Thirty-six per cent of the 46,644 worldwide candidates that sat for the Chartered Financial Analyst Program Level I exam taken in December 2010 were successful, the CFA Institute said Tuesday.

In Canada, of the 46,644 total exam candidates, 3,427 took the December Level I exam (an increase of 5% from 3,258 candidates in 2009).

The CFA Program is a graduate-level credentialing program that links theory and practice with real-world investment analysis, valuation, and portfolio management, and emphasizes the highest ethical and professional standards.

To earn the CFA designation, candidates must pass all three levels of exam, meet the work experience requirements of four years in the investment industry, sign a commitment to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, apply to a CFA Institute society, and become a member of CFA Institute.

The CFA exams cover ethical and professional standards, securities analysis and valuation, international financial statement analysis, quantitative methods, economics, corporate finance, portfolio management, and performance measurement.

Level I exams are held in both June and December, and Levels II and III are only held in June. It takes most candidates more than three years to complete the CFA Program.

The December 2010 Level I exam was given at 89 test centers in 63 cities worldwide. Examples of countries and territories with the largest number of candidates that took the Level I CFA exam last December are the United States (10,887), India (5,812), Mainland China (5,646), the United Kingdom (3,488), Canada (3,427), Hong Kong (3,203), Singapore (1,814), and South Africa (970).

Select colleges and universities are idenfitied as CFA Program Partners. Currently, there are 128 CFA Program Partners on six continents, including 10 in Canada. These include: Concordia University; HEC Montreal; Queen’s University; Université Laval; Université de Sherbrooke; University of Alberta; University of British Columbia; University of Toronto; University of Western Ontario; and York University.