History

 

The Evolution of the CFA Program

• 15 June 1963: 284 senior analysts sit for the first-ever CFA exam
• 2-3 June 2007: More than 90,000 candidates from 162 countries sit for one of the three levels of the CFA exam

 

Industry giant Benjamin Graham first proposed the need for a rating designation for financial analysts in 1942. However, it wasn’t until 1959 that the National Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (NFFAS) voted to form the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (ICFA) to provide a certification of competence in financial analysis.

 

The ICFA was formally incorporated in 1961 and gave the first CFA exam two years later, bringing Graham’s idea to fruition. The ICFA formally merged with the NFFAS, by then known as the Financial Analysts Federation, in 1999 to form what is now CFA Institute.

 

The CFA Program has evolved with the profession since 1963.

 

The original program focused on equity security analysis in a U.S. setting and emphasized ethical and professional standards. Today, those topics are still prominent, but they are presented in a global context along with other topics, including fixed-income analysis, alternative and derivative investments, and portfolio management.

 

View exam pass rate historical data (PDF).

 

Find out more about the history of CFA Institute (PDF).