Business majors will be among students at only a few select universities worldwide studying a new program this fall to prepare them for certification and careers as Chartered Financial Analysts.

The CFA Institute, a nonprofit organization that sets ethical, educational and professional standards for chartered financial analysts, selected the Robins School of Business as one of its first 11 Program Partners offering the special CFA track.  Students in the program will take the Institute’s Candidate Body of Knowledge—a trademarked course of study covering concepts and principles identified by investment industry leaders worldwide as essential to global practice by CFAs.

“By mastering these fundamentals of the CFA program, students will be well on their way to earning the highly valued CFA charter,” said Bob Johnson, a CFA Institute managing director.

The Robins School was the first college program to integrate parts of the Candidate Body of Knowledge into its degree curriculum. By offering a CFA track, Student Managed Investment Fund, CFA seminar series, Junior Analyst Society chapter and mentoring program, Robins School students have achieved what the institute called outstanding passage rates on the Level I CFA exam.

Recognition as a CFA Program Partner signals potential students, employers and the marketplace that a university’s curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to prepare students for the three levels of CFA examinations.

“CFA Institute’s choice of Richmond as a program partner is reaffirmation of the Robins School’s strong reputation among the nation’s top business schools,” said Dean Jorge Haddock.

"The combination of the CFA track with our Student Managed Investment Fund has dramatically improved our ability to place graduates with investment banks, especially on Wall Street," said John Earl, Chair of the Finance Department, director of the CFA seminars and himself a CFA. “Our selection as a Program Partner further validates Richmond’s position as a university of choice for business students.”
           
The CFA Program is widely considered the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program.  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.