Hi fcascfacpa,

What kind of work do you do that requires FCAS, CFA, and CPA?  I am a CPA, thinking of taking either the actuarial or CFA exams.  However, I don't know if it's worth the time and effort.

sshuang

I guess it all depends on what you want to do: CPA is an essential credential to have if you want to be in public accounting. In the US, you cannot sign an audit report if you are not a CPA.

CFA, on the other hand, is supposed to the most sophisticated user of financial information. It can be beneficial credential to have if you want to go in invetment management, or in other areas of finance.

The relative difficulty of the CPA or the CFA exam can depend on your background. I believe that most CFAs will struggle to pass the Regulation section of the CPA exam. On the other hand, most tax CPAs will probably find it difficult to review all the economics and finance concepts that they have studied in school long time ago.

However, I believe that if you are a quant person, CFA is probably easier than the CPA exam. 

In my judgment, CPA is harder and a more valuable cerificate for accountants.

IMO a CPA is worthwhile in some situations. If you ever want to go corporate it can be a huge plus. From what I can gather, a CFA is fairly limited as to where it will benefit you. If you plan on being in IB/m&a for your entire career neither are extremely useful, but of the two I'd say the CPA can be a  little more helpful in your future.