One of the world's most coveted investing certificates is the Chartered Financial Analyst or in short, the CFA certification. It was first awarded by the CFA Institute and launched in 1963. It is a graduate program and three 6-hour tests are required for an applicant. The three examinations are also referred to as CFA levels I, II and III. After passing all three tests and meeting all educational requirements the applicant is given the CFA certification. Because of the need for 48 months of authorized job experience, it requires at least four years to obtain the designation of the charter holder. A CFA charter holder is not unusual to have missed one test along the way, but applicants have to remain persistent.
Recruitment
The potential applicant must have a bachelor's degree or may have the final year of the bachelor's degree program in order to apply for the CFA Program. Alternatively, a prospective applicant may have at least 4 years of similar study or a combination of 4 years of studies and experience.
Level I Review
The CFA Level I test consists of 240 questionnaires to be completed in six hours (one three-hour morning session and one three-hour afternoon session).
The Level I curriculum explores financial accounting principles and examines them heavily. Although all the above 10 topics are checked, financial statements and assessment of assets are relevant. The level I test typically has the lowest rate of pass between all three tests. You can practice free sample questions of CFA mock exams and check if your are prepared for the exam.
Level II Review
The Level II CFA analysis is divided into 20 sets of objects. The test takes place in two days, in the morning and in the afternoon, each session contains 10 object sets. The Level II analysis addresses the same subjects as Level I.
Level III Review
The CFA Level III review includes questions of the essay form and object sets. The essay format is available in the morning and the item sets are available, with ten sets of six questions each. The Level III analysis focuses extensively on portfolio management. Concepts previously taught in the curriculum are implemented in a portfolio environment.
Registration and review
CFA studies are carried out in big cities worldwide. The Level I test will take place in June and December, while the Level II and Level III tests will only take place in June. If you fail, you will take the test many times. The costs for registration and inspection are large.
Preparation for the test
If you register for the test, you can get the CFA Institute's curriculum books. Each review query is exclusively developed from the curriculum, so it is important that you master the content of the curriculum. You can practice for the exam using the CFA Institute's official research books or you can order study notes from third parties. The CFA Level II Research Complement is given by Finance Train. The research supplement consists of 21 weekly modules that help you encapsulate the most important test elements that cannot be overlooked by participants. It should be learned in accordance with the CFAI official program, practice concerns and exercises and can allow applicants to improve principles and formulae in order to receive an award.
Get the designation
After the tests are passed and 48 months of experience in decision-making with CFAI have been confirmed, you will be considered for the classification.