Did you pass the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam this year? You’re probably getting anxious waiting for the results, but it will be released soon!
Last year’s passing rate was 45%, will this be achieved again this year? For now, some trivia while you wait: Do you know how many CFAs are there worldwide?
This may come as a surprise to you but according to the CFA Institute, there are only 132,000 active CFA charterholders around the world. Yup, very few indeed. It’s a relatively small group of people, considering billions of people around the world and millions of employed professionals in the finance industry.
This exclusive group of CFA charterholders includes only those who successfully met the CFA pre-requisites, including:
- (1) passing all 3 levels (Level I, II, and III) of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam;
- (2) meeting the required four years of qualified work experience; and
- (3) becoming a member of the CFA Institute.
Interesting trivia: the CFA exam was first administered in 1963, and since then only 2.9 million people worldwide have taken it. Did you know that the average CFA Exam pass rate in the last 56 years is just 46%?
Want to know more interesting tidbits about the CFA Exam and its pass rates? Continue reading below.
CFA Exam Level I, II, and III Pass Rate (from 1963 to 2018)
The average CFA exam passing rate during the 56-year period from 1963 — when the CFA exam was first administered — until 2018 is just 46%. The table below summarizes the CFA exam pass rate for each level from 1963 to 2018.
| Rank | BANK / INSTITUTION | UITF | JAN - JUN 2018 RETURN % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Bank | UnionBank Medium Term Fixed Income Portfolio | 1.55% |
| 2 | China Banking Corporation | CBC INTERMEDIATE FIXED-INCOME FUND | 0.48% |
| 3 | Union Bank | UnionBank High Net Worth Intermediate-Term Peso Fixed Income Fund | 0.36% |
| 4 | Philippine National Bank | PNB PESO INTERMEDIATE TERM BOND FUND (Formerly AUP GS FUND) | 0.34% |
| 5 | Manulife Asset Management and Trust Corporation (MAMTC) | Manulife Stable Income Fund (Class I) | 0.33% |
| 6 | EastWest Banking Corporation | EastWest Peso Intermediate Term Bond Fund | 0.01% |
| 7 | BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation | BPI Premium Bond Fund | -0.02% |
| 8 | Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. | Metro Max-3 Bond Fund | -0.09% |
| 9 | BDO Unibank, Inc. | BDO MERIT FUND INTERMEDIATE TERM PORTFOLIO | -0.12% |
| 10 | Manulife Asset Management and Trust Corporation (MAMTC) | Manulife Stable Income Fund (Class A) | -0.28% |
| 11 | Union Bank | UnionBank Infinity Prime Fund | -0.62% |
In the last 56 years, the historical average CFA Exam pass rate was 45.7%.
Also as mentioned earlier, a total of 2,896,173 or 2.9 million finance professionals worldwide have taken the exam. Less than half pass it which proves that the CFA Exam is a tough examination indeed!
Interested to know the passing rate for each level of the CFA Exam in the past 10 years? Check it out below.
CFA Exam Level I Passing Rate
| Rank | BANK / INSTITUTION | UITF | JAN - JUN 2018 RETURN % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China Banking Corporation | China Bank Institutional Money Market Fund | 1.29% |
| 2 | Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. | Metro Short Term Fund | 1.21% |
| 3 | Philippine National Bank | PNB INSTITUTIONAL MONEY MARKET FUND | 1.19% |
| 4 | RCBC Savings | RCBC Savings Bank Peso Money Market UITF | 1.15% |
| 5 | Development Bank of the Philippines | UNLAD KAWANI MONEY MARKET FUND | 1.15% |
| 6 | BDO Unibank, Inc. | BDO INSTITUTIONAL CASH RESERVE FUND | 1.15% |
| 7 | BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation | BPI Money Market Fund | 1.11% |
| 8 | BDO Unibank, Inc. | BDO SHORT TERM FUND | 1.09% |
| 9 | Development Bank of the Philippines | CLASS I - UNLAD PANIMULA MM FUND | 1.09% |
| 10 | BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation | BPI Short Term Fund | 1.07% |
| 11 | Security Bank Corporation | SB PESO MONEY MARKET FUND | 1.07% |
| 12 | Development Bank of the Philippines | CLASS II - UNLAD PANIMULA MM FUND | 1.05% |
| 13 | Philippine National Bank | PNB GLOBAL FILIPINO PESO MONEY MARKET FUND | 1.04% |
| 14 | Development Bank of the Philippines | CLASS III - UNLAD PANIMULA MM FUND | 1.03% |
| 15 | United Coconut Planters Bank | UCPB Cash Management Fund (Formerly United Cash Management Fund) | 1.03% |
| 16 | Philippine National Bank | PNB DREAM BUILDER MONEY MARKET FUND | 1.03% |
| 17 | Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. | Metro Money Market Fund | 1.02% |
| 18 | BDO Unibank, Inc. | BDO PERA SHORT TERM FUND | 1.02% |
| 19 | Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation | RIZAL PESO CASH MANAGEMENT FUND | 1.02% |
| 20 | EastWest Banking Corporation | EastWest Peso Money Market Fund | 1.01% |
| 21 | LandBank of the Philippines | LANDBANK Money Market Fund | 1.00% |
