What does CFA mean in Accounting?

Chartered Financial Analyst

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financial professionals. It has the academic standing of a masters degree in the European Union and United Kingdom (Level 7 by NARIC), with level 2 being equivalent to a bachelors degree (Level 6 NARIC). The charter has highest level of global legal and regulatory recognition of finance-related qualifications, exempting CFA charterholders from various industry regulatory and/or academic requirements depending on the country (see CFA Regulatory Recognition). The program teaches a wide range of subjects relating to advanced investment analysis, including security analysis, statistics, probability theory, fixed income, derivatives, economics, financial analysis, corporate finance, alternative investments, portfolio management, and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance. A candidate who successfully completes the program and meets other professional requirements is awarded the "CFA charter" and becomes a "CFA charterholder". As of April 2021, at least 170,000 people are charterholders globally, growing 7% annually since 2012. Successful candidates take an average of four years to earn their CFA charter.The top employers of CFA charterholders globally include JP Morgan, UBS, Royal Bank of Canada, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs.

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