Chartered Financial Analyst

Chartered Financial Analyst

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program is a professional credential offered by the CFA Institute (formerly AIMR) to investment and financial professionals. A candidate who successfully completes the program and meets other professional requirements is awarded a "CFA charter" and becomes a "CFA charterholder."
Requirements

The basic requirements for participation in the CFA Program include holding or being in the final year of a university degree (or equivalent as assessed by CFA Institute), or having four years of qualified, professional work experience in an investment decision-making process. To obtain the charter, however, a candidate must have completed a university degree (or equivalent) and four years of qualified, professional work experience, in addition to passing the three exams that test the academic portion of the CFA program, as discussed below.
Candidates generally take one exam per year over three years (assuming a pass on the first attempt). Fees as of December 2009 for each exam range from $710 to $955, depending on the date on which the candidate registers to take the exam, plus an additional $400 to $480 for program enrolment for new members. Exams are challenging, with only 38% passing the Level I, 39% passing Level II, and 46% passing Level III exam in June 2010. In December 2010, the CFA exam pass rate for Level I was 38% It should be noted that level 2 and 3 pass rates apply to candidates that must have already passed the prior level.
All three exams are administered on paper on a single day; the Level I exam is administered twice a year (usually the first weekend of June and December). The Level II and III exams are administered once a year, usually the first weekend of June. Each exam consists of two three-hour sessions. Level I has 240 independent, multiple-choice questions - all information required to answer the question is contained in the question. Level II has 120 multiple-choice questions, organized as 20 six-question item sets, each set having its own vignette of facts. To answer each question, the candidate must refer to the vignette as there is insufficient information in the question stem. Level III consists of a session of constructive response, essay-type questions, and a session of 10 six-question item sets as in the Level II exam. On the multiple-choice/item set sections, there is no penalty for wrong answers. For the test, only two models of calculator are allowed (the Hewlett Packard 12C including the HP 12C Platinum, and the Texas Instruments BA II Plus including the BA II Plus Professional).
Candidates who have taken the exam receive a score report that is intended to be fairly unspecific: there is no overall score for the test, only a Pass/Fail result, and a range within which his or her performance for each topic area falls: below 50%, between 50% and 70%, and above 70%. Additionally, failing candidates are informed of their decile rank within the body of failing candidates. The passing grade for the exams had been defined as 70% of the top percentage of exam papers until 1989; since then, the grading method is not explicitly published^[4] and the minimum passing score is set by the Board of Governors after each exam. The Board of Governors reviews the results of the standard setting process and input from psychometricians.
Standard setting is a process that defines the passing score of the exam. The CFA exam utilizes the modified Angoff method which is a commonly used approach to setting standards for certification and licensure examinations. Subject matter experts review the exam and recommend a minimum passing score for the "just-qualified candidate". The minimum passing scores are presented to the Board of Governors in a report. The Board of Governors is not bound by this recommendation, but does recognize it as very important information.
Curriculum and CFA-approved university programs

CFA also has a list of accredited education partners who provide relevant courses and CFA education preparation. There are 57 partners in the USA, 33 partners in Asia Pacific and 47 partners in EMEA.
Curriculum

The curriculum for the CFA program is based on a Candidate Body of Knowledge established by CFA Institute. The curriculum comprises the topic areas below, and, as mentioned, there are three exams ("levels") that test the academic portion of the CFA program. All three levels have a strong emphasis on ethics, while the material differences among the exams are:

• The Level I study program emphasizes tools and inputs, and includes an introduction to asset valuation, financial reporting and analysis, and portfolio management techniques.
• The Level II study program emphasizes asset valuation, and includes applications of the tools and inputs (including economics, financial reporting and analysis, and quantitative methods) in asset valuation.
• The Level III study program emphasizes portfolio management, and includes strategies for applying the tools, inputs, and asset valuation models in managing equity, fixed income, and derivative investments for individuals and institutions.

For exams from 2008 onward, candidates automatically receive the curriculum readings from CFA Institute when they register for the exam. There is no possibility to register for the exam without receiving the curriculum. There is also no possibility to order the curriculum separately. If the student fails an exam and has the possibility to resit in the same year, CFA Institute offers a slight rebate and will not send the curriculum again (the curriculum only changes from one year to the next). However if the student resits in a year other than the year of failure, he will receive the curriculum again as it may have been changed. Study materials for the CFA Exams are available from numerous commercial learning providers, although are not officially endorsed.
Ethics

The ethics section is primarily concerned with compliance and reporting rules when managing an investor's money or when issuing research reports. Some rules pertain more generally to professional behavior (such as prohibitions against plagiarism); others specifically relate to the proper use of the designation for charterholders and candidates. All of these rules are delineated in the "Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct ".
Quantitative methods

This topic area is dominated by statistics: the topics are fairly broad, covering probability theory, hypothesis testing, (multi-variate) regression, and time-series analysis. Other topics include time value of money - incorporating basic valuation and yield and return calculations - and portfolio-related calculations.
Economics

Both micro- and macroeconomics are covered, including international economics (mainly related to currency conversions and how they are affected by international interest rates and inflation). By Level III, the focus is on applying economic analysis to portfolio management and asset allocation.
Corporate finance

The curriculum includes the more fundamental corporate finance topics - capital investment decisions, capital structure policy, and dividend policy—as well as advanced topics such as the analysis of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and business and financial risk.
Financial reporting and analysis

The Curriculum includes analyzing financial reporting topics (International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), and ratio and financial statement analysis. Financial reporting and analysis of accounting information is heavily tested at Levels I and II, but is not a significant part of Level III.
Security analysis

The curriculum includes coverage of global markets, as well as analysis of the various asset types: equity (stocks), fixed income (bonds), derivatives (futures, forwards, options and swaps), and alternative investments (Real Estate, Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Commodities). The Level I exam requires familiarity with these instruments; the focus of Level II is valuation; Level III studies incorporation of these instruments into portfolios. Level II employs the "tools" studied under the quantitative methods, financial statement analysis, corporate finance and economics curricula.
Portfolio management

This section increases in importance with each of the three levels - it integrates and draws from the other topics, including ethics. It includes: Modern Portfolio Theory (efficient frontier, Capital Asset Pricing Model, etc.); investment practice (defining the investment policy for individual- and institutional investors, resultant asset allocation, order execution); and measurement of investment performance
If you are interested in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Video Lectures (Level 1 & 2 or3) call Kay on 08037254084, 07043829517 or email: [email protected]