A financial certification program allows a finance professional to pursue knowledge and verify competency in a specialty area of the discipline. There are several finance certifications available for those working in the finance career field, and they provide employers with an assurance that the holders of these credentials are fit for certain finance career paths. Here are some of the most popular finance certifications as well as the requirements to earn the credentials.
Certified Financial Planner
The Certified Financial Planner (CFP) credential is one of the most widely recognized designations for finance professionals. Financial planners primarily serve in an advisory role to people at all stages of life. Smart young professionals seek them out to generate investment strategies that support the financial needs of growing families, mid level workers often talk to them about insurance needs for home and family and people nearing retirement consult them most frequently about the best ways to conserve their nest eggs. The requirements to gain the CFP designation is a four year undergraduate degree, 6,000 hours of financial planning experience and successful completion of a comprehensive exam that is administered by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. The career field of financial planning offers certified practitioners numerous job opportunities, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that it has a projected job growth rate of 30 percent through 2018 which is much faster than the average for jobs across all industries.
Chartered Financial Analyst
While the CFP designation is the most popular professional certification for a finance professional, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credential is arguably the most respected in the industry. Finance professionals who want to earn their CFA participate in a CFA training program that focuses on theoretical and practical application investment knowledge as well as industry ethics. There are three increasingly difficult stages within the CFA training program, and each culminates with a comprehensive exam that must be taken sequentially and is only offered once per year. Other requirements to become a CFA include a bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience, at least four years of investment experience, a valid passport and membership in the CFA Institute. The top listed career options for CFA credential holders according to a CFA Institute survey are portfolio manager, research analyst and executive level officers. Because of the comprehensive nature of the training program for CFAs, those holding the designation are often exempt from qualifying exams or professional development courses that are normally required by other financial certifying organizations when additional finance certifications are sought.
Financial Risk Manager
The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) administers the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) credential to finance professionals who want to specialize in careers that focus on promoting financial stability for individual and business investment clients. The internationally recognized designation is available for anyone who has two years of relevant work experience and can successfully pass the intensive, two part exam. Holders of the FRM designation have gone on to become senior risk analysts, chief risk officers and directors of risk management.
Conclusion
While some finance certifications are only available to those with degrees in finance, economics or accounting, a few of them allow people with other academic backgrounds to earn the credentials that could open up doors to a variety of finance jobs. Whether one is seeking to transition into a finance career or is an established finance professional, most certification programs are very rigorous and require extensive preparatory study.
