It is known that CFA Societies and CFA Institute work together to boost professional standards. They actually serve investment management practitioners in more than 160 global financial markets across the world. Even though society membership is voluntary, local society and CFA Institute membership together provide a meaningful member experience.
Talking about CFA society membership, you may wonder whether or not you should apply to a local society if you want to become a CFA institute member. If you are looking for the correct information about it, you can dive into our post to get it. Here you go!
Is CFA Society Membership Required?
Yes, of course! The CFA Society membership is actually required for those who want to apply to become either a regular member of CFA institute or an affiliate member of CFA Institute. If you apply for society membership, it will make a difference in the future of the profession with membership to a local society.
- If you apply to be a regular CFA Institute member, you will be required to apply to a local society.
- If you apply to become an affiliate CFA Institute member, you will also be required to apply to a local society.
Well, the information in your application will be reviewed by the local society you choose. You definitely can choose whether you want to join the society once your application is approved or not.
Even though voluntary for regular membership of CFA Institute, the membership to your local society is your passport to a network of investment professionals in your market. As a regular CFA Institute member, you can add and switch societies without going through the society application process.
Of course, it can be performed during the renewal process and from the Manage Your Membership page. Additionally, requirements to be an affiliate member of a society will vary depending on the society.
How to Find a Society Nearby?
CFA Institute provides an ease for those who are looking for a society nearby. By looking for a society nearby, you will be able to discover their requirements for affiliate membership. If you’re trying to find a society nearby, you can take advantage of ‘Find a Society’ feature you can access here.
CFA Societies offers a few benefits, such as ongoing professional education, great networking events and volunteer opportunities. A CFA program candidate will use the global society directory to connect with a local member of society on your travels whether you are a current CFA Institute member or not. This way aims to find society events and to expand your professional network.
To use the ‘Find a Society’ feature you may need to choose the country or region you want. If you live in the United States and look for a society nearby, you can click United States on the list. If you are a resident of mainland China, you can click ‘China’.
According to data, there are at least 67 societies you can find in the United States. This is the highest number of CFA societies you can find across the world. In Canada, there are 12 societies, China has 5 CFA societies, Australia has 5 CFA Societies and Chile only has 1 society.
If you want to look for a CFA society nearby in your country or region, you can click the ‘+Search’ option and type the country or region you want.
Here’s a list of some CFA Societies in the United States!
- CFA Society Alabama
- CFA Society Arkansas
- CFA Society Atlanta (Global Passport Program Participant)
- CFA Society Austin
- CFA Society Baltimore (Global Passport Program Participant)
- CFA Society Boston
- CFA Society Buffalo
- CFA Society Chicago (Global Passport Program Participant)
- CFA Society Cincinnati
- CFA Society Cleveland (Global Passport Program Participant)
How to Access CFA Society Resources?
You definitely can access CFA Society Leader Resources on the official website of CFA Institute here. The CFA society resources that are provided on this page are for the current boards, staff and volunteers of the CFA Society network.
The CFA Societies provide the strategic guidance and operational support that will be needed to make sure your societies can successfully meet the needs of their global customer base. You can find the CFA Societies resources on the Society Center.
If you are a society leader and have questions about accessing the Society Center, you can contact your Society Relations Manager. To access CFA Societies resources, you will need to login with your CFA Institute account first.
How to Know What Is Happening at CFA Institute?
It’s pretty simple to know what is happening at CFA Institute. What you should do is to access Connexions that were created for CFA Society leaders and staff. This is the go-to-place to stay current to know what is happening at CFA Institute.
Connexions will inform you of the executive updates, the latest news about initiatives impacting their candidates and members and also operational updates pertaining to society management. The societies can also access professional learning content that is created by their fellow societies.
Get to Know about CFA Institute Research Challenge
CFA Institute regularly holds an annual global competition called the CFA Institute Research Challenge which provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.
In this CFA Institute challenge, each student will be tested on their analytical, report writing, valuation and also presentation skills. They can really obtain real-world experience when they assume the role of a research analyst.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge offers two level competitions, as follows;
- The local level competitions are managed and judged by CFA Institute society members and volunteers who function as local hosts. It will be held in the fall.
- The sub-regional regional and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute in the Americas, the Asia Pacific and the Europe, African regions and Middle East. It will be held in March, April and May.
Well, the winning teams from each sub-regional competition advance to the regional competition. Additionally, the regional winners advance to the Global Final in which one team appears as the global champion.
