INTERESTED IN A CFA CERTIFICATION?
By: Amr El Barbary

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is one of the well-recognized professional certificates in finance worldwide. With the growing competitiveness among job candidates and the demand for professional analysts, the CFA charter has been marked as one of the certificates to measure the competence of the financial analysts.

The number of candidates awarded the CFA charter has dramatically increased over the past decade from 1,658 in year 1992 to 6,274 in year 2000. Total number of candidates who have passed all three levels since 1963 is 19,915. (Source: CFA Level II Study Guide 2002).

The CFA charter is a postgraduate self-study program, with no prerequisites, that demands a certain level of preparation for the candidates to be able to handle the materials which are beyond an introductory level and a good level of understanding written English (even though no English competence test is required).

A candidate may sit for only one level every year, with an allowed period of 8 years to pass all three levels. Level I is a set of multiple-choice questions, while Level II and III are essay questions and item set. Each level consists of two 3-hours exam sessions with an interim break of 2 hours. Grades are based on Pass/Fail criteria.

Exams are offered on the first Saturday of June of every year in Cairo in a location determined by AIMR and announced at least a month before the exam date (past exams have been held at Sonesta and Semiramis Intercontinental Hotels).

The CFA program requires that the candidate have a bachelor's degree or the equivalent with the degree awarded not later than September of the same year of the CFA examination. Deadlines for application are scheduled every year by the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) in August, October, December, February and March with a surcharge for every deadline.

The curriculum of the CFA program is designed to strengthen the knowledge of CFA charter holders in the field of financial analysis, investment valuations in all its aspects, and portfolio management.

The topics of study are the following (with different weights assigned to each in the three levels):

1) Ethical and Professional Standards.
2) Quantitative Methods.
3) Economics.
4) Financial Statement Analysis.
5) Corporate Finance.
6) Analysis of Debt Investments.
7) Analysis of Equity Investments.
8) Analysis of Derivatives.
9) Analysis of Alternative Investments.
10) Portfolio Management.
11) Performance Management and Presentation.

Preparation for the CFA exam differs from a candidate to another. Basically, there are the textbooks stated by the AIMR organization. Also, there are many companies (Examples: Allen Resources, Schweser, Stella) that sell study notes, videotapes, tutorial CDs, which furnish high quality and comprehensive study materials (but should be considered only as a complement to the basic textbooks). Unfortunately, the only preparation courses available in Egypt is at the American University in Cairo with courses offered only for the Level I examination (for further information, contact the Institute of Banking and Finance at 797-6783 or 797-6705).

Each candidate should bear in mind to dedicate an average of 250 hours per Level.

The average cost for the CFA charter (if candidate successfully passes each Level upon first time) is $ 1150 for enrollment fees and $ 1000 for study textbooks. Candidate pays the enrollment fees per level and he/she is entitled to sit for only one exam per payment.

The requirements to be awarded the CFA charter are the following: First, candidate has to pass the three levels examinations. Second, he/she must have at least three years of experience in the investment sector by the time he applies for the charter. Finally, he has to fulfill the AIMR membership requirements.

For further information visit AIMR web site at www.aimr.org