Career conversations: Building strong foundations in financial markets

I grew up in India, I came here to New Zealand to study at university. I completed a bachelor's and master's degree in finance and economics. I eventually picked up a role doing data analytics in the healthcare sector.

While working in that role, I started studying for CFA [Program] and then eventually the CFA® (designation) helped me get my foot in the door in banking. My name is Devarsh Pathak. I work as an Interest Rate and Foreign Exchange Trader at ASB Bank in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm a CFA® Charterholder.  

I first learned about CFA (Program) talking to a friend of mine at university. He told me it was the real deal and he said that it has global recognition and credibility around the world. The CFA Program is a certification offered by the CFA Institute. It has three exams involved in it and the curriculum covers topics in finance, economics ethics, and a bit of econometrics.  

I completed the Level I exam in the first go. I had a couple of goes at completing Level II and Level III. As I would tell my colleagues, I enjoyed studying the curriculum so much so that I decided to do it all over again. Honestly, it actually made my base pretty strong.  

My work as a trader involves following what's happening in markets, what various central banks are doing, what government policies are being introduced, and just how the market is perceiving different economic events, and just making trading decisions based on that.  

The CFA® curriculum covers various aspects of economics, interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange, risk management. What I learned out of the curriculum, I still use it in my daily job.

My personal CFA [Program] journey helped me realize that perseverance and determination eventually helps you succeed and helps you achieve your dreams. The satisfaction of having completed such a difficult qualification was priceless and it was all worth it.