CFA

Do you want to become a CFA certified?

You need to know following things before getting enrolled for CFA Exam.

  • What Is CFA?
  • What Can CFA Get for You?
  • CFA Exam
  • CFA Fees
  • What Is Studied on Each CFA Level?
  • Registration Details
  • December 2017 Exam Calendar (Level I only)

  • June 2018 Exam Calendar (Levels I, II, and III)

The December 2017 CFA Program exams for all three levels will be on Saturday, 2 December.

The June 2018 CFA Program exams for all three levels will be on Saturday, 23 June.

CFA

What can CFA earn for you?

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) provides an alternative to taking a Master’s in Business administration (MBA) and delivers a competitive edge for business people who wish to offer financial credentials to employers who value them. This is particularly true in fund management areas such as Wall Street and wealth management practices.

What Is CFA?

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is not a degree course but in fact, it’s a professional certification course offered by the CFA Institute. This is a private body which runs its own CFA study courses which are presently studied in 35 countries with 120,000+ CFA charter holders.

The course itself is broken down into CFA Level 1, CFA Level 2 and CFA Level 3 which have to be taken consecutively, in order. The CFA curriculum is extremely broad covering the subjects of accounting, economics, investment management, proper ethics and financial analysis of investment opportunities.

These investments include stocks, exchange traded funds, mutual funds, fixed income, options and derivatives and other investments besides.

What Can CFA Get for You?

Once passing all three CFA Level exams, the student may become a charter member and use the CFA designation after their name. The attainment of the CFA profession qualification is highly respected due to its difficulty which requires a pass rate on all three levels which not everyone can achieve.

Because of the difficulty and the subjects covered, those that become charter holders can apply for jobs on Wall Street with a high degree of success. Indeed, some of the largest employers of charter holders are currently JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and UBS.

Salaries for CFA charter holders depends on experience post-qualification and the pass rate achieved. Starting salaries of $60,000 is not uncommon, with experienced charter holders reaching $80,000-$120,000 levels in time. Charter holders who choose to work on Wall Street are likely to receive the most opportunities, salaries, and benefits.

CFA Exam

The CFA exams cover all three levels with most students undertaking just one exam annually. Level I can be sat in March, August or September each year, while Levels II and III may only be set once a year. Exams are paper-based.

For each level, six hours of complete testing is involved with added time breaks and administration time which makes for a very long day. Multiple choice questions are the main method of examination. Level I has 240 multiple choice questions to answer. Level II has fewer at 120 multiple choice questions, but they’re split up into 20 packs of 6 questions. Level III is a mixed examination including an open answer session, essay-based written responses and a further 10 packs of six multiple choice questions.

For 2011, the pass rate was only achieved by students studying for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 just 39%, 43% and 51% of the time, respectively. Separate pass grades are given for below 50%, 50–70% and above 70%.

Sample questions similar to what is given in exams are available to help with the study for CPA exams at all levels.

CFA Fees

There is an initial registration fee currently at $650. For exams taken in December 2017 the fees are:

December 2017 Exam (Levels I)
Early registration fee USD 650 (ended 15 March 2017)
Standard registration fee US$ 930 (ends 16 August 2017)
Late registration fee US$ 1,380 (ends 13 September 2017)
June 2018 Exam (Levels I, II, and III)
Early registration fee USD 650 (ends 20 September 2017)
Standard registration fee US$ 950 (ends 14 February 2018)
Late registration fee US$ 1380 (ends 14 March 2018)

What Is Studied on Each CFA Level?

Level I focuses on the analysis of financial statements, how to value equities, an introduction to economics and the practice of statistics, plus portfolio management approaches.

Level II looks more closely at the analysis of financial statements. Asset valuation is also reviewed more in-depth with a separate focus on how fixed income, derivatives and alternative assets can be valued properly.

Level III completes the course of study with a complete look at how effective portfolio management strategies come together in real life when managing a collection of assets/asset classes within a given portfolio.

With each level, ethics has a strong grounding and impacts across the board.

December 2017 Exam Calendar (Level I only)

25 January 2017 December 2017 exam registration opens
Upon registration Topic tests available
15 March Early registration fee deadline
15 August Mock exams available
16 August Standard registration fee deadline
1 September Awareness Scholarships application deadline
13 September Final (late) registration fee deadline
18 September Final deadline for disability and religious alternate date testing accommodation requests to be received
9 October Test center change request deadline
November Exam admission tickets available
2 December Exam day
December 2017–January 2018 Exams graded
January 2018 Exam results emailed and available online

June 2018 Exam Calendar (Levels I, II, and III)

27 July 2017 June 2018 exam registration opens
20 September 2017 Early registration fee deadline
October 2017 Mock exams and practice questions available
1 February 2018 Awareness Scholarship application deadline
14 February 2018 Standard registration fee deadline
14 March 2018 Final (late) registration fee deadline
19 March 2018 Final deadline for disability and religious alternate date requests to be received
17 April 2018 Test center change request deadline
May 2018 Exam admission tickets available
23 June 2018 Exam day
June–July 2018 Exams graded
July–August 2018 Exam results

2 thoughts on “CFA

  1. kush

    sir i want to know from where can i get cfa reading material for level 1 and what will it cost

    Reply
    1. admin Post author

      There are many who are offering good CFA study material…you can use SchweserNote study material and practice exams. It cost you around $379.00 to get the whole package. Please visit their website for more details. You can google for other CFA study guides as well. Good Luck!

      Reply

Leave a Reply