Vlerick becomes CFA Program Partner
04 Jul 2008Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School is now officially the first Belgian school to become a CFA Program Partner.
The CFA designation is globally recognised and a highly desired standard for investment professionals. The partnership means that the classes in the Vlerick Master in Financial Management (MFM) cover at least 70% of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (Levels 1-3), including ethical and professional standards. This places successful students with an excellent foundation to enter and build a career in the investment industry.
The MFM programme is a well established programme that has delivered trained finance professionals since 1983. The new partnership will foster the further integration of investment practice and academic theory through the mutual exchange of information, research and events.
CFA Program Partnerships are awarded to a select number of institutions, including Oxford University, Bocconi University, Boston University, HEC Paris, London Business School and the University of Amsterdam. Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School is proud to be added to this prestigious list. With the partnership, CFA Institute recognises the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School as one of a limited number of globally diverse, select institutions that serves as a role model to other institutions and is a leader in its field.
MFM director Sophie Manigart says: “We are proud to become a CFA Program Partner. It is a clear signal to students and employers that our MFM programme is not only academically cutting edge, but at the same time professionally relevant and a good basis for careers in finance. We are looking forward to further intensify our relationship with the financial community in Belgium through the Belgian CFA Society v.z.w. and abroad through CFA Institute.”
To pass the CFA Program and to earn the CFA charter, a candidate must pass the three examination levels. On average, successful candidates sit for four examinations to complete the self-study program. In addition to passing the exams, candidates must also have at least four years of work experience in the investment profession and must commit to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, a commitment they must reaffirm each year to earn the charter.
Bruno Colmant, CEO of Euronext Brussels and member of the management committee of NYSE-Euronext, is a professor at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. He sees this recognition by CFA Institute as an indicator of the academic excellence and the international scope of the school: “Possessing the CFA charter is a true added value in today's financial world. The Vlerick Management School MFM programme confirms its international ambition.”
Marijn van Zundert is one of the current graduating students in the MFM programme at Vlerick. Last December, he took the Level I CFA exam and passed. “The advantages of being a CFA Program Partner for Vlerick is that the content of the classes matches the requirements for the exam, that the students get a serious discount on the registration fee and that it will attract a lot of high quality seeking students from all over the world,” says van Zundert. “This charter is very important to me. It will give international credibility to the knowledge I have and the analysis I can make.”
CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals.
It administers the CFA® and CIPM curriculum and exam programs
worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and
sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards
for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 95,500 members, who
include the world’s 82,400 CFA charterholders, in 133 countries and territories,
as well as 135 affiliated professional societies in 56 countries and
territories. More information may be found at
www.cfainstitute.org.
(Bloomberg users can find CFA Institute at 497458Z).
The CFA Program® sets a globally recognised standard for developing the skills and standards, competence and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers and investment advisers worldwide. It is widely considered the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program and has been referred to as a “gold standard” by The Economist and Financial Times. Administered in English, the CFA curriculum and examinations are identical worldwide. Only one in five candidates who begin the rigorous programme successfully completes it and goes on to become a CFA charterholder.
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