Chartered Market Analyst - CMA

The Chartered Market Analyst is a very well-regarded distinction provided by the CFA Institute, based in Chicago. The CMA process is extremely rigorous, with just 68% of applicants passing in three attempts.

The designation requires a mastery of valuation strategies, options pricing, fixed income, ethics, and mathematics. Candidates must take three different levels of tests once per year. The second and third levels are only offered in June, which means that a person must wait a full calendar year to get another chance at that level’s test. Plenty of time to, uh...think about what you've done.