Becoming a Member
Membership is available to all investment professionals who meet the requirements.
Membership Types
Based on the information in your application, CFA Institute assigns one of two types of membership:
Affiliate Membership
If you have less than 48 months of qualified work experience, you may be considered for affiliate membership. Affiliate members receive the same benefits as regular members, but do not have voting rights.
To qualify for affiliate membership, you must:
Once you're approved for affiliate membership by a society, you will be prompted to activate your membership. You may activate your membership at that time or wait until you qualify and are approved for regular membership (see below) to activate your membership.
Affiliate membership does not qualify you to receive the CFA charter. Candidates are often first approved as affiliate members and then apply for an upgrade to regular membership after they have accrued the required work experience.
To become a CFA charterholder you must be a regular member and pass the CFA Program Level I, Level II, and Level III exams. Once you become a charterholder you must comply with our requirements to maintain your status.
Regular Membership
If you have at least 48 months of qualified work experience, you may be considered for regular membership (required to receive your CFA charter).
To qualify as a regular member of CFA Institute and a local society, you must:
If you are an affiliate member and meet the requirements stated above, you must update the appropriate information in your account and submit an online membership upgrade application.
To become a CFA charterholder you must be a regular member and pass the CFA Program Level I, Level II, and Level III exams. Once you become a charterholder you must comply with our requirements to maintain your status.
In the event of a discrepancy, CFA Institute makes the final determination for regular membership status.
Steps to Becoming a Member
- Apply for CFA Institute and Society membership
- CFA Institute and Society review your application
- Activate your membership once your application is approved
Review application tips | Apply for membership
What Happens When We Receive Your Application?
- Upon receipt of your application, we send you an e-mail to forward to each of your two membership sponsors. The e-mail contains a link to the online form the sponsors must complete as part of your application.
- We receive the information your sponsors submit in the online form, and we make a member type recommendation (affiliate or regular) based on your sponsor forms and work experience details.
- Your complete application is then submitted to the local society you selected for their review and approval.
- Once CFA Institute and the society approve your application, you will be notified by e-mail.
- You may then activate your membership at any time by following the instructions in your e-mail notification. To activate you will need to pay member dues and file your Professional Conduct Statement.
This application process may take 8-10 weeks. Apply now.