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 2011 exams were given at 266 test centers in 189 cities worldwide.
The Level I global pass rate was 39 percent (48,068 took the exam, up from 46,863 in June 2010) and the Level II global pass rate was 43 percent (44,175 took the exam, up from 43,406 in 2010). Of the 22,784 individuals (up from 21,462 in 2010) who in June 2011 took the third and final exam that leads to the prestigious CFA designation, 51 percent passed. CFA Institute expects that the majority of candidates who passed the Level III exam will become CFA charter holders later this year, bringing the number of charter holders worldwide to nearly 100,000.
“It is encouraging to see the growth in the overall number of candidates registering for the CFA Program, despite the volatile aftermath of the global financial crisis,” said John Rogers, CFA, president and CEO of CFA Institute. “A number of factors are driving the demand for further financial education, including a desire for personal career development and a growing demand for well-qualified investment professionals.”
“We believe that we can help to rebuild trust in the financial community through education and the advancement of professional ethics in the investment profession; our charter holders do this by adhering to our Code of Ethics and our Standards of Professional Conduct. Last year, we conducted 20 panel discussions in worldwide locations to test our curriculum against what the profession needs and uses now. This continuous practice analysis process enables us to revise the curriculum annually – ensuring that we provide candidates with current and relevant practical knowledge.”
“A CFA qualification has become a clear mark of distinction for investment professionals working in the Middle East. The rapid development of the financial services has seen a rise in demand for higher standards of professionalism within the industry and this is reflected in the number of candidates who have sat our exam over recent years and the number that have subsequently passed. The growth in demand has allowed us to expand the total number of examination centres to ten, with the recent addition of Abu Dhabi and Doha,” Nitin Mehta, CFA, managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at CFA Institute, said.