CFA Training Courses

Today, it is very important to have additional CFA training courses so that one can pass all the CFA exams quickly. For several graduates, they are willing to make the sacrifice as well as have the determination to further their studies. They know that a higher level of education certification is no longer an option but a necessary document in their journey to get the best jobs. The majority of them choose to begin the CFA course straight after graduation. This is because they hope they are able to utilize certain knowledge that they had gained during their finance courses in their undergraduate studies to give them a distinct advantage over other CFA contenders. After all, most of them will be still fresh with all the finance terminology and investment tools. Well, the good news is that recently, a good number of undergraduate business schools have begin to incorporate some of CFA training program into their study courses.

Why CFA Training Programs?

In accordance to the CFA Institute, they had begun a collaboration venture more than forty institutions across the world to offer students a part of the CFA training curriculum. Most of these CFA training programs consist of at least seventy percent of the entire CFA curriculum. To ensure that everything is in order, The CFA Institute assesses and audits these courses supplied by partner institutions. Indeed, these partners benefits tremendously as well as they are able to bring in more students as they are able to provide them a direct path the CFA training program after the students' courses have ended.

The courses offered by the partner schools include most of the specialized finance subjects such as microeconomics, corporate finance, financial statement analysis, derivatives, portfolio management and others which are similar to the CFA study material. These programs are the mainly intended so that students shall take CFA level 1 exam right after their graduation. This means that students can save a lot of time when it comes to getting the CFA designation. Although many of the students do not take the CFA exam following their graduation due to their own preference and personal reasons, it still give them a great edge when they decide to take the CFA program.

CFA training programs similar to the real CFA Curriculum

In addition, most of these CFA training programs are mirroring closely to the study guideline intended by the real CFA exams. This will give the students a familiar feeling and will be able to quickly adapt when they proceed to the CFA program. To help students further, many of the partners also offer full and partial scholarships to their brightest students. For example, they will waive off a portion of the CFA enrollment or examination fees. Moreover, they also organize a range of professional and development activities and functions together with the CFA Institute societies.

Because of to this strong partnership between the CFA Institute and business institutions, it is now very cost efficient for one to gain both the CFA designation as well as the higher business degree. Of course, gaining both certifications will certainly propel a student to get the jobs that they always wanted and will have a better career path. In the past, one needs to complete 2 years in business school and 4 years of the CFA program, so that they can get both professional designation. However, candidates can now opt for these CFA training programs which allow them to start concurrently on both programs. Nevertheless, it will still require a huge amount of determination and self-discipline on the student's part to be able to get the most of both the CFA training program as well as the actual CFA curriculum.

So if you want to look for more CFA Jobs and CFA Study Materials, please proceed to the CFACareers.org website. You will find all information related to the CFA Designation, from study materials to discovering the right career path!

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CFA Organizational Benefits

There are numerous benefits to both the organization and the individual in relation to the CFA designation. We have discussed many of these benefits, but let's take a look at the benefits that the organization can gain and utilize if you are looking to bring in CFA charterholders. Keep in mind that you may also be considering moving some of your existing associates through the CFA designation, so all of the organizational benefits we are discussing would apply in either situation.

First, let's examine the overall organizational benefit, the level playing field. Every organization looks for this leveling in terms of departments or individuals. Where it's applicable, the CFA designation serves as a "leveler". For example, you may place the designation as a preference in hiring. As other associates begin to leave the applicable areas, the new hires with CFA designations will take their places. On the other hand, you may want to place existing employees into the CFA program in order to topgrade them. In the process of topgrading, you may even weed out "B" or "C" level players within the organization. When you achieve the ultimate goal of having all applicable positions filled with CFA's, you'll have the people with the highest level of knowledge and competency.

As a natural segue from the level playing field, you can also consider building your leadership bench in relation to CFA charterholders. Financial organizations are probably running at a very lean level at this point in time. In view of that situation, organizational development leaders are looking for candidates who combine leadership with functional and technical competency. In other words, why hire for "or" if you can hire for both? With this need for leadership, we can look back at the expressed and implied competencies of the CFA program. Associates who are hired with the CFA designation or successfully complete the program have the competencies that are in need for your leadership pool. Not only this, you can look at your CFA charterholder pool and choose the high potentials for grooming into leadership positions in other areas of the organization, as well as your high professional leaders who can lead the areas they are already in.

