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A Quick FAQ to the CFA Charter

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

No doubt you have heard of the Fun Facts You Didn’t Know about the CFA Exam Chartered Financial Analyst Program (CFA), the most globally recognized and respected investment management credential in the world. In this blog we answer some questions regarding what it costs, if you’re eligible, and how much time you need to put aside to give it a good shot.
What is the CFA?

The CFA is a credential as well as a passport to the largest club of investment professionals in the world. Being a charter member means many regulatory agencies will offer waiver from licensing exams, graduate programs give you a waiver of the GMAT and many financial and investment-related certification organizations grant waivers from qualifying exams or continuing education requirements.
Because the CFA curriculum is incorporated into more than 300 business schools around the world, you are essentially learning what is taught in some of the best schools in the world. And the charter is often a prerequisite to many prestigious jobs in Investment Management.
How does one become a CFA Charter Holder?
Here’s the thing. It’s not just the passing of an exam. You cannot actually call yourself a CFA without being a CFA Charter Holder. The CFA requires you to do 4 things before you can become a CFA charter holder.

  • You need to agree to follow the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. This is why Ethics and Professional Standards comprise 15 percent of the Level 1 exam.
  • Pass the CFA Program exams for Levels I, II, and III. Watch this space for in depth posts on Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 exams.
  • Have four years of qualified work experience in investment decision-making. This means having 48 months of experience in Investment Management that can be accrued either before, during or after the exam. The work experience is not a pre-requisite for the exam itself.
  • Become a regular member of CFA Institute and apply for membership in a CFA member society. Watch this space on a dedicated post to becoming a member of the CFA Institute.

What Jobs does it prepare you for?
Where do people land up after they do the CFA? Well here’s the break up. A majority of them go into Investment Management, which is what the course is geared towards. 23 percent become portfolio managers, 16 percent become Research Analysts, while the rest are distributed almost equally across Risk Management, C level positions, consultants, corporate financial analysts and financial advisory.
How many levels do I need to pass to get the CFA?
There are three levels and exams are held annually, biannual for Level 1.

  • Level I tests your knowledge of the ethical and professional standards and the exams consists of basic knowledge and comprehension questions focused on investment tools; some questions will require analysis.
  • Level II tests how you apply those standards to situations analysts face and emphasizes more complex analysis, along with a focus on valuing assets.
  • Level III tests how you apply the standards in a portfolio management and compliance context and require synthesis of all the concepts and analytical methods in a variety of applications for effective portfolio management and wealth planning.

All exams are in English and are held in June. Level 1 is also held in December. Check the CFA website for exact dates.
How much does it cost?
There is a one-time enrollment fee of $450 with a two-day refund policy.
If you want to register for the December Level 1 exam, you will pay a standard fee of $860 dollars if you register by 17th August and $1260 if you register by 14th September. If you plan to do it next year, then you can pay $650 if you register early.
In total, the three levels including one-time enrollment fee works out to $2400 if you register early every time, $3030 if you register normally.
Post passing all three levels, becoming a member of the CFA charter (required for you to actually use the CFA designation) will require you to pay $275 annually to the CFA institute and your local charter.

The Career Path and Salary for a CFA holder

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

CFA or Certified Financial Analyst is considered as a very prestigious credential when it comes to the world of finance. Those professionals who are able to clear all the levels of this exam are ushered into this charter, which consists of world-renowned finance professionals and lucrative career opportunities. It is a common belief that all those finance aspirants, who are looking to pursue CFA, are usually looking to earn big in their respective careers. While this may be the case, there are certain things that every CFA aspirant must know about. Firstly, that this examination, is really a tough nut to crack and this by no means is meant in a demotivational way. Any candidate must do a thorough research about this examination, before attempting it. This research must include the amount of time one must spend studying, as well as the various opportunities and salary trends in this field.

According to a certain statistical data of the year 2014, it was concluded that all the charter holders, or those who crack the CFA exam, usually opt for a career in Portfolio Management. This is mainly because it is considered to be the highest paying career option herein and close 22% of the applicants, chose to pursue their career in this field. While 15% of the CFA holders opt to become a Research Analyst, about 7% opt for Chief Executives, Consultants (6%), Risk Managers (5%), Corporate Financial Analysts (5%), Relationship Managers (5%) and Financial Advisers (5%). So if you are a finance aspirant looking to crack this prestigious examination, the four top positions that you should look at as career options, would be Portfolio Manager, Research Analyst, Chief Executive and Consultant. Let’s move on to the employers, who are known to hire the cream of CFA holders, across the world. These employers are most often top investment banks like JP Morgan Chase, PwC, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS, Ernst & Young, RBC, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and so on.

Studies show that about 60% of the CFA charter holders are usually residents of the United States of America. While according to the CFA Society of Chicago USA, the median compensation, for any fresh graduates and CFA charter holders would range anything from US$215,542 annually to about $ 154,025 per annum. Whereas, on the other hand, for someone who is just a graduate and does not hold a CFA charter, the salary would be anything around or more than US$ 85,875 per annum. Apart from USA Europe also pays these charter holders handsomely, thus a CFA charter holder would earn anything between $124,000 per annum. While it is the country of Australia, that is known to pay the highest salaries for CFA holders, while in India, it is the city of Bangalore, which pays the most.
There are a number of people, especially in India, who attempt to clear this examination every year. While most of them choose to get trained professionally, from Imarticus Learning, to better their chances of entering this coveted charter.

