CFA Institute University Affiliation

Students of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance Program

taking steps to career success through preparation for the CFA Program

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona has become the latest university to be welcomed into the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program. The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance Concentration has been acknowledged as incorporating at least 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) and placing emphasis on the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice within the program.  This program positions students well to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, which has become the most respected and recognized investment credential in the world.

Entry into the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that our Finance curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to preparing students to sit for the CFA examinations.   Through participation in this program, the Finance, Real Estate and Law department is eligible to receive seven student scholarships for the CFA Program each year.

 The Finance, Real Estate and Law (FRL) Department at Cal Poly Pomona offers a broad range of finance classes for over 30 years covering investment management and analysis, as well as niche courses such as Derivatives, Corporate Valuation, Financial Modeling, Multinational Financial Management, and Applied Portfolio Management, to name a few.  In addition, the FRL Department has recently launched the Dr. J Douglas Ramsey Financial Markets Room (Bloomberg Lab), complete with twelve Bloomberg terminals. In order for students to get experience in real world applications, several finance classes have moved to the lab during lecture hours, and have begun integrating Bloomberg terminals into the investment analysis curriculum. The FRL department has increased involvement with CFA Institute in recent years. In late 2017, students received the honor of managing a real investment portfolio for the Orange County chapter following a third-place finish where they oversaw a live portfolio. In early 2018, the FRL students won second place in the CFA Institute Research Challenge competition. Cal Poly Pomona now has the second largest Bloomberg lab in the CSU system, and when complimenting that with a wide range of specialized investment courses and experiential learning experiences, students graduating from Cal Poly Pomona should now have a competitive edge in the job marketplace.  

About CFA Institute

CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and administers the industry gold standard CFA charter. The organization is a champion for ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. The end goal: to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. CFA Institute has more than 160,000 members in 166 countries and territories, including 153,000 CFA charterholders.

About the CFA Program

The CFA Program sets a standard for developing the skills, standards, competence, and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers, investment advisers, and other investment professionals worldwide.  It is widely considered the investment profession’s most rigorous credentialing program.  Administered in English, the CFA curriculum and examinations are identical worldwide. Fewer than one in five candidates who begin the program successfully complete it and go on to earn the coveted CFA charter, the “gold standard” for investment professionals.