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Jul 13, 2026 at 12:05 AM
CFA Institute (CFA)

CFA vs CA in India - which should you do first?

Every time I ask this question I get the same non-answer - it depends on your goals. Cool, thanks, very helpful.
So let me be more specific and hopefully get more useful responses.
I'm 23, final year BCom from Delhi University, interested in investment banking or equity research long term. I'm not interested in audit or compliance. I've already started reading about CFA Level 1 but a few seniors are telling me to do CA first because it opens more doors in India.
My problem with CA is the articleship - 3 years basically locked into one firm, mostly doing audit work that I don't want to do long term. CFA on the other hand lets me study while working and the content is directly relevant to what I want to do.
But I also get that CA is more recognized in Indian corporates broadly and that the Big 4 still prefer it for a lot of roles.
So genuinely - for someone who wants investment banking or equity research in India within 3 to 4 years, which credential gives you more leverage? And is there a case for doing both eventually?
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