Professional Designations

Approved for Use as of 1.12.26

Certified Financial Analyst® (CFA®)

The Chartered Financial Analyst® designation is owned by the CFA Institute and is known for demonstrating superior competency in advanced portfolio management, financial expertise, and technical skills, underpinned by ethical conduct and the highest standards of practice. You may find more information about the CFA® designation at https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfa-program#overview.

To become a CFA charterholder and earn the right to use the CFA® designation, an individual must fulfill the following requirements:

Education – Have one of the following: Complete bachelor's program or equivalent program and received a degree from the college/university. Be an undergraduate student. The selected exam window much be 23 months or fewer before your graduation month for your bachelor's degree or equivalent program. To sit the Level II exam, the student must be within 11 months of graduation. For the Level III exam, the student must have completed their bachelor's degree or accrued 4,000 hours of professional work experience. Have a combination of 4,000 hours of work experience and/or higher education that was acquired over a minimum of three sequential years and achieved by the date of registering for the Level 1 exam.

Examination – Complete Level I, Level II, and Level III examinations.

Experience – Complete 4,000 hours of qualifying work experience.

Ethics – Follow the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

Individuals who become certified must meet the following membership and ethics requirements to maintain the right to use the CFA Institute designation:

Membership – Satisfy CFA Institute annual membership requirements.

Ethics – Commitment to abide by the requirements of the Code and Standards and the CFA Institute's Professional Conduct Program.

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional

The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional designation is issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. ("CFP Board") and certifies that the professional is certified for financial planning services in the United States. A certified individual may refer to themselves as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional or a CFP® professional and may use these and CFP Board's other certification marks (the "CFP Board Certification Marks"). The CFP® certification is voluntary. No federal or state law or regulation requires financial planners to hold the CFP® certification. Additional information about the CFP® certification may be found at https://www.cfp.net.

CFP® professionals have met CFP Board's high standards for education, examination, experience, and ethics. To become a CFP® professional, an individual must fulfill the following requirements:

Education – Earn a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university and complete CFP Board-approved coursework at a college or university through a CFP Board Registered Program. The coursework covers the financial planning subject areas CFP Board has determined are necessary for the competent and professional delivery of financial planning services, as well as a comprehensive financial plan development capstone course. A candidate may satisfy some of the coursework requirement through other qualifying credentials. CFP Board implemented the bachelor's degree or higher requirement in 2007 and the financial planning development capstone course requirement in March 2012. Therefore, a CFP® professional who first became certified before those dates may not have earned a bachelor's or higher degree or completed a financial planning development capstone course.

Examination – Pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Examination. The examination is designed to assess an individual's ability to integrate and apply a broad base of financial planning knowledge in the context of real-life financial planning situations.

Experience – Complete 6,000 hours of professional experience related to the personal financial planning process, or 4,000 hours of apprenticeship experience that meets additional requirements.

Ethics – Satisfy the Fitness Standards for Candidates for CFP® Certification and Former CFP® Professionals Seeking Reinstatement and agree to be bound by CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct ("Code and Standards"), which sets forth the ethical and practice standards for CFP® professionals.

Individuals who become certified must complete the following ongoing education and ethics requirements to remain certified and maintain the right to continue to use the CFP Board Certification Marks:

Ethics – Commit to complying with CFP Board's Code and Standards. This includes a commitment to CFP Board, as part of the certification, to act as a fiduciary, and therefore, act in the best interests of the client, at all times when providing financial advice and financial planning. CFP Board may sanction a CFP® professional who does not abide by this commitment, but CFP Board does not guarantee a CFP® professional's services. A client who seeks a similar commitment should obtain a written engagement that includes a fiduciary obligation to the client.

Continuing Education – Complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain competence, demonstrate specified levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and keep up with developments in financial planning. Two of the hours must address the Code and Standards.