Ashish Gogia
CFA VS CA
What is the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter?
The CFA Program focuses on Investment Management. The top employers of charterholders include the most respected financial corporations in the world, e.g., JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, UBS, and Wells Fargo, to name a few.
Many of these are Top investment banks , but the CFA Program focuses on the knowledge and skills most relevant to the global investment management profession from the standpoint of a practitioner.
Investment professionals who hold the CFA designation (or CFA charter) meet rigorous educational, work experience, and ethical conduct requirements.
Only those who complete three graduate-level examinations, four years of work experience, and annual membership renewal (including an ethics and code of professional conduct attestation) are permitted to use the CFA designation. Complementary codes and standards (such as the Global Investment Performance Standards and Asset Manager Code) help enhance this professional distinction.
What is Chartered Accountant (CA)?
CA is an internationally recognized profession and a chartered accountant can work in all fields of businesses and finance for example taxation, auditing, and general management. CA’s can be employed by government bodies, public and private sector companies as well. In-short skilled CA’s are always in demand in all industries. The candidates have to qualify through different levels of examinations along with vigorous process of training to become a qualified CA.
A CA can manage financial accounts for an organization, be a tax accountant, management accountant, be a budget analyst and of course the most interesting an auditor. The international recognition of this degree gives you the ability of even working abroad under this qualification. To remain professionally competitive the chartered accountants institute encourages members to undertake a minimum level of continuing professional development.
CFA vs CA exam Requirements
CFA requirements
- CFA requires 4 years or 48 months of combination of education and relevant work experience which is acceptable by the CFA institute. However the examination of individual level needs to be completed before the same.
- The CFA program needs to be completed by mastering the latest CFA syllabus and clearing 3 6 hourly examinations.
- It is important becoming a member of the CFA institute along with registering as a member with your local CFA member’s society.
- Most importantly you need to adhere to the code of ethics and standard of professional conduct of the CFA institute.
CA Requirements
- To enter into the profession you can appear for CPT after clearing your 12thor you can directly take up the intermediate exam after you complete your graduation.
- The intermediate exam that is divided into 2 groups is to be cleared after completing the 1stgroup that is the IPC LEVEL the candidate needs to undergo training as an article assistant for a minimum of 3 years in a chartered firm.
- During the 3rdyear of training before the candidate appears for the finals the trainee also gets an option of working in an industry
- Before being articled the trainee also has to complete a 100 hrs IT training and also soft skills development orientation program.
Why pursue the CFA designation?
The differentiating benefits of earning the CFA designation include:
- Real-world expertise
- Career recognition
- Ethical grounding
- Global community
- Employer demand
The sheer demand for the CFA charter speaks to the difference it makes.
More than 160,000 CFA exam registrations were processed for the June 2015 exams (35% in the Americas, 22% in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and 43% in Asia Pacific)
Why pursue CA?
CA gives you the flexibility of working in all the industries as an auditor, accountant and also a budget analyst. CAs can offer their services in the capital market as well. CAs can set up their own practice and also develop their own clients; they can also work in a CA firm or they can also join companies that can be government, private and public sectors. CA can be practiced internationally. CAs are in demand in the manufacturing and the finance industry. They do not necessarily need to work on excel sheets, calculations, numbers and number crunching, they can also work as auditors and work on increasing the company’s profitability. CA is also a very good and settled career option for women these days.