CFA Certification Provides A Gateway To Million Possibilities

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

In the world of Finance, the CFA certification or the Chartered Financial Analyst certification is a very well-known and prestigious certificate to hold. Those who are able to crack these exams, are popularly known as Charter Holders and become a part of the exclusive organizations and are able to get entry, without any prior entrance examinations. Apart from the exemplary job opportunities, there are amazing salaries that are offered to the professionals, who crack all three levels of this examination. Due to the fact that even a working professional can attempt to give this examination, as well as the considerable affordability of it, have resulted into a lot of people opting to attempt the same.
Through a CFA certification, a candidate can find a means to not only boost their management skills, but also ace investment analysis. This examination usually helps a candidate, cover industry practices, which include both ethical as well as professional standards in addition to academic theories. Anyone who is looking to take a shot at cracking the three levels of this examination has to well versed with a number of concepts like, Quantitative methods, Economics, Financial Analysis, Portfolio Management, Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, Alternate Investments and so on. The three levels of this examination, are devised in such a way as to inculcate the aforementioned concepts, in a better way. For a CFA holder, the gates in terms of job opportunities are wide open, for they can choose from a number of fields like research, analysis, accountancy, corporate finance, consultancy and relationship management; as the field of their expertise.

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Apart from the rewarding job prospective, this exam ensures that a charter holder is able to cultivate broad knowledge in terms of investment skills as well as decision-making tendencies, up to the quality of the global financial industry. As the program and the examination, both are entirely based on finance, they encourage a candidate to shine really well through a career in Investment Banking. If and when a candidate chooses a program, to help and assist them in cracking this prestigious exam, these programs are generally dependent on extensive global practice analysis processes, which are basically dependent upon inputs, discussions, surveys as well as reviews, which are all curated from esteemed CFA charter holders.
The CFA program has already been at the receiving end of a number of accolades, including that of the best course, which goes on to provide a great amount of quality, in a profession like Investment Banking. Being a charter holder, not only opens up a million, lucrative possibilities but also ensures that the recipients are well equipped to be on a sub-par level when it comes to skills required for Investment Analysis worldwide.

Loved reading this? Try these blogs as well –
CFA Level 1: How To Crack It?
Salary Trends Of A CFA Analyst
5 Must Know Things about CFA

CFA Level 1: How To Crack It?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

The CFA Program is the most distinguished program, to get a qualification in the world of Finance. The credential that is offered by this program, offers a great variety of choices for finance professionals, in the in the field of investment banking. The designation is granted by the CFA institute and is mainly a great career boost for those working in the Investment industry. Apart from being highly recognized throughout the world, anyone who is able to crack the exam, is given due prestige and is recognised among the most dignified of circles across the finance industry.
This program is essentially divided into two levels and has a set eligibility criteria, as to which candidate in particular can attempt the exam. Anyone with a certain amount of professional experience can give this examination including, current MBA students, B.Com and M.Com students, CA aspirants, IT Professionals and so on. A professional who has cracked this exam, is known as a CFA Charter holder. These Charter holders are believed to have a strong foundation, in the field of advanced investments as well as excellent portfolio management skills. This exam is like a getaway to the immense possibilities that the world of Investment Banking has to offer a candidate. This is mainly the reason why a lot of finance professionals attempt this exam every year.
Going into the basics of this examination, it consists of a series of levels, in a more sequential pattern; which a candidate must crack so as to become a charter holder. There are three levels and a candidate is required to clear all the three levels in the duration of about 2 years. While this credential has a great validation globally, in India it is used as a yardstick to measure the efficiency and integrity of a finance professional. Top Investment banks here, look for professionals with this meritorious credential. As amazing as the benefits of being a charter holder sounds, there is a rigorous process one has to undergo to achieve it. Many students in India sit for this intimidating examination and due to the lack of a proper plan, tend to give a very abysmal performance. This basically happens due to the fact that most of the CFA aspirants find the examination to be very difficult to crack. If you have a proper plan in place, there are very few chances of you finding the examination impossible to crack.
Lets talk about CFA Level 1 in specific here, this level basically consists of wide range of topics related to finance and rarely goes in-depth for any topics. While studying aimlessly will get you very lackluster results, it bodes really well to set up a study plan. While a lot of candidates choose to make their own study plans and work their way towards the exam, which is held in December. Most of the professionals feel the discomfort of lack of any proper guidance. There has been an increasing trend of institutes, which help a candidate in cracking this prestigious exam, Imarticus Learning have a unique mentor run program, where a mentor who is also a charter holder is assigned to a student, to help them clear the exam. They also have a very innovative policy of refunding your deposit if you aren’t able to clear the same.

