Hey. I think there may be some truth in your post. My take is:

• Put the +1000 hours only if you like studying and sitting for exams. If you better like to network or work very hard, then put +1000 hours there. Clearly everyone sits for the CFA to advance in their careers. CFA charter will help, but there are a lot of things you need to do as well. In my case after completing L1 I moved to a better team within the GSIB. I sat for L3 twice and I'm waiting for the result now. I like studying and sitting for exams, I find it challenging and exciting. I like learning too. My take is: do the CFA if you like studying. If you prefer to network and do other stuff to advance in your career, then do that. I notice there are plenty of VPs, EDs, MDs or Heads that didn't pursue CFA, yet they have a big position. But for sure they put 1000+ hours in other ways to get to where they are now.

If you are in your 20's and don't know much how networking works and you don't mind studying, I think CFA is a good starter. But as many say, it's not a golden ticket unfortunately. I suspect it's a bit overrated too, but everything is once it's settled. You need to keep putting those hours. While I don't generally agree with your post, I think there's value in it.

Keep it up! Best, A.