India needs many more CFA professionals

Vimal Chander Joshi interviews Ashvin P Vibhakar, managing director, Asia Pacific, CFA Institute.

The US-based CFA Institute wants to hold its exams in India soon, which will definitely come as a relief to Indian chartered financial analysis (CFA) candidates who currently have to go abroad to write the test.

Any graduate can become a finance professional after clearing three levels of the exam. The course is done through self-study (distance mode) and one can gain four years of mandatory experience at any level in the finance industry before, during or after the exams. Dr Ashvin P Vibhakar, managing director, Asia Pacific, CFA Institute, reveals more about the course and its relevance in India.

In India, very few students take CFA as a serious profession. Will there be many takers for it in the future?

India has 12,000 students registered to appear for the CFA exam this year. After the United States, China and Canada, India stands fourth in terms of the number of CFA students. The demand for finance professionals in India, an emerging economy, is really huge and many more chartered financial analysts are needed to fill the gap.

But why should one do CFA when one can become a finance professional after an MBA or MSc in finance?

Yes one can, but CFA is different. An MBA in finance can be a complementary degree for finance professionals but CFA is a certification that entitles you to become the member of a global association of finance professionals. And the uniqueness of this course is that it is administered, governed and controlled by professionals and not academicians. Our curriculum earnestly focuses on ethics and even professionals who are involved in its functioning should have exhibited a high degree of ethical behaviour in their professional lives.

How many CFAs does India have?

Currently, there are 440 but nearly 680 have their certification pending, as of now, and as I said earlier, 12,000 students are going to appear for the exams this year. Though the current number of professionals is low, it is expected to soar in the coming years.

When the CFA Institute changes its syllabus, does it take the Indian market into account?

We don’t change the syllabi according to the needs of local markets. It is done to keep pace with changes at the global level. We have the same curriculum all over the world. Having said that, we have a 16-member education and advisory board that carries out surveys, meets people from different countries and collects information to incorporate the necessary changes. We also invite professionals from around the world to post their comments on our website. All the suggestions are given due consideration while updating the syllabi.

When is the next exam due? And do you make food and lodging arrangements for Indian students when they travel abroad for the exams?

Level-I of the CFA exam is administered globally twice a year, in June and December, and Levels-II and III are administered just once a year, in June.

As far as living arrangements are concerened, we don’t have any provisions.

Is it very expensive to be a CFA professional?

As we follow the self-study mode, the fee is not very high. One has to pay $1000 at every level.

Author: HT Horizons

Date: 6th April, 2010

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