![]() It is not easily measurable, but it’s fair to say that the investment product has become more complex and sophisticated in the past 10 years.ĬFA focuses on traditional investment theories and thus is less affected than the CAIA exam, but I am sure some elements of alternative investments are introduced and tested in the current version of the exam. This has been a popular theory among aspiring CFAs. This means the ability to understand and write using the English language is critical for passing these exams. You will see that for non-English speaking regions (the Middle East and to a lesser extent Asia Pacific), the pass rate is much lower. The CFA Institute does not publish CFA pass rates by country, but the CMA exam shows a pass rate that’s split by geographic location. The fact that the CFA exam is offered only in English may affect the pass rate in non-English-speaking countries. These candidates may have the necessary financial knowledge, but English may not be their first language. China has experienced the fastest growth, and Chinese exam sites now have the greatest number of candidates. Ever since CFA exams welcomed non-US candidates by offering non-US exam sites, the applications from Europe and Asia skyrocketed. These candidates may be smart and capable, but their lack of previous education and work experience in the investment field inevitably pulls down the passing rate.Īt the same time, the candidate pool is increasingly diverse in terms of geography. Nowadays, many candidates come from related but different fields such as accounting, investment banking, and even unrelated fields such as IT, legal, and support staff. The CFA exam used to be the test for professionals already working in fund management and sell-side equity research. More Diversified Candidate Pool Leads to Lower CFA Pass Rates These people never pass Level 1, and therefore you don’t see them advancing to become a CFA Level 2 candidate, and even fewer advance to Level 3. The low barrier of entry attracts many casual exam takers who just want to give it a try without properly studying for the exam. ![]() Here is my explanation: the only prerequisite to be a CFA Level 1 candidate is a bachelor’s degree. The correlation is especially high in the Level 1 exam. Lower Barrier of Entry Encourages “Casual” Exam TakersĪs you can see from the chart, there has been an exponential increase in candidate numbers since the mid-1990s, matched by an equally significant decline in pass rate during the same period. Here is my attempt to explain these trends. Interestingly, it is only in the past 15 years or so that pass rates have begun to stabilize. At the same time, pass rates increase as candidates advance to Levels 2 and 3. Looking at a longer time frame (since inception in 1963), we see an overall declining trend in pass rates in all three CFA levels. Again, we’ll re-evaluate the 10-year pass rates when we have the November 2021 numbers.Ī visual comparison of number of candidates and passing rates over time For the 2021 numbers so far, please see the chart above. Here’s a quick comparative overview of CFA pass rates in the last ten years, ending in 2020. What’s the trend if we go back further? CFA Exam Pass Rates Historical Trend However, in 2020, the pandemic forced a postponement of all CFA exams, and Level 1 was only offered in December. There are two data points for each Level 1 exam because up through 2019, CFA level 1 was given twice a year, while Level 2 and 3 were held once. ![]() ![]() ![]() These are the latest CFA passing rates for the last five years for which data are complete. CFA Pass Rates Statistics from 2016 to 2020 #Cima pass rates updateSo, we’ll update this page and provide more analysis once all the 2021 numbers are in and again when the 2022 CFA exam pass rates are released. However, pass rates for one testing window still haven’t been released. Overall, 138,206 candidates took the CFA exam in 2021, and 47,872 passed for an overall pass rate of 34.6%. (The 2022 CFA exam pass rates aren’t available yet.) This makes the breakdown of current statistics a little different from historical statistics. #Cima pass rates windowsStarting in 2021, there are now two to four testing windows per year for each exam level. Since the CFA exam is now computerized, the exam schedule has now changed permanently. Here are the passing rate trends of the three levels, as well as my analysis of what we can learn from these CFA statistics. If you are contemplating on taking CFA exam, you might want to gauge the difficulty by looking at historical CFA pass rates. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |