Membership Categories

  • 48 months of acceptable professional work experience. Criteria:
    Four years (48 months) of qualifying work experience in ... A full-time position consisting of ... Qualifying activities, such as: Evaluating and applying financial, economic, or statistical data involving securities or other investments, or producing work that adds value to the process Supervising persons who practice such activities Teaching such activities Work experience accrual criteria:
    • May be accrued while you're in the CFA Program, after you've passed all three exam levels, or in previous positions
    • At least 50 percent of your work experience must be:
      • Directly involved in the investment decision-making process
      • Engaged in responsibilities and/or producing a work product that informs or adds value to that process
    • Summer, part-time, and internship positions do not qualify
    • Managing your own investments does not qualify
  • Passed Level I of the CFA®exam or such other appropriate examination (1) as approved by the CFA Institute Board of Governors AND have four years of acceptable professional work experience
    (2) in the investment decision-making process,
    or passed CFA Institute's Self-Administered Standards of Practice Examination AND have four years of acceptable professional work experience in the investment decision-making process.
  • Be engaged in acceptable professional work at the time of application.
  • Submit sponsor forms from two Regular CFAP members in good standing. These sponsors do not have to have their CFA® designation nor must they work for different firms.
  • Agree to adhere to and sign the Member's Agreement, a Professional Conduct Statement, and any additional documentation requested by CFA Institute.
Both CFAP and CFA Institute must agree to accept an applicant as a Regular member. In the event of a discrepancy, CFA Institute makes the final determination for Regular membership status. Regular members of CFAP have the right to hold office, act as a sponsor for membership and vote.

Annual dues for a Regular member of CFAP are $100.

2) Affiliate Membership Requirements

To qualify as an Affiliate member of CFAP and CFA Institute, an applicant must meet ALL OF THE CRITERIA listed below.
  • Have a bachelor's degree from an accredited academic institution or equivalent education or work experience.
  • Have one year's experience in Financial Analysis*.
  • Submit sponsor forms from two Regular CFAP members in good standing. These sponsors do not have to have their CFA® designation nor must they work for different firms.
  • Successfully pass CFA Institute's Self-Administered Standards of Practice Examination OR passed CFA Level I.
  • Agree to adhere to and sign the Member's Agreement, a Professional Conduct Statement.
Once an applicant is approved for Affiliate membership by CFAP, the applicant will automatically become an Affiliate member of CFA Institute. CFA Institute Affiliate members receive the same benefits as Regular members of CFA Institute, but do not have voting rights. CFAP Affiliate members receive the same benefits as Regular members of CFAP, except the right to hold office, act as a sponsor for membership and vote. Annual dues for an Affiliate member of CFAP are $100.

3) Adjunct Membership Requirements

To qualify as an Adjunct member of CFAP, an applicant must meet ALL OF THE CRITERIA listed below.

  • Be engaged in an acceptable field of work or study as determined by the Board or the Membership Committee.*
  • Submit sponsor forms from two Regular CFAP members in good standing. These sponsors do not have to have their CFA® designation nor must they work for different firms.
  • Successfully pass CFA Institute's Self-Administered Standards of Practice Examination OR passed CFA Level I.
  • Agree to adhere to and sign the Member's Agreement, a Professional Conduct Statement.
Adjunct members receive the same benefits as Regular members, except the right to hold office, act as a sponsor for membership and vote. Adjunct members of CFAP are not members of CFA Institute. Annual dues for an Adjunct member of CFAP are $100.(NOTE: If you download the Adjunct Membership Instructions and Application from this site, you must contact the CFAP office at mdoty@cfaphil.org, to request CFA Institute's Standard of Practice Handbook and Ethics Exam.)

4) Retired Membership Requirements

To qualify as a Retired member of CFAP and CFA Institute, an applicant must meet ALL OF THE CRITERIA listed below:
  • Be a Regular or Affiliate member of CFAP and CFA Institute at the time of application.
  • Have been a member for 5 years.
  • No longer be substantially engaged in Financial Analysis* for compensation.
  • Agree to the following:
    1. Notify CFA Institute if retirement status changes;
    2. Be listed as "Retired" in the CFA Institute Membership Directory;
    3. Waive the right to be guaranteed a transfer of membership to another CFA Institute member society.


Annual dues for a Retired member of CFAP are $25.

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*Notes:

1. Regular Member acceptable professional work experience is defined as activities which consist primarily of at least one of the following:
  • Evaluating or applying financial, economic, and/or statistical data as part of the investment decision-making process involving securities or similar investments, which include but are not limited to
    • publicly traded and privately placed stocks, bonds, mortgages and their derivatives,
    • commodity-based derivatives,
    • mutual funds,
    • other investment assets, such as real estate and commodities, if these other investment assets are held as part of diversified, securities-oriented investment portfolios.

  • supervising directly or indirectly those who practice such activities.
  • teaching such activities.


2. Definition of Financial Analysis: For purposes of applying the membership criteria, the term "Financial Analysis" means activities consisting to a substantial extent of (a) collecting, evaluating, or applying financial, economic, and statistical data, as appropriate, in the investment decision-making process, (b) teaching the skills necessary to perform the activities described in (a), or (c) supervising directly or indirectly those who engage in such activities.

3. The criteria used to determine eligible work experience for Regular membership differs from the criteria used to evaluate a CFA candidate's work experience for award of the CFA charter.

4. Affiliate applicants must provide resume, bio or job description to verify one year's experience in Financial Analysis. Work guidlines for Affiliate membeship should follow CFA Institute's Work Experience Guidelines in Column B of the CFA Institute application.

5. Adjunct Work or study requirement guidlines are as follows:
  • a.) Current CFA Candidate
  • b.) Hold a position in the profession of investment management or a related field
    (defined by a YES in Column B fo the CFA Institute Work Experience Guidelines)
  • c.) Undergraduate or graduate student having completed 18 semester credit hours of finance/accounting/economics
  • d.) Matriculated MBA student
  • e.) Member of approved professional organization
  • f.) Holder of approved professional credential, e.g. CFA, CFP, FRM

    Adjunct applicants must provide resume, bio, description of work experience and/or evidence of professional organization membership/credential.