The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financial professionals. The program teaches a wide range of subjects relating to advanced investment analysis—including security analysis, statistics, probability theory, fixed income, derivatives, economics, financial analysis, corporate finance, alternative investments, portfolio management—and provides a generalist knowledge of other areas of finance. A candidate who successfully completes the program and meets other professional requirements is awarded the "CFA charter" and becomes a "CFA charter-holder". As of March 2022, at least 175,000 people are charter-holders globally, growing 3.5% annually since 2012 (including effects of the pandemic). Successful candidates take an average of four years to earn their CFA charter. The top employers of CFA charter-holders globally include JP Morgan, UBS, Royal Bank of Canada, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs. History The predecessor of the CFA Institute, the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF), was established in 1947 as a service organization for investment professionals. The FAF founded the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts in 1962; the earliest CFA charter-holders were "grandfathered" in through work experience only, but then a series of three examinations was established along with a requirement to be a practitioner for several years before taking the exams. In 1990, in the hopes of boosting the credential's public profile, the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research) merged with the FAF and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts. The CFA exam was first administered in 1963 and began in the United States and Canada, but has become global with many people becoming charter-holders across Europe, Asia, and Australia. By 2003, fewer than half the candidates in the CFA program were based in the United States and Canada, with most of the other candidates based in Asia or Europe. The number of charter-holders in India and China had increased by 25% and 53%, respectively, from 2005 to 2006. CFA Charter The CFA designation is designed to demonstrate a strong foundation in advanced investment analysis and portfolio management, accompanied with a strict emphasis in ethical practice. A charter-holder is held to the highest ethical standards. Once an investment professional obtains the charter, this individual also makes an annual commitment to uphold and abide by a strict professional code of conduct and ethical standards. Violations of the CFA code of