CFA

The CFA or the Chartered Financial Analyst is a course in chartered accountancy covered in three levels, namely Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 over a period of 1.5 years. After the successful completion of the course, the candidate will be awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst certificate. The candidates are taught skills that include through knowledge of financial investment and management in the real world.

The course costs around 1.05 lakh INR. The eligibility criteria for qualifying for taking up this course include a Bachelor’s degree followed by 4 years of work experience. A candidate has to clear all three levels for completing the course. The course is highly respected and opens the doors to some of the most lucrative jobs for the successful candidates. Highly paying jobs in the banking sector, company auditing departments and several others are available for successful candidates.

The three levels of the CFA course include academic theory and also professional experience. The candidates become adept at data gathering and the ethics of portfolio management. The candidates who clear the course can work as financial analysts in business corporations. The candidates who clear the CFA levels earn the post of CFA charter.

The top colleges that award the CFA are the following:

• Indian Institute of Business Management & Studies
• Central India Institute of Management Studies
• Mansukh Institute of Financial Markets
• FTMS Global Academy India Pvt. Ltd.
• Narayana Institute
• Chartered Financial Analyst Institute

The eligibility criteria for the CFA course are:

• The candidate should have a 4 year Bachelor’s degree in any relevant field.
• Candidates who are pursuing the final year of their Bachelor’s are also eligible.
• Candidates should have 4 years of relevant work experience.
• Some institutes insist on the candidate having an international travel passport.

The candidates are expected to gain working level knowledge in certain topics and expert level knowledge in certain topics over the three levels of the CFA. The topics in which the candidate should gain a working level knowledge include Economic, Financial Accounting, Financial Management, Quantitative Methods, Financial Statement Analysis and Financial Markets. The candidate is expected to imbibe expert level knowledge in Fixed Income Securities: Analysis & Valuation, Equity: Analysis & Valuation, Portfolio Management, Derivatives: Analysis & Valuation, Professional Ethics & Case Studies and Mutual & Other Funds. CFA is a very coveted course as it opens up long term career opportunities for candidates as finance professionals who can work in several industries like the corporate, banking and financial services. There are openings in Excise & Taxation, Educational Institutes and several others.