Chartered Financial Analyst

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program is a professional credential offer
ed internationally by the American-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association
for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financial pr
ofessionals.[1] A candidate who successfully completes the program and meets oth
er professional requirements is awarded the "CFA charter" and becomes a "CFA cha
rterholder".
As of July 2014, there are approximately 120,000 CFA members in 35 countries. Th
e largest employers of CFA Charterholders are JP Morgan, UBS, Bank of America Me
rrill Lynch, and RBC.[2]
The CFA exams are widely considered extremely difficult,[3][4] with historical p
ass rates as low as 32%,[5] and pass rates sometimes below 50% for each of the t
hree levels in the same given year. Successful candidates take an average of fou
r years to earn their CFA charter.[6][7] It covers a broad range of topics relat
ing to investment management, financial analysis, stocks, bonds and derivatives,
and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance.
Requirements[edit]
To become a charterholder, candidates must satisfy the following requirements:[8
]
Have four years (48 months) of qualified work experience (or a combination of ed
ucation and work experience acceptable by the CFA Institute). However, individua
l level exams may be written prior to satisfying this requirement;
Complete the CFA Program (mastery of the current CFA curriculum and passing thre
e six-hour examinations);
Become a member of the CFA Institute and apply for membership to a local CFA mem
ber society;
Adhere to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
.
Independent of any other requirements for becoming a charterholder, the CFA Prog
ram takes an average of four years for candidates to complete.[9]
History[edit]
The predecessor of CFA Institute, the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF), was e
stablished in 1947 as a service organization for investment professionals. The e
arliest CFA charterholders were "grandfathered" in through work experience only.
Then, the series of three exams was established along with requirements to bein
g a practitioner for several years to qualify to take the exams. In 1990, in the
hopes of boosting the credential's public profile, the CFA Institute (formerly
the Association for Investment Management and Research) merged with the FAF and
the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFA). The CFA program began in t
he United States but has become increasingly international with many people beco
ming charterholders across Europe, Asia and Australia. By 2003 fewer than half t
he candidates in the CFA program were based in the United States and Canada, wit
h most of the other candidates based in Asia or Europe. The number of charterhol
ders in India and China had increased by 25% and 53%, respectively, from 2005 to
2006.[10]