Q&A: Oliver McClure, president of CFA Ireland, tells us how the CFA Institute can help improve your career prospects

Q: Will a CFA qualification make a big difference to someone's ability to find a financial services job in Ireland?

Oliver: The CFA Qualification is well sought after and employers often seek out a CFA Charterholder or somebody who is undertaking the CFA program

Q: Which jobs is a CFA qualification most suited to?

Oliver: The CFA qualification is suited to those who aspire to a career in the investment profession, or for those already working in finance or investment who would like to further their education and increase their competitive edge. A CFA charter is most valuable when combined with experience, and is key for anyone who is looking to distinguish themselves in the market. As all firms in professional services and financial institutions want to recruit the best candidates, being a CFA-charterholder is an indicator that you're trying to set yourself apart.

Q: Is it necessary to pass all 3 levels of the CFA, or is just the first one enough to make a difference to someone's job prospects?

Oliver: Passing all 3 levels of the CFA Program is optimal because it means that successful candidates become charterholders. Enrolling and passing the CFA exams requires dedication and drive, and is a signal to the marketplace that you are serious about your career. Completing Level I will increase knowledge and will be of value, however, candidates who pass Level 1 only are not charterholders.

Recruiters and employers see the CFA charter as a stamp of quality. It's a sign of intellectual rigour and that the charter-holder is dedicated to their career. Anecdotally, recruiters tell us that the kinds of professionals who are charterholders are changing. In the past, it was mostly relevant for front-office roles and analysts, but it’s uncreasingly useful for those in relationship roles, sales roles, and positions in the middle office as well. The current economic crisis has reignited the debate about ethical practice and behaviour in finance, and so clients want to work with people who understand what they are talking about and selling, and employers want to hire people who know about the risks, the regulations.

Q: Why is the pass rate for the CFA so low? Do many people in Ireland retake exams after they fail them?

Oliver: In Ireland our CFA candidates generally exceed the global pass rate.

The pass rate is low because of the difficulty of the exams, with approximately 20% of candidates completing all three levels and becoming charterholders. However, Tom Robinson, CFA, Managing Director of Education for CFA Institute comments: “Pass rates are largely a function of candidate preparation.  Further, the curriculum does change somewhat each year and each exam is newly written to reflect that curriculum.  We would consider the pass rates to be well within the ten year average and range.  Minor variations reflect candidate preparation and what it takes to practice in today's environment."

Q: I already have a degree in economics and a postgraduate qualification in finance, can the CFA really teach me anything?

Oliver: The CFA Program is aimed at those dedicated to pursuing a career in the investment profession.  Responding to industry requirements and updating the curriculum is a core element of keeping the CFA Program relevant but still true to its core pillars of ethics and practice analysis, which have been integral to the DNA of the qualification since its inception in 1963. So, as the thirst for financial training continues, as other degree and qualification programmes have changed to reflect the demands of the market place, so has the curriculum of the CFA Program. Whilst maintaining the core topics (portfolio management and wealth planning, equity investments, financial reporting and analysis, fixed-income investments, ethical and professional standards, derivatives, alternative investments, quantitative methods, corporate finance, and economics) the CFA Program curriculum is continuously updated, based on what the Education and Curriculum team acknowledges to be what the profession requires.

Besides ethics and standards, which continue to comprise around 10-15% of the curriculum, recent updates include those on economics, in an effort to make the content more practical for investment professionals and to better equip successful candidates and charterholders, and fixed-income, to incorporate more fully the recent (and not universally happy) experience around structured products.  Other areas of recent emphasis include behavioural finance and risk management. Examples:

• The economics component of the CFA Program has been updated to include greater emphasis on analyst and portfolio management, incorporating this first into Level I in 2012, and then Levels II and III in 2013
• An increase in emphasis on the application of behavioural finance to the investment process - many banks and private wealth firms now have their own behavioural finance experts (not just academics), which would not have been the case even a few years ago.
• Financial reporting and analysis – a greater emphasis on convergence to IFRS and an emphasis on earnings quality.

Q: Is it worth starting the CFA while someone's still at university? Can you point to the universities in Ireland which offer the CFA Level 1 as part of the course?

Studying for the CFA Program while completing a degree is challenging, and probably best to focus on completing a degree and then embarking on the CFA Program, either straight after graduating or whilst working.

In Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin are CFA Program Partners for the following programmes:

Trinity: BBS, Finance Concentration and MSc in Finance

University College Dublin: MSc Finance

For undergraduate programmes, 70% of the Bachelors curriculum must have congruence with Level 1, including ethics. For postgraduate degrees, there must be 70% congruence with Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the CFA Program, including ethics.

In the EMEA region, CFA Institute has 47 Program Partners, and 140 globally. Recognition as a CFA Program Partner provides a signal to potential students, current students, the financial industry at large and the job marketplace that the university curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA exams.