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A Chartered Financial Analyst or sometimes called a CFA, is a designation given to financial analysts who complete a series of examinations. It is a highly esteemed certification but is very hard to obtain. This short guide will give you some basic information.
CFA Salary Information:
An entry level CFA can expect to make around $52,000 in his or her first year. Within one to four years, your pay will jump considerably to an average of $63,000 annually. Over five years of work experience will average you around $90,000 a year. You can expect to make at least $120,000 per year with ten years experience. Finally, a CFA with over 20 years of experience will usually average almost $140,000 and more a year. As you can see from the progression, this field is highly experienced driven in which you can triple your salary in 20 years of work.
CFA Education Requirements:
To become a Chartered Financial Analyst, you will have to have a 4-year bachelor's degree. You will also need around three years of work experience in the investment industry. Finally, you will be subjected to three 6-hour exams. You must pass all three exams to achieve certification. Not only is each exam over six hours long, but the passing rate is under 50% for all of them. This means you will likely have to sit for at least one exam twice. All CFA's must adhere to a Code of Ethics and Standards. Only after all this is granted will you become a CFA Charterholder awarded by the CFA Institute.
CFA Work Environment:
Chartered Financial Analysts usually own their own businesses and work with highly esteemed financial organizations worldwide. The highest concentration of Chartered Financial Analysts can be found at Deutsche Bank, ABN AMRO, and Credit Suisse. A lot of charterholders have worked in finance for all of their professional careers. Because the designation is worldwide, CFA's have the same level of knowledge and nearly the same level of experience. This allows you the flexibility to not only move to a new company, but a new country as well. It is not unusual for the top financial organizations to prefer applicants for various positions to have the CFA designation.
Becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst is one of the best career moves on the planet as you will have a global presence to submit your resume to. It will also provide very stable employment with great benefits. If you can manage to get through the exams, you will have a very bright future ahead of you. |
