Why Chartered Financial Analysts Measure Up
At Madison, we are proud to have over a dozen professionals with impressive certifications and designations. Six of our certified professionals are Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA charterholders). Achieving the CFA designation is no easy task. The CFA Institute has strict requirements that every candidate must meet. Fewer than 1 in 5 candidates successfully complete all three levels of the CFA Program.
What is involved with earning your CFA certification? The CFA Institute requires candidates to pass three, six hour exams. A typical candidate will study over 300 hours in preparation for each exam via a challenging self-study curriculum. Upon passing all three exams, candidates also must accrue four years of acceptable professional work experience in an investment decision-making capacity. A candidate must then join the CFA Institute, where they can receive continuing education.
All told, CFA charterholders’ continuing professional development helps them stay abreast and ahead of industry trends, regulations, and innovations. Honed by years of training, CFA charterholders tend to wield an extensive body of knowledge on investing and global financial markets.
The CFA Institute continuing education program monitors new trends, investment theories and practices, and incorporates these innovations after careful deliberation. The global financial landscape is constantly changing which is why CFA Institute strives to keep its curriculum relevant, current, and globally standardized. The CFA charter is recognized by regulators, universities, and certification programs in 40 countries and territories.
In addition, CFA charterholders must hold themselves to an uncompromising standard of ethics designed by the CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. To track compliance, they are required to submit an annual attestation of conduct.
Madison believes that earning certifications like the CFA gives its professionals a strong foundation of advanced investment analysis and portfolio management skills for the benefit of our clients. Trust is also key to building a strong client-advisor relationship and our credentialed professionals are bound by the highest ethical standards in the industry. Simply put, we apply our wealth of knowledge and high ethical standards for your benefit.