| 22 | China Banking Corporation | CBC MONEY MARKET FUND | 0.99% |
| 23 | Robinsons Bank | RBank Peso Money Market Fund | 0.97% |
| 24 | AB Capital | AB CAPITAL SHORT-TERM FUND | 0.96% |
| 25 | Philippine Savings Bank | PSBANK MONEY MARKET FUND | 0.94% |
| 26 | EastWest Banking Corporation | East West Peso Short Term Fund | 0.94% |
| 27 | Philippine National Bank | PNB PRIME PESO MONEY MARKET FUND | 0.92% |
| 28 | Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation | RIZAL PESO MONEY MARKET | 0.92% |
| 29 | BDO Unibank, Inc. | BDO PESO MONEY MARKET FUND | 0.86% |
| 30 | ATRAM Trust Corporation | ATRAM Peso Money Market Fund | 0.86% |
| 31 | Bank of Commerce | DIVERSITY MONEY MARKET FUND | 0.86% |
| 32 | LandBank of the Philippines | LANDBANK Money Market Plus Fund | 0.80% |
| 33 | China Banking Corporation | CBC SHORT-TERM FUND | 0.79% |
| 34 | Asia United Bank | Peso Money Market Fund | 0.76% |
| 35 | Union Bank | UnionBank Peso Short Term Fixed Income Portfolio | 0.55% |
| 36 | Philippine Bank of Communications | SIGNATURE TRUST FUND | 0.43% |
| 37 | Sterling Bank of Asia | Sterling Money Market Fund | No Data |
| 38 | CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp. | CTBC Money Market Fund | No Data |
CFA Exam Level II Passing Rate
| RANK | SCHOOL | CITY / LOCATION | PASSING RATE | NUMBER OF PASSERS | TOTAL NUMBER OF TAKERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angeles University Foundation | Angeles City | 100% | 44 | 44 |
| 1 | Lyceum of the Philippines University - Batangas | Batangas City | 100% | 17 | 17 |
CFA Exam Level III Passing Rate
| RANK | SCHOOL | CITY / LOCATION | PASSING RATE | NUMBER OF PASSERS | TOTAL NUMBER OF TAKERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Santo Tomas | Manila | 97% | 192 | 196 | |
| Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila | Manila | 91% | 113 | 123 | |
| Velez College | Cebu City | 87% | 142 | 162 | |
| De La Salle Health Sciences Institute | Dasmarinas City | 82% | 168 | 203 | |
| Cebu Doctors' University | Mandaue City | 77% | 124 | 161 |
How to Check if you Passed the CFA Exam
The CFA Institute does not release a Pass List but there are two ways for you to find out the official results of the CFA exam: (1) via email; and (2) via the official CFA Institute website.
The first method — via email — is pretty straightforward. All examinees will receive an email from the CFA Institute with a message explicitly showing whether they PASSED or FAILED the exam.
Here’s a sample email sent to an examinee about the CFA Exam results:
When does CFA send the results email?
The email is usually sent anytime after 9:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) during the results announcement day.
Take note, however, that since the CFA Institute will be sending thousands of emails, the emails are batch-processed which means you might not receive the email immediately after 9:00 AM ET. It’s possible that you will receive the email several minutes or even hours after 9:00 AM ET.
Don’t worry, though, since you will surely receive the email. It might be delayed, but it will be sent to your inbox. Check below what time 9:00 AM ET is in your city so that you’ll know what time to expect the results email.
What Time CFA Sends Email Results
| RANK | SCHOOL | CITY / LOCATION | PASSING RATE | NUMBER OF PASSERS | TOTAL NUMBER OF TAKERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of the Philippines Manila | Manila | 97% | 91 | 93 | |
| San Pedro College | Davao City | 94% | 72 | 76 | |
| Silliman University | Dumaguete City | 92% | 47 | 51 | |
| Far Eastern University Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation | Quezon City | 90% | 56 | 62 | |
| University of the East Ramon Magsaysay | Quezon City | 88% | 88 | 99 | |
| Wesleyan University Philippines | Cabanatuan City | 86% | 19 | 22 | |
| Remedios T. Romualdez Medical Foundation | Tacloban | 85% | 35 | 41 | |
| San Juan De Dios Educational Foundation | Pasay | 83% | 20 | 24 | |
| Mariano Marcos State University - Main | Batac City | 82% | 51 | 62 | |
| Liceo de Cagayan University | Cagayan de Oro | 80% | 29 | 36 | |
| Universidad de Manila | Manila | 79% | 31 | 39 | |
| Manila Adventist College | Pasay | 78% | 25 | 32 | |
| Adventist Medical Center College | Iligan City | 78% | 11 | 14 | |
| Our Lady of Fatima University in Antipolo City | Antipolo City | 75% | 75 | 99 | |
| Southwestern University | Cebu City | 73% | 49 | 67 | |
| University of Baguio | Baguio City | 73% | 22 | 30 | |
| Davao Doctors College | Davao City | 73% | 17 | 23 | |
| University of Bohol | Tagbilaran City | 72% | 13 | 18 |
* adjusted for Daylight Savings Time (DST) or summer time
If after a few hours you still haven’t received the email, your next option is to log on to the CFA website (www.cfainstitute.org). Be warned, however, since thousands of examinees are also likely simultaneously checking the results. This means the website could load really, really slow or could even be temporarily inaccessible.
