FAQ Before Exam Probably never asked here but...FRM for lawyers?

[The Legal Eagle]

Hi all - as you may gracefully expect by seeing my Avatar I'm a qualified lawyer in an EEA jurisdiction and England & Wales. I deal primarily with regulatory issues (largely including Basel III-upcoming-who-knows-exactly-when-Basel IV) and derivatives/structured finance

Thing is I am seriously considering taking the FRM exams, as I hint they provide a clear edge (yes, even for lawyers) for general financial markets issues and particularly for risk analysis. I am also deeply interested in finance aspects generally

Grateful for any views on whether this could be of profit or is it clearly an overkilling based on your experience. Probably I'm the first lawyer asking these kind of things here but being kind of a contrarian is not an issue.

Thanks
The Legal Eagle

 

[Lu Shu Kai FRM]

Hi @The Legal Eagle ,

I work in risk management and have completed the FRM part I. Actually, I think it is pretty hard to find someone on this forum who can give you reliable advice because nobody here is a lawyer. I don't know what a day in the life of a lawyer is like but I can tell you what a day in the life of a risk system analyst is and how the FRM helps me - with derivatives pricing validation and understanding stress testing methodology.

Does being a lawyer actually require you to price derivatives? That seems quite unusual, unless you are working with simple closed-form models like those taught in the FRM. The real quant stuff is taught (or rather learnt) in PhDs and research masters. I feel the relevant stuff for you is closer to FRM regulations? But this is a small subsection of the FRM syllabus and can be learnt from other sources.

TLDR - I will say that the FRM is not really required unless you are intending to work in financial risk, BUT if you are really interested in financial risk and have extra time and money to spare, yes it could be worth it. My gut feeling is that it isn't required for a lawyer's daily work.

 

[sulemanms202]

if your work is based on analytics or valuation then only then FRM can practically help you the way it should otherwise it is just going to be ignored among your line of professionals. Apple cannot become orange likewise lawyer even if gets FRM will not have same effectiveness. At the end of they what matters what output is being produced and for whom.

 

[sulemanms202]

and by analytics i mean full command over atleast 1 language of python or R... below that you cant survive in todays world

 

[The Legal Eagle]

Thanks for your responses. It is good to see things clearly and avoid myself the bumpy road

HNY
The Legal Eagle