|
|
|
|
|
|
| Testimonials |
| I used your notes and passed ... highly recommended! Booger |
|
|
|
|
|
 What is the CFA® Program?
|
The CFA® charter was first awarded in 1963 and since then the Program has become the benchmark of
excellence in the investment industry worldwide. The Program has now grown to more than 170,000
candidates (with over 160 nationalities) being registered for the exam each year. The number of CFA®
charterholders has increased to around 80,000 now.
In three successive exams you will be assessed on a wide range of subjects including ethics,
quantitative techniques, economics, financial statement analysis, corporate finance, equity, debt,
derivatives, alternative investments and portfolio management. The knowledge you gain while studying
will be invaluable to your future career and the CFA® charter has become universally recognised by
employers and investors as a mark of excellence and integrity within their profession.
For more information please see CFA Institute's website at www.cfainstitute.org.
|
What are the entry requirements?
In order to enrol on the Program you need to have either:
- a US bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) OR
- four years of professional work experience OR
- a combination of the two that totals four years.
It is possible to enrol for Level I if you are in your final year of a degree course, though you
will need to have received the degree before enrolling for Level II. As well as the academic or work
experience you must sign a statement of professional conduct and pay the exam fees to CFA Institute.
|
What are the fees?
|
For June 2010 CFA® Exam (Levels I, II and III):
| Payment Deadlines: |
23 Sep 2009 |
17 Feb 2010 |
17 Mar 2010 |
| Program Enrollment Fee* |
$400 |
$400 |
$480 |
| Exam Registration Fee |
$620 |
$710 |
$955 |
| Total Cost |
$1020 |
$1110 |
$1435 |
*The Program Enrollment fee applies only to first time Level I candidates. Candidates for Levels II
and III or candidates resitting Level I should pay just the Exam Registration fee.
|
What are the requirements to become a CFA® charterholder?
In order to receive your CFA® charter you must have achieved the following:
- You must pass all three levels of the CFA® exam.
- You need to have 48 months of relevant work experience.
- You must become a regular member of CFA Institute.
The work experience can be gained before, during or after studying for the exams. This experience can
be in a wide range of activities, including financial, economic or statistical analysis as part of
the investment decision-making process, supervising staff who are performing these activities or
teaching the skills involved. At least 50 percent of your time must be spent in these activities and
part-time roles are excluded. Job titles themselves are less important than the nature of the activity
when assessing work experience. See here
for more details, including a list of sample job titles.
|
What is the structure of the CFA® exams?
|
For level I and II, there are two three-hour exams, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
Each topic is tested in both the morning and afternoon exam. Each exam consists of 120 questions for a
total of 240 questions. You have on average one and a half minutes to answer each question.
Each question counts for 1.5 points for a total of 180 points for each exam.
The CFA® exam is a compensating exam. This means that you can perform well in topics that you
are strong while performing poorly in topics that you are weak in and still pass the exam. For
example: You may perform well in the Financial Statement Analysis section and poorly in the Economics
section and still pass. It is not mandatory to pass every section in the exam in order to pass the exam.
However performance in the Ethics section may be a deciding factor if you are a borderline student in
the exam (1 to 2 marks short of a pass). There are core topics that have questions every year in the
exam. There are other topics that have questions periodically.
The Level II and III exams are offered once a year (at the end of May or the beginning of June).
|
What score do I need to pass the exam?
|
This is a difficult question to answer. First, CFA Institute does not tell you your exam score. They
give you feedback on your performance in the different body of knowledge areas. The feedback is in
the form of where you scored greater than 70%, less than 50%, or between 50% and 70% in each of the
body of knowledge areas. Second, CFA Institute does not give a total score for the exam nor do they
disclose what the required score for passing is.
The pass rates have varied over time. According to CFA Institute's web site, the pass rates for the
past seven years are:
| Year |
Level 1 (June/Dec) |
Level 2 |
Level 3 |
| 2003 |
42%/40% |
47% |
68% |
| 2004 |
34%/36% |
32% |
64% |
| 2005 |
36%/34% |
56% |
55% |
| 2006 |
40%/39% |
48% |
76% |
| 2007 |
40%/39% |
40% |
50% |
| 2008 |
35%/35% |
46% |
53% |
| 2009 |
46%/34% |
41% |
49% |
|
How quickly can I get through the Program?
|
The Level I exam is conducted twice a year, in June and December, while Levels II and III are just once a year in June.
Hence for candidates sitting Level I in June of a particular year, the fastest route would be Level II
in June the following year and Level III the June after that.
For candidates sitting Level I in December, the results will be known in time to register for Level II
the following June, with Level III a year later.
|
| |
|
87 days left until the 06/2010 Level 1 exam
