Hi all I work in pensions and therefore am sitting ST4 this April. However, I'm unsure as to which ST to take as my second in autumn. The majority of students in pensions take the investment paper ST5, and from colleagues/acquaintances/research, I understand it complements pensions well and seems to be one of the "easier" STs to pass (e.g. the majority of people I know have passed it first time). I'm also considering ST9 rather than ST5. I think becoming a CERA would set me apart, and provide other career opportunities further down the line (especially with the trend of decline in DB pensions). But I've heard that ST9 is more difficult to pass, partly because there are few past papers to practice from, plus the subject may a little more "vague" and strategy-based, like CA1. So I feel there is a trade off between "ease of qualifying" and "adding another string to my bow", and that would seem to be the basis of my decision. I think I would be equally interested in studying both subjects. Has anyone got any advice they could offer, thoughts on their own experience, or pearls of wisdom they could share on this? Thanks
It comes down to what you see may help your career. You don't have to follow the herd - its your choice - and you have to bear in mind also what your employer wants if they are paying! If you aren't interested in a subject its not going to be easy to pass even if it complements st4. The thing to read up on CERA is what additional CPD going forwards you need - I think its slightly different or additional to usual cpd requirements. Don't know the full details.
Hi Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn't really considered the additional CERA CPD requirements so that's something for me to think on. I get the impression that the only CERA CPD is a very expensive annual seminar! My employer is thankfully quite supportive, and as long as I do ST4, they don't mind which other ST I do. The advice I'm generally receiving from talking to people is that ST5 would be the "easier" route to qualifying. So I guess I'm still torn between qualifying as soon as I can (ST5), or setting myself apart (ST9). I guess there's always the possibility of sitting ST9 after I've qualified but I doubt I'd be able to muster the motivation to study again! I can see some similar threads of people perusing ST9 (where they have an ST0 exemption), so I'll follow those, and update this thread if I ever come to a decision!