The leadership bench is important, but let's discuss retention of those associates. First, when you hire and top grade to the CFA level, you're getting employees who are ready to do the work and most likely are ready to be promoted. This in itself is a retention tool. But in addition to this, the people who are hired in as CFA's and the people who obtain their CFA designation from within the organization will be the ones who are in the right positions. These associates know what types of positions they are interested in and you know that you can utilize them in those positions. With a high-grade certification like the CFA, there won't be much doubt from the organization or the individual when it comes to taking positions, staying in them, and getting promoted.

We have already discussed competencies in great detail in this series. But remember on an organizational level that the CFA designation will ensure leadership competencies. It does not seem possible that a CFA charterholder could make the decision to enter the program, stick to it, and move into an organizational position without applying his or her leadership competency. On top of that, the curriculum and the network that comes with the CFA designation will ensure that technical and functional competencies are introduced to the organization - and remain there in the form of retention, knowledge, and up-to-date information from around the world.

One of the issues we haven't discussed is marketing in relation to the CFA designation. From and organizational standpoint, think about all of the areas we have to market: customers, employees, new employees. Think about who we have to satisfy: employees, regulators, shareholders, customers. In terms of marketing, showing one or two professional designations is probably not enough in any organization. But what if you can say that a certain percentage of your organization's associates hold a "gold standard" financial designation? From customer perspective, this will create credibility at a time when credibility is much in doubt in the financial world. But what about employees and potential employees? The fact that the CFA designation is sought after will show them that the organization is concerned about knowledge, ability, and ethics on every level. Plus, consider the increased performance that may come with the knowledge level of CFA designees. This can only serve to satisfy the organization's stakeholders and shareholders.

We usually don't think in terms of marketing when it comes to regulators, but it's also something to consider in regard to the CFA designation. Because there is a certain level of regulatory approval involved with the CFA program, oversight agencies may be inclined to believe that your organization is interested and concerned about its level of ethics, professionalism, and technical ability. Marketing with the CFA designation can be very powerful for the organization on many fronts if it is used properly.

In this series we've looked at the benefits of the CFA designation from both the organizational and individual levels. We began by defining the CFA designation and determining what qualifications are key for entering the program. We have analyzed the advanced curriculum and learning methods put forth by the CFA Institute, as well as the recognition and standards of the CFA program in relation to the financial industry. We have also defined competencies required by the CFA program, both at the expressed and implied levels. Because of all of these benefits, we can see clearly that bringing in CFA charterholders or putting existing associates through the CFA program where applicable is a good move in many different ways.

Copyright 2010 Financial Training Solutions & Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson - Director of Financial Training Solutions - assists executives, business owners, and top performing performers in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for those in the capital markets. Nielson's 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering the individual..

Learn more about Financial Training Solutions and our various offerings at: http://www.financialtrainingsolutions.com/cfa-training.php.

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CFA Requirements

CFA Requirements - Essential Prerequisites

To participate in the CFA Program as well as to enroll for your 1st CFA exam, you shall need to meet the following CFA requirements.

1) You need to comprehend comprehensively the professional conducts as well as ethical behaviors under the CFA requirements set by the CFA Institute

2) You must possess as least a bachelor degree or equivalent before you can sign up for the CFA examination. There are other few options to fulfill this particular CFA requirements. Firstly, you should have at least 4 years of professional and qualified work experience in related fields.

Alternatively, you could be in your last year of your current degree studies. Or you could have a mixture of both college and work experience that adds up to 4 years and above. Please put into your mind that internships and part time jobs are not able to meet the CFA requirements above.

3) Also take note if you register as a final year bachelor degree student, you are not permitted to sign up for the CFA Level 2 exam until you have obtain your degree to meet with the CFA requirements set by the CFA Institute. And when your degree is finally awarded to you, you need to inform the CFA Institute that your degree indeed has been certified.

To be eligible for the CFA level 1 and CFA level 2, you need to pass the CFA Level 2 and CFA Level 3 first, respectively. This means that you are not authorized to take the CFA exams concurrently. If you failed the exam for one particular level, you need to re sit for it again before proceeding to the next level.

4) From January 2011 onwards, you must possess a legitimate international passport before you can enroll for the CFA program. This is the most recent among all of the CFA requirements.

CFA Requirements - Time Frame to Complete the CFA Course

The determination and dedication to pursue the CFA designation certainly cannot be underestimated. In accordance to the CFA Institute, the following are some basic CFA requirements in terms of time frame that one need to invest to acquire the CFA designation:

1) 4 years, on average, to finish the entire CFA program

2) At least 6 months of groundwork and preparation for each of the 3 exams

3) At least two hundred and fifty hours to be allocated for study time, which is about ten to fifteen hours per week.

