About the CFA Charter

The CFA Charter is a distinction granted to those who undertake and pass a rigorous, graduate-level curriculum. The Program links theory and practice with real-world investment analysis and portfolio management skills, and emphasizes the highest ethical and professional standards.

Candidates must pass three exam levels and meet requirements of four years of work experience in the investment industry. They also must pledge to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, apply to a CFA Institute society and become a member of CFA Institute.

Those who meet the requirements benefit from the extensive knowledge attained in pursuit of the Charter. In addition, they also gain the advantages of membership in an active, global community.

A 50-year history of the CFA Program

Learn how the CFA Program has become the “gold standard” of professionalism in the financial and investment communities. This special commemorative book covers the charter’s first 50 years, revealing how the ideas and perseverance of a few visionaries transformed financial analysis and institutionalized its highest ideals and best practices.

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Benjamin Graham

La Jolla, California

Long before “Mad Men” there was “Medicine Men of Lower Manhattan,” a chapter by Ben Graham published in 1955 in Wall Street 20th Century. Referred to as the “dean of Wall Street,” Graham was the first to recognize the need for professional certification of financial analysts. His chapter, reprinted here, offered career advice to aspiring analysts, drawing parallels between the skills needed by an analyst and those required of skilled physicians. He also was co-author of Security Analysis and author of Intelligent Investor. It was this kind of vision and passion that made Graham so instrumental in elevating the profession out of relative obscurity and into the leading role it plays today in financial markets worldwide.