CFA Pakistan

The Certified Financial Analysts Program

The program of Certified Financial Analysts designed by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Pakistan (ICPAP) with the objective of imparting world class training and sharing dynamic Research & Development outcomes in the fields of financial markets, financial analysis, and valuation of assets, portfolio management, mutual funds and professional ethics to students, working executives and professionals in Pakistan. The Certified Financial Analysts Program is launched by the ICPAP with a state-of-the-art course design and curriculum. The Program is exclusively owned and operated by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Pakistan (ICPAP) that is the leading voice of corporate accountants and financial executives around the globe since June 1992. Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Pakistan (ICPAP) believes in creating and disseminating knowledge and skills in core and frontier areas through innovative training / certification programs, research, consulting and publishing, and developing a new cadre of Financial Managers & Analysts with a high level of competence and deep sense & commitment to the code of ethics and standard professional conduct. The current program is best described as self-study, distance-learning program that takes a general approach to investment analysis, valuation, and portfolio management, emphasizes the highest ethical and professional standards. The success of the Certified Financial Analysts Program is a function of active practitioner involvement. Practicing Certified Financial Analysts charter holders are involved at every stage of the process. The Certified Financial Analysts Program is not an academic program, but rather one that focuses on the global investment management profession from the standpoint of a practitioner. The Certified Financial Analysts Program process begins with a global practice analysis a survey of current practicing investment professionals. Curriculum Development Global Practice Analysis Many credentialing agencies use standardized examinations to ensure that candidates demonstrate a sufficient level of competence in their particular fields of interest. The claim that candidate scores are meaningful indicators of professional competence depends on evidence that supports the examinations job relatedness or content validity. The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing state that a practice analysis study a compilation and confirmation of the knowledge and skills required for competent professional practice is the basis for establishing the content validity of credentialing examinations. Certified Financial Analysts Institute has worked closely with psychometric experts in testing and measurement to develop and refine a high quality practice analysis. Candidate body of knowledge And topic area weights The Certified Financial Analysts examinations have always focused primarily on testing investment. This structure is the logical progression of the investment process: A practitioner needs to master investment tools to apply those tools to security valuation, and securities need to be valued and then analyzed in a risk return portfolio context. Because integrity must be exercised throughout the investment process, Certified Financial Analysts Institute has emphasized ethical and professional standards at each level. The Curriculum Process The purpose of the curriculum is to facilitate candidate learning while recognizing the constraints inherent in a generalist, self study program designed for working professionals. The Certified Financial Analysts Program is fundamentally different from typical academic programs. The curriculum traditionally has been based on textbooks, professional journal articles, commissioned readings, cases, and research analysts report, but it is more than just a reading list. Many involved in the curriculum review and development process believe that reading-specific a common feature throughout education are the most significant curriculum innovation since the inception of the program. The candidate should be able to: Distinguish local currency, functional currency, and the presentation currency; Analyze the impact of changes in exchange rates on the translated sales of the subsidiary and parent company; Compare and contrast the current rate method and the temporal method, analyze and evaluate the effects of each on the parent companys balance sheet and income statement, and distinguish which method is appropriate in various scenarios; Calculate the translation effects, evaluate the translation of a subsidiary''s balance sheet and income statement into the parent company's currency, use the current rate method and the temporal method to analyze how the translation of a subsidiary''s financial statements will affect the subsidiary's financial ratios, and analyze how using the temporal method versus the current rate method will affect the parent company''s financial ratios; Illustrate and analyze alternative accounting methods for subsidiaries operating in hyper inflationary economies. Framework-I and Framework-II Item Set Questions Testing research has shown that examinations consisting of multiple-choice items (and item sets) typically have greater validity, reliability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness than constructed response (essay) questions addressing the same topics. Validity indicates that an examination is measuring what it intends to measure; reliability provides an indication of the accuracy of that measurement; efficiency refers to the breadth and depth of topic coverage; and cost-effectiveness refers to the economics of constructing and grading the examination. The Certified Financial Analysts Institute Board of Regents considered these factors before making the determination to emphasize the item-set testing format. Testing research also indicates that the format of the examination has little impact on the difficulty of the examination. Difficulty is primarily a function of the subject matter and question construction. Most important, multiple-choice and item-set questions can be used to test higher-level thinking, including critical thinking and problem solving. Although the multiple-choice and item-set formats are not appropriate for testing creative thinking and writing abilities, the Certified Financial Analysts Program is not intended to test those skills (and these abilities would be difficult to fairly assess for a large global candidate population). Nearly all licensing and professional credentialing examinations with large candidate populations are conducted in the multiple-chose and/or item-set formats. Framework-III This requires using information or concepts in new situations, solving problems, organizing information and ideas, using old ideas to create new ones, generalizing from given facts, analyzing relationships, relating knowledge from several areas, drawing conclusions, evaluation worth, etc. This level will more focus on practical approach and case studies practical implication and application of the topics studied in Framework I and Framework II. Usually a case study would be required to be conducted by the candidate in banking, finance, risk Management and in capital market. More specifically stated in outline of Syllabus Framework I and Framework II. The Future of the Certified Financial Analysts Program. We hope that you agree the standards and rigor of the Certified Financial Analysts Program have been maintained and even enhanced. The stakes on the Certified Financial Analysts Program maintained and even enhanced. The stakes of the Certified Financial Analysts Program are higher than ever as the Certified Financial Analysts charter has become a de facto condition of employment in many investment management organizations.

Administration

The Certified Financial Analysts Program is administered separately by ICPAP to ensure efficiency.The Board of Standards of Certified Financial Analysts program consists of the Executive Director as head and others as members. The Board of Management is headed by the Secretary and others as working committee members. The Academic Committee is responsible for all certification and training matters. The Research & Development Committee is responsible for conducting researches in emerging markets and formulating Code of Standard Professional Conduct and advising Academic Committee to design innovative trainings, courses and certification programs. These committees are the cornerstone of the Certified Financial Analysts program which promote research & development from gross root level and deliver the outcome to working professionals in the related fields. The board members, executives and staff comprise of qualified practitioners, distinguished academicians and are related industry's experienced professionals with positive and productive vision. The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Pakistan (ICPAP) is based in Islamabad that is known as a thriving hub of economic and cultural activities in Pakistan. It also provides a hospitable atmosphere for education and learning. ICPAP has a well-equipped physical, an allied academic and state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to provide 24/7 services to its members. It has 11 coordination centers in Pakistan's major cities and 23 regional centers around the globe to assist Pakistani working executives in Financial Markets.