are not necessarily in the financial sector.

Penev: For me personally the CFA designation was a career booster at the early stages of my career, while the MBA was the next logical step in my development as I progressed to the higher management positions in my company. They both have their place in the CV of a motivated and ambitious finance professional. The CFA program provided me with deep understanding of concepts in finance with lots of expert knowledge, while the MBA gave me a lot broader scope on the different aspects of managing a business and its resources, as well as creating new opportunities for the business.