Still, don’t panic! Just wait a few minutes (or a few hours), come back to the site, and try again. You’ll soon be able to find out if you passed the CFA exam.
Your CFA Exam Score – New Presentation Format
The presentation of the CFA exam scores has been recently revamped. According to the CFA Institute, this new presentation format is intended to “ensure you have the information needed to prepare you for the next step in your journey, whether that is preparing for the next level, signing up to re-take the same level, or pursuing other opportunities. Your score report gives you important information to use in your decision.”
If you took the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam and have received the official results, you’re probably wondering what the visual graphs representing your scores actually mean, check out this guide to help you understand your overall performance during the CFA exam.
First, a background. The CFA Institute recently revamped how the examinee’s exam scores are presented. In the past, the exam results show the examinee’s relative performance versus the pass and fail bands. With the new presentation format, the examinee’s scores are now shown as visual graphs and compared to benchmarks such as the Minimum Passing Score (MPS), Other Examinees’ Performance (90th Percentile), etc.
How to Interpret your CFA Exam Score
Minimum Passing Score (MPS)
The Minimum Passing Score or MPS is, literally, the minimum score you have to hurdle in order to pass the CFA exam. The MPS is shown in the results as a thin dashed black line (- – – -).
The thick blue line, meanwhile, is your exam score (although the actual numerical figure will not be shown).
Simply speaking, if the thick blue line (examinee’s score) lies above the MPS line, you passed. Congrats! But if the score lies below the MPS line, you failed the CFA exam.
Scores that are very close to the MPS score may appear to slightly overlap the MPS line. To remove confusion about the actual results, refer to the summary results that explicitly tell you if you passed or failed the exam.
Confidence Interval
The light-blue box that surrounds your exam score line represents a 90% confidence interval. This means that based on the characteristics of the exam, your true ability (as of exam day) probably lies somewhere in this range, as would your scores on similar exams with different questions.
This “score box” is an estimate of your performance given various factors and circumstances of the CFA exam (i.e., your level of preparedness, state of alertness during the exam, noise level in the venue, temperature in the exam room, etc.). This means, depending on the circumstance, your score could have been as high as the upper limit of the score box OR as low as the lower limit of the score box.
Let’s look at these three scenarios to understand your “score box”.
Score and Confidence Interval Above the MPS
If this is your score box (located way above the MPS line), you could have high confidence that you would have passed under nearly any circumstance.
Score and Confidence Interval Below the MPS
If this is your score box, you could have high confidence that you would not have passed under nearly any circumstance. This means you will need to study much more in order to pass the retake of the CFA exam.
Score Below the MPS but Confidence Interval Overlaps the MPS
If your score box is close to the MPS line, you might have passed under some circumstances, but in most cases you would not have passed. This is shown in the score box being mainly below the MPS. (The opposite is true is your score line is above the MPS and majority of the score box is also above the MPS).
Relative Performance vs. Other Examinees
The thick purple dashed line represents the 90th percentile score. This means 10% of candidates that took the exam scored higher than this on the exam.
The thick black dashed line represents the 10th percentile score. 10% of candidates scored lower than this on the exam.
Performance by Topic Area
The exam score results will not show a separate passing score for each topic. Instead of representing the minimum passing score, the thin black line represents 70% of the available points in that topic. (According to the CFA Institute, the 70% level may appear arbitrary, but consistent scores above 70% is supposedly a reasonable signal of topic mastery.)
Combining this with the thick purple dashed line (90th-percentile line) and the thick black dashed line (10th-percentile line):
- The lower the 90th-percentile candidate line, the harder the topic area was.
- The higher the 10th-percentile line, the easier the topic was.
If your total score (thick blue line) is way above the 70% line, the more confident you can be that you have mastered that particular topic area.
By looking at your exam score and confidence interval and comparing it with the 70% line and relative scores of other candidates, you can have an idea about your overall performance and where to focus on in future studies (for the higher CFA exam level or the same exam in case of a retake).
Performance by Item Type
Looking at your item-type scores, meanwhile, can help you identify which question formats you need to spend more time on practicing and preparing for.
Comparing again your overall score with the thick purple dashed line (90th-percentile line) and the thick black dashed line (10th-percentile line):
- The lower the 90th-percentile candidate line, the more difficult the item type was.
- The higher the 10th-percentile line, the easier the item type was.
That’s it. We hope that you now have a better understanding of your CFA exam score. Congrats!
Information Source: CFA Institute (www.cfainstitute.org)