CFA
The CFA exam is for certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst. This is an internationally renowned title and is much respected in the business world. The CFA is administered only by the CFA institute. Chartered Financial Analyst has many prestigious jobs such as featured by the Wall Street Journal and by networks like CNBC as specialists. Many CFA charterholders work for Wall Street firms in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Baltimore, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo to name a few active financial centers. Other CFA charterholders are MBAs who work for brokerage firms, mutual funds, investment banks, and portfolio management firms.
The CFA exam is quite an involved process. The CFA charter is only awarded to professionals in financial analysis who have completed several courses of study and taken three sequential exams. To qualify for a CFA certification candidates also need to complete three years of higher level management in investment. They must comply with the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct and register for membership in a local professional society.
Basic Components of the CFA Exam
As stated before, the CFA exam is actually three sequential exams – Level I, Level II, and Level III. Candidates must pass each test before being offered the next one. A candidate who is making the best progress can finish all three levels and usually get their CFA certification in about three years. The three levels of the test cover different aspects of the CFA Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK). Level one is rudimentary skills and includes an introduction to asset valuation and portfolio management techniques. Level II goes further into asset valuation and includes economics, accounting, and quantitative techniques in asset evaluation. Level III emphasizes portfolio management and includes strategies for applying skills learned during this certification for managing equity and fixed income securities. Ethical and professional standards are required throughout the exams.
CFA practice is suggested.
Self-Assessment Practice Tests:
Topics covered in the required coursework and by the exam are: investing, statistics, ethics and fiduciary duty, economics, accounting, corporate finance, income statements, equity securities, bones, derivatives, debt evaluation, real estate, calculation of earnings per share, portfolio management, calculation of earnings per share, technical and fundamental analysis, futures, opens and swaps; venture capital, CAPM, Arbitage Pricing theory (APT), asset allocation, stocks, foreign exchange, money and banking systems, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Production (GNP), and inflation.
The CFA charter is quite an achievement and shows dedication to the continuing pursuit of knowledge, experience, and ethical principles. This is a great addition to an MBA degree or any other financial management degrees. This charter opens doors to great job possibilities and career advancement.
