Nothing new, just for the record...
good luck tomorrow
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- About 98,000 people in 89 countries
will take the Chartered Financial Analyst exam this weekend,
capping a year that drew a record number of candidates amid
rising global markets.
The test, offered twice a year, is a financial-industry rite
of passage for which candidates are urged to spend at least 250
hours studying for each of three phases. Counting those who sat
for it in December, 140,000 people will take the exam this year,
the most since it began in 1963. Those who pass can expect
paychecks up to 54 percent fatter.
``The charter is often referred to as a professional
passport,'' said Kathy Valentine, spokeswoman for the Chartered
Financial Analyst Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. ``If
you are a candidate in San Francisco, you know that you can take
your designation anywhere in the world. It will be the same in
London, in Dubai.''
The six-hour exam will be given tomorrow and the day after
at universities, hotels and conference centers. The largest site
is in Hong Kong, where 6,622 people are registered to take the
test in one place, according to the institute.
One in five candidates who begin the three-level program
successfully completes it to become a CFA charter holder,
typically after four years of study. About 47 percent pass Level
I, 52 percent pass Level II and 68 percent pass Level III.
Registration with the CFA and enrollment for the tests costs as
much as $2,535.
Commitment Required
``All the charters I know have it on their e-mail
signature,'' said Tara Thompson, 27, who plans to take the Level
III test tomorrow. ``People are definitely aware who the charter
holders are.''
Thompson, an analyst at Bernstein Global Wealth Management,
a unit of New York-based AllianceBernstein Holding LP, said her
company paid for her fees and classes and her colleagues have
supported her three-year effort to become certified. ``The big
advantage of the CFA is that you can combine your work experience
with getting the designation.''
Entry-level registrations for the year were up 36 percent
from the year before, led by an increase of 143 percent in India
and 57 percent in China as those economies expanded by 9.4
percent and 11 percent, respectively.
In New York, 7,483 people are registered for the test at
three locations. In London, 5,542 have signed up. People in Asia-
Pacific countries take the exam on June 3 for administrative
reasons.
Bigger Paychecks
The program is open to brokers, analysts, fund managers and
academics with three to four years of experience; college seniors
and graduates; or people with a combination of at least four
years of work and college. Charter holders are able to command
higher compensation than financial professionals who don't have
the designation, according to the institute.
Charter holders earn an average $180,000 a year compared
with $116,850 for those who are not certified, according to a
2005 survey by the institute. Among those with 10 years or more
experience, CFAs make 18 percent more than people with Masters of
Business Administration degrees, with an average $236,500
compared with $200,000.
``You have to be committed to take this exam, otherwise you
will not succeed in passing Level I,'' Valentine said. ``The way
the exam is designed, by the time you get to Level III,
everything you've learned in Level I and Level II you are
applying into the portfolio management and other decision-making
processes.''
CFA has administered the exam every June since 1963 and
began offering December Level I tests in 2003. The number of
people registering for the CFA program has increased at an annual
compound rate of more than 15 percent since 1990.
CFA has 91,457 members in 134 countries, with about 52,000
in the U.S.
good luck tomorrow
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- About 98,000 people in 89 countries
will take the Chartered Financial Analyst exam this weekend,
capping a year that drew a record number of candidates amid
rising global markets.
The test, offered twice a year, is a financial-industry rite
of passage for which candidates are urged to spend at least 250
hours studying for each of three phases. Counting those who sat
for it in December, 140,000 people will take the exam this year,
the most since it began in 1963. Those who pass can expect
paychecks up to 54 percent fatter.
``The charter is often referred to as a professional
passport,'' said Kathy Valentine, spokeswoman for the Chartered
Financial Analyst Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. ``If
you are a candidate in San Francisco, you know that you can take
your designation anywhere in the world. It will be the same in
London, in Dubai.''
The six-hour exam will be given tomorrow and the day after
at universities, hotels and conference centers. The largest site
is in Hong Kong, where 6,622 people are registered to take the
test in one place, according to the institute.
One in five candidates who begin the three-level program
successfully completes it to become a CFA charter holder,
typically after four years of study. About 47 percent pass Level
I, 52 percent pass Level II and 68 percent pass Level III.
Registration with the CFA and enrollment for the tests costs as
much as $2,535.
Commitment Required
``All the charters I know have it on their e-mail
signature,'' said Tara Thompson, 27, who plans to take the Level
III test tomorrow. ``People are definitely aware who the charter
holders are.''
Thompson, an analyst at Bernstein Global Wealth Management,
a unit of New York-based AllianceBernstein Holding LP, said her
company paid for her fees and classes and her colleagues have
supported her three-year effort to become certified. ``The big
advantage of the CFA is that you can combine your work experience
with getting the designation.''
Entry-level registrations for the year were up 36 percent
from the year before, led by an increase of 143 percent in India
and 57 percent in China as those economies expanded by 9.4
percent and 11 percent, respectively.
In New York, 7,483 people are registered for the test at
three locations. In London, 5,542 have signed up. People in Asia-
Pacific countries take the exam on June 3 for administrative
reasons.
Bigger Paychecks
The program is open to brokers, analysts, fund managers and
academics with three to four years of experience; college seniors
and graduates; or people with a combination of at least four
years of work and college. Charter holders are able to command
higher compensation than financial professionals who don't have
the designation, according to the institute.
Charter holders earn an average $180,000 a year compared
with $116,850 for those who are not certified, according to a
2005 survey by the institute. Among those with 10 years or more
experience, CFAs make 18 percent more than people with Masters of
Business Administration degrees, with an average $236,500
compared with $200,000.
``You have to be committed to take this exam, otherwise you
will not succeed in passing Level I,'' Valentine said. ``The way
the exam is designed, by the time you get to Level III,
everything you've learned in Level I and Level II you are
applying into the portfolio management and other decision-making
processes.''
CFA has administered the exam every June since 1963 and
began offering December Level I tests in 2003. The number of
people registering for the CFA program has increased at an annual
compound rate of more than 15 percent since 1990.
CFA has 91,457 members in 134 countries, with about 52,000
in the U.S.