CFA Institute gives the chance to everyone to show their passion for financial analysis and ethics other than passing your CFA exams. The thing offered by them is to become a member of CFA Institute. By becoming a member of CFA Institute and your local society while you are a candidate, you will be able to get a number of benefits.
Apparently, there are two types of them offered by CFA Institute. The first one is regular and the second one is an affiliate. Before choosing one of them, you may want to know how long it takes for the CFA membership to be approved. So, how long does the CFA membership approval take?
According to CFA Society Orange County, the application process can take 30 to 90 days. Everything will depend on when your application is submitted.
Aside from how long it takes for the CFA membership to be approved, you may also want to know some other things about CFA membership. Make sure to check out the Q&As below:
- Question: Is it allowed to transfer your society membership to CFAOC?
Answer: You are allowed to change your society membership. Not only that, you are also allowed to update your personal information, which can be done by logging in to your user account at cfainstitute.org. However, you should know that dues to member societies cannot be transferred and cannot be refunded.
- Question: Is it okay to be a member of more than one local society?
Answer: Fortunately, it is possible for you to become a member of more than one local society. In fact, a lot of members decide to join more than one society so that the chance of them participating in the benefits and programming of those societies will be higher. In order to add an additional member society, the first thing that you need to do is to log in to your user account. Please do it at cfainstitute.org. After logging in, go to Manage Account and choose Membership and Society Application and then New Society Application.
- Question: Are you allowed to upgrade your current membership to a regular one?
Answer: It is possible for you to apply for Regular membership by logging in to your user account at cfainstitute.org and going to Manage Account > Membership and Society Applications > New Regular CFA Application. If you are wondering about the dues for the current membership year, it will be applied to your new Regular membership.
- Question: When does the membership year start?
Answer: For your information, the membership year starts from July 1 to June 30.
- Question: If you become a candidate in the CFA Program, does it mean you are also a member of CFA Institute?
Answer: The answer to the question is no because CFA Institute membership is separate from enrollment in the CFA Program.
- Question: Are there any CFAOC requirements? If there are, what are they for professional references?
Answer: Three professional reference statements are required by the CFAOC. If a Regular member of CFAOC is one of your references, only two professional reference statements are required. As for the supervisor references, they are preferred. If you are the principal of a firm or if you are retired, please seek references from Regular members of CFAOC. If you are a student, you can try to use a professor as a professional reference. In case you fail to provide the required references, you are suggested to attend CFAOC events. In these kinds of events, you will be able to meet Regular members. Just try to ask them to provide you with a professional reference. Not only that, you can also try to reach out to the CFAOC Membership Committee at membership@cfaoc.org to be introduced to society members.
- Question: When is the time your membership becomes active?
Answer: After your application is approved by the CFA Institute, feel free to activate your membership at any time. You can do it by following the guide that can be found in your email notification. In order to activate your membership, make sure to pay your dues. Aside from that, you have to also file your Professional Conduct Statement online.
- Question: What is the reason your application is processed by the CFA Institute if you are applying for Associate membership?
Answer: While it is true that Associate members are not required to be members of the CFA Institute, every application is subject to the same approval process. It is worth noting that all Associate members submit the annual membership dues directly to CFAOC. As for the Regular and Associate membership, they will have to submit membership dues online via their user account at cfainstitute.org.
- Question: What does it cost to join CFAOC?
Answer: CFAOC annual dues for every membership level are $150. If you want to become a Regular or Affiliate member, it is a must for you to join the CFA Institute and spend $275 for the annual dues.
If you fail to find the thing that you are looking for above, you are encouraged to go to the Customer Support page of the official website of CFA Institute. When you are there, you will be able to find the featured articles where you can find the answers to the frequently asked questions on your account, program registration, the CFA exam, and CFA Institute membership. If you still cannot find the thing that you are looking for, you can try to reach out to the CFA Institute by opening a customer service inquiry. In order to do it, you have to log in. Apart from that, you can also create an account. The second thing that you can do is to send an email. If you are interested in this, make sure to include your full name and the CFA Institute ID. It is important for you to do that to ensure they can help you as soon as possible. The next thing that you can do is to call their 25-hour phone support at +1 (434) 951-5499. It is available from Sunday at 5:00 AM to Friday at 4:00 PM ET. Before making a call, please prepare your CFA Institute ID. In addition, you can also visit the office of CFA Institute.