How to pass the CFA in your second attempt?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Before we tackle that question, let’s perhaps try and understand why you failed in your first attempt. Did you do everything you could? Here are some of the main reasons why people fail. 

  1. They don’t study hard enough – Increase the study hours – Everyone knows you need 300 hours to study for the level 1 CFA. The CFA institute recommends you put in a minimum of 300 hours of study. You think you studied hard enough but you probably didn’t. When they mean 300 hours, they mean every minute of that is spent studying. In a two-hour study period, most people take half an hour to sink into the material and a lot of time spent on social media. Most people increase study time to 400 hours. If you take our CFA course, we provide you an additional 120 hours of study, which ensures that you put in the time.
  2. What was your exam strategy? – The pass score for the CFA is 70%. There are varieties of exam strategies, which one did you follow? For instance, did you make sure you answered all the questions you knew to be absolutely correct? For instance if you focus on answering 50% of the questions you have built a foundation for a good score.
  3. What materials did you rely upon? You cannot just depend on CFA material. This is why it’s important to do course like the Imarticus CFA course where we give you study material that builds upon the material you receive from CFA. The CFA books can be overwhelming in the information they provide. Secondary sources will help distill the key learning’s so that you know the fundamentals and don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees.
  4. What topics did you focus upon? Pay attention to all topics but make sure you study ethics – not last minute, and put in extra work in fixed income and portfolio management, traditionally the areas most people falter on.
  5. What was your study plan? This is especially important if you are working. How do you actually intend to get in 5 hours of uninterrupted study? Did you let your boss know that you couldn’t be put on any special projects? This means chalking out the next 6 months to the hour if you will and keep a 30% time buffer so that you compensate for that last minute emergency which means you lose out on study time.
  6. Did you get enough sleep? Sleep is one of the main reasons why people fail. They attempt the exam with a tired mind. And sleep deficiency adds up. So a good nights sleep before the exam is not sufficient. This is when your study plan comes into play. Your study plan has to allow for rest over and above any other extra curricular activities. So chuck the social media, the tv and anything else. Sleep and study.
  7. Did you practice enough? Most people buckle under the time pressure during the test. You do fine at home, at the perfect temperature, without the added pressure of delivering. You have to work under exam pressure. This is why the Imarticus CFA program is so popular. We give you 3 mock online tests and a 3000 sample question bank. But the most important is a actual simulated classroom test following exam conditions. This is key to understanding your weak areas.

For more details on the Imarticus Learning CFA program, visit https://imarticus.org/financial-analysis-prodegree/ or call us on 0226149595

5 Must Know Things about CFA

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

CFA or Chartered Financial Analyst is a designation, which figures as one of the most prestigious credentials in the world. Essentially divided into three levels, this exam is conducted by the CFA Institute, annually or biannually based on the level of the exam. There are a lot of candidates who strive to achieve this position every year. Here’s a list of 5 things that you must know before you sit for the exam.
What Works For One Doesn’t For the Other 
This holds true especially for the CFA exams, as there are a lot of people attempting them together. It is a practice in a lot of firms of asking their employees to register for the same immediately after they join in. As there are a lot of people attempting the exam, there is a lot of discussion as well. As is common, strategies and study plans are shared and sometimes the same plan is followed by two people. This is something that should be avoided, as a plan might work for one, but wouldn’t for the other. There are many reasons for it, some of which may be that some candidates might have already studied some concepts, study styles would be different and so on.
Only First Time Is the Charm
The exam is divided into three levels and all three of them differ in the level of difficulty. So that means if the first level of the exam might go a little easy, probably because of the candidate probably study more than what is required. This also doesn’t mean that if a person passes the first level with last minute studying, it won’t be the case with level 2. The toughest exam among the three levels is considered to be the level 2 exam by a lot of people. Giving a 100% each time and being consistent about it is what counts more.
Do Not Under/Over-Estimate the CFA Institute
Although it is the CFA institute which conducts the exam, it doesn’t necessarily mean that one must follow each and every word there. It does not bode well to draw theories about the particular concepts posted on their website. So if there have been a lot of postings about a certain topic, it does not necessarily mean that the topic will be tested. At the same time, it is also not right to never consider CFA institute or the study material available there.
Only One Type of Study Format Works
People are different thus different things work for different people. Similarly, different methods of study work for different people. Thus, even when it comes to study formats, some work for a certain person, while the others don’t work at all. It thus becomes very wrong to think that, only paper and pen are the two things that would work for someone. Various study formats exist, conventional like those of pen and paper and non-conventional like audio-visuals, flash-cards, anagrams, mnemonics etc. One must make use of every type of study format.
Revision Is the Key to Success
Cramming till the very last minute has never been able to help anyone. It is very important, especially when it comes to CFA exams, to keep aside a certain amount of time for reviewing and polishing oneself. It is very important to solve the previous year’s papers, which are easily available. It is also important to make sure that you solve as many problems as possible. Apart from that, mock tests are also required.
Imarticus Learning is a leading education institute, provides valuable training to aspiring candidates, who wish to crack the CFA exams.