This report summarizes key findings from our Practice Analysis process that ensures the relevance of the CFA Program and includes an updated Career Skills Framework that outlines the knowledge and skills investment practitioners need to succeed.
Each year, CFA Institute reviews and updates the Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) of the CFA® Program to ensure its relevance to investment practitioners. The process we use to engage practitioners and research the broad investment market to identify the evolving knowledge and skill requirements is called Practice Analysis.
During 2021, we convened a task force of senior practitioners to undertake a broad review of the overall CFA Program CBOK. We undertook deep-dive research on specific topic areas, including Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG); Quantitative Methods; and Financial Statement Analysis. We also revised our Careers Skills Framework and integrated an ESG Panel into our activities.
The Practice Analysis Annual Review provides a summary of the key findings from this process and outputs identified in 2021.
This report will be of use to anyone interested in the evolving skills and competencies needed by investment professionals to be proficient in their roles, including investment practitioners, those managing and leading teams, learning and development professionals, and universities.
Key Findings
As a result of our Practice Analysis process, we uncovered several key opportunities and challenges.
The significant developments taking place in ESG and Data Analytics present opportunities for practitioners, as well as challenges in maintaining and revising knowledge and skills. Because ESG and Data Analytics are competency areas that cannot be viewed in a vacuum and must be seen in context, they have been integrated across the CFA Program curriculum.
Looking ahead, there are several areas in which we are either proceeding or considering undertaking additional Practice Analysis, including:
- how investment professionals are factoring private market and digital assets into the investment process
- supply chain analysis
- areas related to the fast-developing fields of ESG and quantitative methods
Finally, our research underscored the importance of soft skills to career development. In our frequent discussions with practitioners, we continue to hear more about the importance of these soft skills than technical skills.
Career Skills Framework
The Annual Review includes more information about our Career Skills Framework, which identifies the knowledge and skills practitioners need to succeed across a variety of roles. While we develop an interactive version that includes the activities associated with each role, we invite you to explore a preview of the framework that provides an overview of the most important skills across roles.