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Hi,
I am planning to take PRM Full paper. Please advise what amount of effort is required to clear Full paper over individual? Does it require coaching?Karthik,
I myself took one exam at a time over a period of 11 months. If you take all the exams together – firstly, there is some overlap between the papers, so you benefit from that, and secondly there is the advantage that you are done in one go! You also save a little bit of money as it is cheaper to take the exams together.
But taking one exam at a time may increase your chances of success marginally as you have more time to focus on each subject. The exam is not any simpler for those who take it together versus those who take it a la carte. But if you can manage to study all the papers and are confident in your ability to retain all the material, by all means go for it.
Taking them one by one takes longer and your studies continue for a while. To a large extent it depends upon your personal situation. I had a demanding full time job and family commitments, so taking all four together would not have been a particularly wise idea for me.
But if you have the time, I don’t see why it can not be done. In fact, the 2007 candidate of the year took all exams together and he had a full time job as well! (Here is the link if you wish to read that http://www.prmia.org/Weblogs/Emerging_Markets/SunandoRoy1/2007/10/_a_chat_with_pr.php)
As for coaching, I can probably only share my own experience – I had none at all. In fact I had no time for coaching as I would read at weekends, on the train to work and whenever else I could. I found the handbook to have sufficient material to help me prepare for the exam. The only thing I found missing in the handbook was an adequate number of practice questions, which is what prompted me to start this website.
In person coaching is quite expensive. In New York, the cost of classes provided by PRMIA runs into thousands of dollars. In India, it is not small either. For me, coaching made little sense as I already had a formal education and background in finance. But even without that, it is my personal view that it is quite possible to get by even without any classes. It just needs discipline and hard work. Classes force you to show up for the lectures, do exercises, and bring about some structure in your preparation. If you have self-control and discipline over yourself, I don’t see why you could not keep your studies structured all by yourself.
If any on on this board has direct personal experience with any coaching classes you might have attended, please do post your experience here.
Mukul Pareek
Hi Mukul,
That makes lot of sense. Even I have similar constraints. I am working in an IT company as business analyst with Debt Securities background. I do not have risk managmeent background (except for academic knowledge as part of my MBA).I am considering your advise to take up one exam at a time.How about job opportunities/ own venture after PRM? What are the challenges? What is the career path? How about the compensation for a PRM?
I think the PRM certification is great from the point of view of gaining knowledge in a structured, methodical way. It covers not just risk management, but also the basics of financial markets and securities. You get to actual risk management only in Exams III and IV. Before that, exams I and II cover a lot of ground on financial markets and basic finance theory.
To a large extent, the value of the PRM lies in the knowledge you gain and the confidence it imparts from knowing the subject matter. The certification itself is a bit niche, but is getting better known by the day. At least among risk managers PRMIA is well known. PRMIA spends a lot of effort in member networking, organizing events, getting people together, getting surveys on best practice done etc which increases its brand recognition. Yet I have not seen a lot of jobs that specifically would ask for the PRM certification. If I remember right, I saw only one job so far that mentioned PRM by name, and that too not just by itself but together with CFA and other certifications. So I am not sure if getting the PRM designation is a passport to getting a risk job right off the bat.
Having the certification certainly does establish the fact that you have a certain level of competence, work ethic and knowledge. But it will not get you a job or get you a payrise or promotion if that is what you are looking for. If you have worked in IT, where certifications are far more common, you would know that getting a certification in say Oracle doesn’t get you an Oracle programming job. It only helps. So the PRM would give you the knowledge, the confidence in your ability to do the job, but you will still have to work your network to get started as a risk analyst or manager. The best approach may be to get connected to those in the industry: funds, service providers, brokers, risk consulting firms etc.
I can’t say much about compensation, a lot depends upon market conditions and what other skills you bring to your employer. And in terms of the career as a risk manager I think you really should think of risk’s place in finance. Finance is not really about managing returns as it is about managing risk. If you can manage risk well, the returns will take care of themselves. YOu have to be a good risk manager to be a good trader, a good asset manager, a good CEO, or whatever else you desire to be. A risk manager is not just a person who produces daily reports of positions versus limits, your role can what you can make it to be. No matter what you do in finance, you do need to know about risk, and how it can played out in real life (exam iv). If you look at the most successful financial firms today, what stands out is that they are far superior risk managers than they are anything else.
Mukul Pareek
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