Forty-five percent of 104,111 candidates worldwide pass
Charlottesville, Va., August 18, 2009 – CFA Institute announced today that 45 percent of 104,111 current and aspiring investment professionals worldwide passed the June 2009 CFA exams, bringing them one step closer to earning the distinguished CFA charter. (Listen to CFA charterholders share their perspective about the value of the CFA charter.)
To earn the CFA charter, candidates must sequentially pass three six-hour exams that are widely considered to be among the most rigorous in the investment profession. The 2009 exams were given at 256 test centers in 182 cities worldwide.
The Level I global pass rate was 46 percent (45,682 took the exam, up from 44,063 in 2008) and the Level II global pass rate was 41 percent (38,993 took the exam, up from 33,449 in 2008). Of the 19,436 (up from 14,569 in 2008) individuals who in June 2009 took the third and final exam that leads to the prestigious CFA designation, 49 percent passed (view historical pass rates [PDF]). CFA Institute expects that the majority of those candidates who passed the Level III exam will become CFA charterholders later this year, bringing the number of charterholders worldwide to nearly 90,000.
“We are encouraged by the number of investment professionals who have committed themselves to this rigorous program,” said John Rogers, CFA, president and CEO of CFA Institute. “We believe that financial education and professional ethics training, which are at the heart of the CFA Program, are cornerstones of future financial market stability. It is gratifying to see this strong level of demand for the CFA charter.”
CFA Institute has administered more than one million exams since the inauguration of the CFA Program in 1963. CFA Institute expects more than 30,000 new candidates to register for the December 2009 Level I exam, bringing the total number of candidates registered for this exam to more than 50,000.
“In a tight job market, having the CFA charter is a significant distinguishing factor, and we saw much lower no-show rates for Level I of the exam, which indicates how serious candidates are about their careers,” said Tom Robinson, CFA, managing director of education at CFA Institute. “The exam pass rates vary from year to year based on candidate preparedness and seriousness. There is no pre-set passing grade. Each year, a minimum passing score is determined through a rigorous standard-setting process that takes into account the difficulty of each exam and candidate performance.”
The CFA curriculum includes ethical and professional standards; financial reporting and analysis; corporate finance; economics; quantitative methods; equity, fixed income, and alternative investments; derivatives; portfolio management and wealth planning. In a post-exam survey, CFA candidates replied that financial statement reporting and analysis, derivatives, ethical and professional standards, and fixed income were the most difficult topic areas for the 2009 exam. A strong majority (74 percent) of candidates who responded to the survey said they would re-take the CFA exam the next time it is offered if they do not pass. (See sample exam questions.)
In the above-mentioned post-exam survey, candidates reported that they spent an average of 315 hours of study. CFA Institute recommends candidates spend at least 300 hours preparing for each of the three exams. CFA candidates typically take four years to pass the three required exams. The Level I exam is offered twice per year, while the Level II and Level III exams are offered once each year. The Level I exam consists of multiple-choice questions. Level II is composed of item sets (i.e., mini cases with detailed vignettes) and the questions at Level III are 50 percent item set and 50 percent short answer and essay.
Those who passed the Level III exam – 9,597 candidates − will begin receiving their CFA charters in early October 2009, provided that they also have completed the minimum work-experience requirement of four years in the investment industry, signed a commitment to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, apply to a CFA Institute society, and become a member of CFA Institute.
Just as earning the CFA charter shows that an investment professional is committed to a higher standard, hiring a CFA charterholder signifies that a firm is, too. Employers and media around the world recognize the CFA charter as the standard of professional excellence. And with such widespread recognition, CFA charterholders earn a significant competitive advantage for international employment. CFA charterholders are typically employed by investment companies, mutual funds, broker-dealers, investment banks, and as private wealth managers.
Regulators around the world also recognize the value of the CFA charter (read more [PDF]). Nearly all U.S. state securities commissions grant CFA charterholders an exemption to their licensing exams for investment advisers. The NYSE and FINRA provide an exemption from the analytical portion (Series 86) of the Research Analyst Qualification Exam (Series 86/87) for certain applicants who have passed Level II of the CFA exam. Additionally, regulators in Australia, Canada, Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and Vietnam accept the CFA designation as meeting their licensing or qualification requirements. In Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand, passing a certain level of the CFA exam is required to practice in the jurisdiction.
Select colleges and universities have an appreciation for the global relevance of the CFA charter and the advantages it provides for their graduates. These institutions have been identified by CFA Institute as CFA Program Partners and embed at least 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge into their degree programs, as well as commit to cover the CFA Institute ethical and professional standards in the curriculum. This recognition tells students and employers that the university curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA exams. Currently, there are 98 CFA Program Partners on six continents, including Said Business School at the University of Oxford and The Johnson School at Cornell University.
June 2009 Exam Results by Country/Region
By country/region, the pass rates for the Level I, Level II, and Level III exams combined are:
United States: 47 percent of the 29,021 total exam candidates
Canada: 47 percent of the 8,229 total exam candidates
Europe: 50 percent of the 17,860 total exam candidates
Asia and Pacific Asia: 42 percent of the 41,832 total exam candidates
Central and South America: 42 percent of the 1,689 total exam candidates
Africa/Middle East: 33 percent of the 5,480 total exam candidates
Examples of non-North American countries and territories with the largest number of candidates that took a CFA exam are Mainland China (11,106), India (7,107), United Kingdom (6,744), Hong Kong (6,529), Singapore (3,929), South Korea (3,867), Australia (2,204), Germany (1,632), Taiwan (1,584), Switzerland (1,458), and South Africa (1,318).
CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has nearly 100,000 members, who include the world’s more than 84,000 CFA charterholders, as well as 136 affiliated professional societies in 57 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.
