Membership Requirements

Note to Applicants:

You may apply for Affiliate membership to CFA Institute and CFA Chicago if you are a Candidate and/or you do NOT intend to become a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Note to active Level II and Level III Candidates: You may apply for either a Regular or Affiliate Membership (i.e., membership with both CFA Institute and CFA Chicago) OR you may apply for our local only Candidate Membership. For more details on Candidate Membership, please visit our Candidate Services section.

Requirements	Charterholder	Regular	Affiliate	Student	Candidate
Provide one CFA Chicago Charterholder Sponsor AND one Supervisor Sponsor*
Sign and submit the Member's Agreement and the Professional Conduct Statement.
Adhere to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
Complete any additional application procedures or requirements established by CFA Institute
Passed Level I of the CFA Exam - OR - Passed the CFA Institute Self-Administered Standards of Professional Practice Examination (see note below)
Passed Levels I, II and III of the CFA Exam
Hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution - OR - have equivalent education and work experience
Four years of acceptable work experience as defined by CFA Institute**
Have met the requirements to be awarded and to maintain the use of the CFA Charter
Adhere to any new standards that may be required of Chartered members
You must be a Level II or Level III candidate
CFA program activity in the previous 5 years***

If you have been a member of the Society for at least five (5) years and are no longer engaged in active practice on a salary or fee basis, visit the Retired Status page for more information about this membership category.

* The supervisor sponsor requirement is waived if the applicant is the principal of the firm, a student, retired, self-employed, unemployed, or if providing a supervisor sponsor places the applicant in a difficult professional position. In these cases, applicants must provide another sponsor who is a Regular Member of CFA Chicago (i.e., a total of 2 CFA Chicago member sponsors). Students only need one (1) sponsor -- a Professor OR a CFA Charterholder. Note: In order to waive the supervisor sponsor requirement, you must e-mail CFA Institute at cmservices@cfainstitute.org explaining why you are not submitting a supervisor sponsor.

** For a detailed description and definition of these requirements, please visit http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/gettingstarted/membership/Pages/work_experience.aspx.

Note to ALL Applicants regarding Work Experience Section in Membership Application:

Affiliate Members: While work experience is not required, you must still provide some information in this section regarding your current status (i.e., a sentence explaining whether you are a student, currently unemployed, etc.) in order to avoid any delays in processing your application.

Regular Members: You must provide a detailed work experience narrative.

*** Note to Candidate Members: You do not need to be enrolled for the next exam to be eligible for a Candidate Membership. You must simply have an active candidate number.

 

Note regarding the Self-Administered Standards of Practice (Ethics) Exam

The self-administered Ethics Examination for members and non-members tests ethical awareness. This online examination consists of 25 multiple-choice questions based on information contained in the 9th Edition of the Standards of Practice Handbook (PDF).

Who Should Take the Exam?

• Individuals who have not passed Level I of the CFA Program who are required to take the Ethics Exam:
• By a member society, for application
• To be eligible for regular membership (along with four years of acceptable professional work experience in the investment decision-making process)
• Employees whose employers wish to test their understanding of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Practice.

For more information regarding the Self-Administered Standards of Practice (Ethics) Exam, please click here.
Note: you must contact CFA Institute at 1-800-247-8132 to request this exam.

 

CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy of the products or services offered by the CFA Society of Chicago or verify or endorse the pass rates claimed by the CFA Society of Chicago. CFA, Chartered Financial Analyst, and the CFA Institute Logo, are just a few of the trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

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