Leading the Way for Future CFAs

How an elite partnership with the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute will help MU business students

MU Crosby MBA student Ben Phillips has a vision for his future. He hopes to work his way up through the ranks of the financial world to eventually start his own hedge fund. A major piece of his lofty plan is joining the ranks of the 90,000 professionals worldwide who have achieved the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst. Working toward the prestigious CFA distinction can take years for even the most savvy business men and women. But now, students like Phillips at the MU College of Business can get a head start on preparing for the demanding exams thanks to a unique partnership forged between the college and the CFA Institute.

The curriculum the college has had in place for the past few years has been great in preparing me for the Level 1 CFA exam as it tested nearly every finance, accounting, economics, and statistics principle that I had learned during my undergrad studies at Mizzou,; says Phillips. "With this new partnership with the CFA Institute, I am eager to see just how much more I can prepare for the upcoming exams with so many new resources available to me."

The MU College of Business is among a group of esteemed institutions worldwide who have formed a CFA Program Partnership with the Institute. The College of Business is the only collegiate business school in Missouri and was the first in the Big 12 to achieve this distinction.

With the distinction in place, the college essentially has the CFA Institute’s “seal of approval in preparing students for the rigors of the CFA exams. To remain a college on the leading edge of CFA preparation, a new course on ethics and corporate governance will be offered.  Even more exciting, however, are the new resources available to students through the partnership.

The program will offer students access equal to that given to professional CFA candidates, including textbooks, journals, webcasts, and other educational resources. Students will also benefit from professional development events held in conjunction with the CFA Society of St. Louis and the Kansas City CFA Society, the local membership bodies for CFA Institute candidates, charter holders, and members. Ten new scholarships will also allow students to sit for the CFA exam for a greatly reduced fee.