144,900 Candidates Register for June 2011 CFA Exams

The CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, announced today that 144,900 candidates from 162 countries have registered for the CFA exam in June 2011. That's a four percent increase of the number of candidates that registered last June.

The CFA says the increase reinforces "the strong commitment among finance professionals to high standards of ethics, education and professional excellence, which the CFA Program demands."

Overall, there were 209,945 registrations for CFA exams in fiscal year 2011 which includes December 2010 and June 2011, an increase of five percent on fiscal year 2010.

Asia Pacific continues to be the largest source of candidates, with 60,416 registered for the June 2011 exam, accounting for 42 percent of the total. The Americas saw the registration of 52,131 candidates, 36 percent of the total, and 32,289 candidates registered in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), accounting for 22 percent of the total. Asia Pacific also led the worldwide growth, with a 10 percent increase in registrations in fiscal year 2011, which combines December 2010 and June 2011 exam registrations. View regional statistics for the global CFA exam registration.

"It is very encouraging to see that financial professionals across the world continue to dedicate themselves to the ethics, rigor, tenacity, and analytics at the core of the CFA Program and, through this, they commit in many ways to bettering our profession", said John Rogers, CFA, president and CEO of CFA Institute.

The CFA Program is a self-study program, considered to be one of the most rigorous credentialing program in the investment industry. The CFA curriculum is grounded in the practice of the investment profession and evolves with time. Through a process called "practice analysis" and a survey of investment professionals from around the world, the CFA Institute is able to update the curriculum with knowledge, skills, and abilities (competencies) that are relevant to the profession.

The CFA exam is a three-level exam covering topics including Ethical and Professional Standards, Quantitative Methods, Economics, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Corporate Finance, Investment Tools, Asset Classes, and Portfolio Management and Wealth Planning. Each level imparts a particular skill set: Level I is focused on investment tools and the foundations of the business, giving candidates the necessary knowledge and comprehension; Level II is focused on asset classes including equity investments, fixed income, derivatives, and alternative investments, emphasizing candidates' ability in application and analysis; and Level III is focused on portfolio management and wealth planning, requiring candidates to be competent in synthesis and evaluation while making investment decisions.