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Kathy Valentine
 CFA Institute - North America
434-951-5348
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Jessica Galehouse
 CFA Institute - North America
434-951-5376
jessica.galehouse@cfainstitute.org

Brian Mairs
 CFA Institute - Europe, Middle East, Africa
+44 (20) 7712-6511
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Henry Chua
 CFA Institute - Asia Pacific
852 3103 9363
henry.chua@cfainstitute.org

 

 

Bocconi University, Boston University, Concordia University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Marquette University Recognized As CFA Program Partner Institutions

 

Universities to Offer Degree Programs Based on Candidate Body of Knowledge™

 

(Read more about the CFA Program Partner Initiative)

 

Charlottesville, Va., April 27, 2006 — CFA Institute today announced that five prestigious universities are CFA Program Partners and will offer degree programs that cover at least 70 percent of the Candidate Body of Knowledge, the CFA Institute Ethical and Professional Standards, and other requirements.

 

“CFA Program Partner institutions recognize that the best way to educate their students for careers in the investment industry is with our Candidate Body of Knowledge,” said Bob Johnson, CFA, Ph.D., managing director of the CFA and CGIPS Programs Division. “Students in degree programs at these universities will study concepts and principles that have been identified by investment industry leaders worldwide as essential to global practice. By mastering these fundamentals of the CFA Program, students will be well on their way to earning the highly valued CFA charter.”

 

Recognition as a CFA Program Partner signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the university curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA examinations.

 

The CFA Program sets a standard for developing the skills, standards, competence, and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers, investment advisers, and other investment professionals worldwide. It is widely considered the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program. Administered in English, the CFA curriculum and examinations are identical worldwide. Fewer than one in five candidates who begin the program successfully complete it and go on to earn the coveted CFA charter, the “gold standard” for investment professionals.

 

The five CFA Program Partners are:

 

  • Bocconi University, Milan, Italy (M.Sc. in Finance — CLEFIN-LS) —This two-year program, which is the first CFA Program Partner in continental Europe, incorporates nearly the entire Candidate Body of Knowledge in its elective course curriculum and aims to provide students with an advanced education preparing them for highly skilled jobs in investment management, corporate finance and quantitative finance. Bocconi will collaborate with the Italian CFA Society to add a special lecture series that covers CFA Program-specific content.

  • Boston University, School of Management, Boston, Mass., USA (M.Sc. in Investment Management) — The 17-month, part-time MSIM program trains students in leading-edge theory and practice in the field of investment management. Graduates have been successful applying this training in research, portfolio management and client relations jobs. All of the program’s 11 courses are related to the Candidate Body of Knowledge, and more than half of its students actively pursue the CFA designation. Boston University is the first graduate-level CFA Program Partner in the United States.

  • Concordia University, John Molson School of Business, Montreal, Quebec, Canada  (Goodman Institute of Investment Management MBA Program) —This institute offers an MBA program that fully integrates the Candidate Body of Knowledge into its curriculum, and its students consistently perform exceptionally well on the CFA exams. The program, which is available on campuses in Montreal and Toronto, is the first CFA Program Partner in Canada.

  • The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong (M.Sc. in Financial Analysis, M.Sc. in Investment Management) — The Master of Science in Investment Management focuses on asset management and risk management, while the Master of Science in Financial Analysis offers concentrations in corporate finance and security analysis. Both programs are composed of 15 courses, built upon the core courses of accounting foundations, derivatives analysis, foundations of economic analysis, investment analysis, and statistics for financial analysis. This represents the first CFA Program Partner in the Asia-Pacific region.

  • Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., USA (Applied Investment Management Program) — The university, the first undergraduate-level CFA Program Partner, prepares students in its program to sit for Level I of the CFA exam upon receiving their undergraduate degree. In addition to the required semester hours of courses related to the Candidate Body of Knowledge, the program’s students also obtain practical experience by completing a summer internship and managing a portion of the university’s endowment.

 

The partnership initiative was launched 4 April 2006 with the announcement of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford as the inaugural CFA Program Partner.

 

“Job candidates with both advanced degrees and professional certification are more in demand than ever,” said Bob McLean, CFA, Ph.D., director of university relations at CFA Institute. “Students trained in their academic studies to the Candidate Body of Knowledge have a strong foundation for preparing for the CFA examinations. This is a great benefit to advance and succeed in the financial industry’s competitive job market.”

 

“Our two-year M.Sc. in Finance is aimed at offering students a combination of strong technical skills in all the fields required for a successful finance specialist, a clear understanding of practical applications of these techniques, and a deep sense of social responsibility,” says Angelo Provasoli, rector of Bocconi University. “This is why we consider CFA Institute as a natural partner for our program, since we know the great work that CFA Institute has done through the years and with increasing worldwide success to continuously improve the professional and the ethical standards of the finance profession.”

 

According to former fund manager Scott D. Stewart, CFA, Ph.D., a professor and faculty director of Boston University’s MSIM Program, “We are excited to become the first CFA graduate-level Partner in the U.S. When we introduced our Master’s Program in Investments in 2000, we recognized that the CFA charter reflects rigorous curriculum and high ethical standards in the eyes of all financial professionals. Our MSIM program incorporates this curriculum, combining leading academic theory with state-of-the-art practice in investment management.”

 

Concordia’s President, Claude Lajeunesse, Ph.D., welcomed the announcement saying, “This recognition by CFA Institute sends a clear message to potential students and employers that the Goodman program at Concordia is unique and internationally respected."

 

“We are very pleased to be the first CFA Program Partner in the Asia-Pacific region. It attests to the quality of our programs and the professional relevancy of our curriculum. I look forward to working closely with CFA Institute to further enhance the learning experience of our students and to nurture financial talents for the region,” said Kalok Chan, CFA, Ph.D., a professor and head of the finance department at HKUST.

 

“Marquette University is honored to be the first undergraduate program to be designated as a CFA Program Partner,” said David Krause, Ph.D., director of the Applied Investment Management (AIM) Program. “In developing the program at Marquette, we aligned our curriculum with the CFA Institute core body of knowledge in recognition that the CFA designation is the worldwide standard for financial analysts. Our mission is to graduate proficient and ethical investment research analysts by giving our undergraduates the opportunity to integrate the financial and ethical principles they learn in the classroom with relevant internships and investments experiences.”

 

The initiative offers students at CFA Program Partner institutions access to CFA Institute textbooks, journals, Webcasts, and other educational resources. Students will also benefit from professional development events held in conjunction with CFA Institute member societies, the local membership bodies for CFA Institute candidates, charterholders, and members.

 

CFA Institute recently announced that a record number of candidates — 116,190 in 163 countries — enrolled for the December 2005 and June 2006 Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) exams. CFA Institute membership levels have also reached a record high, with 81,454 members in 126 countries.

 

CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global, non-profit professional association that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) curriculum and examination program worldwide, publishes research, conducts professional development programs, and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 81,000 members in 126 countries and territories, including the world’s 67,000 CFA charterholders, as well as 132 affiliated professional societies in 53 countries and territories. CFA Institute is headquartered in the USA in Charlottesville, Virginia, with regional headquarters in London, Hong Kong, and New York. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org. (Bloomberg users can find CFA Institute at 497458Z).