Does CFA still holds value, and will hold value in the future?

Question

Hey, zee and other people out there on the forum, this might sound condescending on the CFA program but as I'm thinking of entering the CFA program and giving my L1 and researching about it, I have heard from people that CFA is slowly decreasing its value with time with each decade due to various factors like an increasing number of candidates, people passing all 3 levels, charterholders, passing rates, and also the not so popular inclusion of new certification of ESG (which may people say to be a money-making scheme for CFA Institute).

Do you think will it still hold relevance in the near future like the next decade? what's your take on it? I'm not raising any questions on the quality and knowledge of the curriculum, other than that, one still needs to consider the job aspect of it.

mikey · Accepted Answer

My strong advice is twofold:

Take advice from candidates with a very large helping of salt.
 	Separate fact from gossip.

My take on the issues you raise:

There is a lot of chat on 'decreasing value of CFA' because of the recent changes to the exam format. This is a load of nonsense. CFA Institute is directly invested and incentivized to maintain the CFA charter's prestige. No prestige, no candidates, no money. Here's an article that looks at this in more detail.
 	I fail to see how ESG is an orchestrated money-spinning initiative. ESG investing is on the rise right now and CFA Institute's investment in the ESG qualification is reflective of that.

A lot of this candidate opinion I think stems from how the reaction to Covid has been mishandled. This anger, in my opinion, is totally justified. CFA Institute could have done better. But if you're evaluating the value of the CFA charter to yourself, think about it objectively. Does it add value to your chosen career path?

aryang885@gmail.com · Answer

Hey thanks for your thoughts man i think the same about it CFA institute would be more concerned with their reputation than us.

Zee Tan · Answer

I agree with this. There is a lot of frustration with how CFA Institute handled the pandemic, but overall the advent of CBT is not a bad thing. And ESG is just reflecting where the industry is going.