Practice Analysis and Curriculum Development. Mission Statement To lead the investment profession...

Practice Analysis and Curriculum Development

Mission Statement

To lead the investment profession globally by setting

the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional

excellence.

The CFA® Program

A self-study, distance learning-based program that takes a generalist approach to security

analysis and portfolio management and emphasizes the highest ethical and professional

standards.

The CFA® Program Cycle

Bodies of Knowledge Based on an Analysis of Practice

Bodies of Knowledge

Global Body of Investment KnowledgeTM

The GBIK is the comprehensive outline of knowledge for the investment profession. Investment professionals may use GBIK concepts at any stage of their career - novice through expert, generalist and/or specialist. The GBIK includes mainstream and frontier concepts based on research that is still being debated and may encompass views well outside those of the mainstream.

Candidate Body of KnowledgeTM

The CFA Program CBOK is the core knowledge, skills, and abilities (competencies) that are generally accepted and applied by investment professionals. These competencies are used in practice in a generalist context and are expected to be demonstrated by a recently qualified CFA charterholder.

Specialized Bodies of Knowledge [e.g. Private Wealth, CIPM]:

These SBOK represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities (competencies) that may be applied by investment professionals within specialty areas. SBOK can include mainstream and frontier concepts.

Practice Analysis: What and Why?

Most respected authorities in education, testing and certification recommend or require periodic practice analysis studies

Focuses on the critical tasks performed by competent people working in the profession

Establishes content validity – curriculum and exams must be linked to the knowledge and skills needed by practitioners

Results in new GBIK & CBOK – the blueprint for curriculum and exam content

The only way a topic gets into the CFA Program (and eventually tested) is if practitioners throughout the world deem it important.

Practice Analysis Process

2006 and Prior Approximately 5-year cycle CBOK focus Develop Degree of Understanding Outline and Topic Area Weights Foundation for Curriculum and Exam Development

New Practice Analysis Process Continuous, four-phase development process GBIK and CBOK focus GBIK and CBOK updated on an annual basis Test specifications will continue to be updated on a multi-year cycle Foundation of All Educational Activities at CFA Institute

Phase 1 of Practice Analysis Process

Collaborative Community for Practice Analysis/GBIKTM

The purpose of this site is to continuously update and refine our Global Body of Investment Knowledge (GBIK) --- a living document.

There are three main areas of interest:

Documents: Contains the current GBIK in hierarchical form

Discussions: Discussions about additions, deletions, improvements or a revised structure to the GBIK

GBIK Wiki: Presents the GBIK topics in tree format

Domain Moderators are responsible for the oversight of GBIK topics

EAC Working Body assigned to domain topic and provides support to domain moderators.

Collaborative Community for Practice Analysis/GBIK

Employer Advisory Panels

To obtain input on industry trends to ensure that the GBIK and CFA Program CBOK remain current

To assist CFA Institute in better understanding employers’ expectations regarding the competencies and skills and abilities of investment professionals

To learn more about how CFA Institute and the CFA program can better serve employers’ needs

Regional Expert Panels

To assist CFA Institute in identifying changes necessary to ensure that the GBIK and CFA Program CBOK remain current

To obtain input from a wide variety of professionals

To ensure that the CFA Program CBOK reflects the diversity of practice within the investment profession

Locations of Practice Analysis Panels

New York – December 2008

Dubai – February 2009

Hong Kong – March 2009

London – October 2009

Zurich – October 2009

Member Survey

Based on results from collaborative website and panel discussions

Regionally stratified-sample to reflect membership

Over 2,000 responses with the following regional breakdown:

Americas 35% Asia Pacific 29% EMEA 36%

Output used by Practice Analysis Task Force to set topic weights and specific knowledge areas

The CFA® Program Cycle

CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge

Portfolio Management andWealth Planning

Investment Tools

Asset Valuation

Portfolio Management

Ethical and Professional Standards

Quantitative MethodsEconomicsFinancial Reporting and AnalysisCorporate Finance

Equity InvestmentsFixed Income DerivativesAlternative Investments

Ten CBOK Topic Domains

Curriculum

The topic focus and learning focus differ at each level

Topic Focus Learning Focus

Level I Investment Tools KnowledgeEthical Standards Comprehension

Level II Asset Valuation ApplicationEthical Standards Analysis

Level III Portfolio Management SynthesisEthical Standards Evaluation

The curriculum at each level is organized into 18 study sessions

Principles of Curriculum Development

A curriculum that is: Faithful to the practice analysis and CBOK Fair to candidates Valuable to members, employers, and investors Incorporates “best practices” in content and pedagogy

The curriculum content should be: Globally relevant Generalist (as opposed to specialist) in nature Appropriate for a new charterholder Testable

Authoring/selection/review processes that are extensive, intensive, and diverse in all topic domains

Uses both candidate time and CFA Institute resources appropriately and effectively

Curriculum Ground Rules

Teach the knowledge and skills required of a generalist Identified in the Global Practice Analysis Defined by CBOK and DUO

Select, develop and regularly review materials that: Are appropriate in a distance-learning environment for a global

candidate base Are clear and accurate Contain numerous examples/problems with solutions

Avoid curriculum materials that are: Predominately empirical/historical in nature Topical (current events oriented or survey articles) Country specific and/or specialist in nature

Custom Curriculum

Custom curriculum gives us flexibility to:

Publish only readings that are required for knowledge

Expand pedagogy (examples, questions, problems)

Revise readings based on practice analysis

Update examples and scenarios to current environment

The Curriculum Team

Educational Advisory Board (EAB)

Project Consultants (PCs)

Assistant Project Consultants (APCs)

Topic Area Experts (TAEs)

Authors

Reviewers

Other Volunteers

Staff

Challenges

Continuous development of the Global Body of Investment Knowledge

Participation on collaborative website

Panel discussions on both CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge and Global Body of Investment Knowledge simultaneously

Integrating other specialized bodies of knowledge

Translating into comprehensive competency profiles/learning paths for generalists/specialists.

Contact

To learn more about participating in the practice analysis collaborative website and discussion forum, contact:

Carey Hare

Project Manager, Curriculum Development

CFA Institute

Phone: 1.434.951.5286

[email protected]

Practice Analysis and Curriculum Development. Mission Statement To lead the investment profession...

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