The CFA Institute is a global, not-for-profit professional organization that provides investment professionals with finance education. The institute aims to promote standards in ethics, education, and professional excellence in the global investment services industry. Since 1945, the institute has published the

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

, quarterly journal, the '' Financial Analysts Journal''. It also publishes the Enterprising Investor blog.

Structure

The institute currently offers two credentials, six certificates, and one course. The CFA designation remains its flagship designation program:

Credentials

Chartered Financial Analyst The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the US-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financia ...

(CFA) * Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM)

Certificates

* Sustainable Investing Certificate (Formerly Certificate in ESG Investing) * Climate Risk, Valuation, and Investing Certificate * Private Equity Certificate * Private Markets and Alternative Investments Certificate * Data Science for Investment Professionals Certificate * Investment Foundations® Certificate

Course

* Climate Finance It provides continuing education conferences, seminars, webcasts, and publications to allow members and other participants to stay current on developments in the investment industry. CFA Institute also oversees the CFA Institute Research Challenge for university students and the CFA Research Institute Foundation. CFA Institute is headquartered in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, with additional offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Washington, D.C.,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. The current President and CEO is Margaret Franklin.

History

In 1947, four financial analyst societies—

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, New York, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

— cooperated for the purpose of promoting the exchange of ideas and supporting the welfare of their profession, calling the new group the National Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (NFFAS). In 1959, the NFFAS Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFA), which was incorporated in 1962. NFFAS changed its name to the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF) in 1961. In 1962, the

(CFA) designation and

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

were established. In 1963, the profession was formalized when 284 candidates sat for the first CFA exam and 268 CFA charters were awarded. The following year, all 3 levels of the exam were administered to more than 1,700 candidates. The Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) was founded in 1990 as the umbrella organization for the ICFA and the FAF, still separate entities at that time. ICFA and the FAF consolidated under AIMR in 1999. In 2004, the Association for Investment Management and Research voted to change its name to the CFA Institute. In February 2019, The United States Department of Justice announced it will fine CFA Institute more than $320,000 for discriminating against qualified American workers by hiring temporary foreign workers through the H-1B visa program. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, CFA Institute cancelled the majority of the 2020 examinations around the world due to the lack of examination facilities. From 2021 onwards, all examinations were shifted to computer-based testing for the three levels of the CFA program. In March 2021, CFA Institute launched the Certificate in ESG Investing due to the high profile of

environmental, social and corporate governance Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is shorthand for an investment, investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred to as social ...

(ESG) factors in

socially responsible investing Socially responsible investing (SRI) is any investment strategy which seeks to consider financial return alongside ethical, social or environmental goals. The areas of concern recognized by SRI practitioners are often linked to environmental, ...

Year in summary

References

External links

*
About the CFA Institute and Charter
{{Authority control Analyst societies Business and finance professional associations Companies based in Virginia Organizations established in 1947