School of Business to partner with CFA Institute

The highly regarded Applied Security Analysis Program of the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Business today (Sept. 11) was named a CFA Program Partner by the CFA Institute. Only 16 business schools in the world and three in the United States have received this designation.

CFA Institute is the global, nonprofit professional association that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) curriculum and examination program worldwide, publishes research, conducts professional development programs and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry.

Designation as a CFA Program Partner signals to potential students, employers and the global business community that a university’s curriculum is closely tied to professional practice and is well-suited to prepare students to sit for the three levels of Chartered Financial Analyst examinations. The designation demonstrates that a program covers at least 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge, the CFA Institute Ethical and Professional Standards and other requirements.

At UW–Madison, the designation is for its MBA program in Applied Security Analysis. One of the first applied security programs in the world, students in the business school’s Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis manage investment portfolios that total more than $44 million. The program has earned national recognition for the number of high-profile, successful fund managers and financial analysts it has produced in its 35-year history.

“Being named a CFA Program Partner is a reflection of the fundamental quality of our Applied Security Analysis Program,” says Michael Knetter, dean of the UW–Madison School of Business. “The CFA charter has long been the standard among professional finance qualifications. Partnering with the CFA Institute is further demonstration of the outstanding academic and professional qualifications of our graduates.”

Mark Fedenia, an associate professor of finance, investment and banking who has been running the Applied Security Analysis Program since 1986, says, “Given that our objectives coincide with those of the CFA Institute, I anticipate our students will derive great benefit from this more formal relationship. Over the years I have had the pleasure of interacting with numerous CFA charter holders and officials of their organization. Their high standards and professionalism provide a beacon for the next generation of investors that come through our program.”

Michael Warmuth, president of the CFA Society of Madison, predicts the partnership will “strengthen the ongoing collaboration between the local CFA society and UW–Madison in providing education and professional development opportunities for students and investment professionals.”