The CFA requirements are set specifically to equip students with specialized asset-management skills, such as investment analysis, portfolio management, investment strategies, portfolio management and asset allocation. No doubt, these specialized and complex skills were able to help individuals to as work their particular way up the corporate ladder.

Due to the above strict CFA requirements, quite a number of candidates never achieve their goals to obtain the CFA designation. Some of them lack the required academic skills as well as do not spend enough time for studies due to their busy schedule. So you should always think twice about signing up for the CFA program if you really do not have the time for it.

To get a much better understanding of the various careers that appeal to CFAs, please read the articles on this website. Keep in mind that when finding a job position, please ensure that the positions you are interested in pursuing should be the ones that you really like. If you can meet all of the above CFA requirements and interest in getting a good job the financial field, then you might want to consider signing up today.

So if you want to look for more CFA Training and Financial Analyst Job Description, please proceed to the CFACareers.org website. You will find all information related to the CFA Designation, from study materials to discovering the right career path!

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CFA Exam Offered by CFA Institute

The Chartered Financial Analyst or in short the CFA designation is one of the most prestigious investment credentials in the world. It is awarded by the CFA Institute and was first introduced in the year 1963. It is a graduate level program and a candidate is required to pass three 6-hour exams. The three exams are commonly referred to as CFA Level I, II, and III. The candidate is awarded the CFA designation, once he has passed all the three exams and has completed other professional requirements. Due to the 48 month approved work experience requirement, it takes a minimum of four years to be in position to receive the charterholder designation. It is not uncommon for a CFA charterholder to have failed one exam along the way, so candidates need to stay persistent.

Enrollment

To enroll in the CFA program, the prospective candidate must have a bachelor's degree or should be in the final year of the bachelor's degree program. Alternatively a prospective candidate could have a minimum of 4 years' related work experience, or a combination of studies and work experience that equals 4 years.

The CFA Curriculum

For each of the levels, the CFA curriculum tests the students' knowledge on 10 key areas, namely:

Ethics and Professional Standards
Quantitative Methods
Economics
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Corporate Finance
Equity Valuation
Fixed Income
Alternative Assets
Derivatives
Portfolio Management

Even though the topics are same, the focus shifts from theory to application, as we move up the level.

Level I Exam

The Level I CFA exam consists of 240 multiple choice questions to be completed in a six-hour time frame (one three-hour morning session and one three-hour afternoon session).

The Level I education program and exam heavily tests financial accounting concepts. Even though all the 10 topics listed above are tested, the importance is given to financial reporting and asset valuation. The Level I exam commonly has the lowest pass rate among all the three exams.

Level II Exam

The Level II CFA exam consists of 20 item sets. The exam is conducted in two sessions, morning and afternoon, with 10 item sets in each session. In Level II exam, the same topics as Level I are covered.

Level III Exam

The Level III CFA exam contains essay type questions and item sets. The essay format is in the morning session and item sets, ten sets consisting of six questions each, are in the afternoon session. The Level III exam has a strong focus on Portfolio Management. Concepts learned earlier in the program are applied in a portfolio setting.

Registering and Taking the Exams

CFA exams are conducted in major cities around the world. The Level I exam is conducted in June and December, while the Level II and Level III exams are conducted only in June. You can take the exam multiple times if you fail. The fees for enrolling in the program and taking the exams are substantial.

Preparing for the Exam

Once you register for the exam you receive the curriculum books from the CFA institute. Each exam question is developed exclusively from the curriculum, so it is important for you to master the contents of the syllabus. You can prepare for the exam using the official study books from CFA Institute or you can buy third-party study notes. Finance Train provides a CFA Level II Study Supplement. The study supplement is made up of 21 weekly modules that help you encapsulate the most critical elements of the exam that candidates cannot afford to miss. It can be studied in tandem with CFAI's official curriculum, practice problems, and practice examinations, and will help candidates reinforce concepts and formulas to obtain a passing score.

Getting the Designation

After you have passed the exams and have verified 48 months of financial analysis work experience in a decision-making capacity with CFAI, you will become eligible to receive the designation.

You can read more about the CFA Level II Study Supplement at Finance Train.

Sam is an expert in finance with over 10 years of experience. He has completed his CFA Charter and is now helping others pass the CFA exams. He currently works as a Financial Analyst with a multinational firm.

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