CFA Institute

The CFA Institute is headquartered in the United States of America at Charlottesville, Virginia
with offices in Hong Kong and London. Formerly known as the Association for Investment
Management and Research (AIMR), the Institute awards the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
designation. In addition to administering the CFA Exam, the CFA Institute publishes the
Financial Analysts Journal, founded in 1945. The CFA Institute also operates the CFA Institute
Centre for Financial Market Integrity and the CFA Research Foundation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFA_Institute

Chartered Financial Analyst

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) is an international professional designation offered by the

CFA Institute (formerly known as AIMR) to financial analysts who complete a series of three
examinations. In order to become a CFA Charterholder candidates must pass each of three six-
hour exams, possess a bachelor's degree (or equivalent, as assessed by the CFA institute) and [1]
have 48 months of work experience in an investment decision-making position. CFA
charterholders are also obligated to adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards governing
their professional conduct.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Financial_Analyst

Financial Adviser

A financial adviser is a professional who renders investment advice and financial planning
services to individuals, businesses and governments. Ideally, the financial advisor helps the
client maintain the desired balance of investment income, capital gains, and acceptable level of
risk by using proper asset allocation. Financial advisers use stock, bonds, mutual funds, real
estate investment trusts (REITs), options, futures, notes, and insurance products to meet the
needs of their clients. Many financial advisers receive a commission payment for the various
financial products that they broker, although "fee-based" planning is becoming increasingly
popular in the financial services industry.

A further distinction should be made between "fee-based" and "fee-only" advisers. Fee-based
advisers both charge fees and collect commissions. Fee-only advisers do not collect
commissions, and thus do not face a conflict of interest created by commissions or referral fees
paid by other product or service providers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_adviser

Wealth Management

Wealth management is an investment advisory discipline that incorporates financial planning,

investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services. High net worth
individuals, small business owners and families who desire the assistance of a credentialed
financial advisory specialist call upon wealth managers to coordinate retail banking, estate
planning, legal resources, tax professionals and investment management. Wealth managers can
be independent certified financial planners, MBAs, CFAs or any credentialed professional
money manager who works to enhance the income, growth and tax favored treatment of long-
term investors. One must already have accumulated a significant amount of wealth for wealth
management strategies to be effective.

Wealth management can be provided by large corporate entities, independent financial advisers
or multi-licensed portfolio managers whose services are designed to focus on high-net worth
customers. Large banks and large brokerage houses create segmentation marketing-strategies to
sell both proprietary and nonproprietary products and services to investors designated as
potential high net-worth customers. Independent wealth managers use their experience in estate
planning, risk management,and their affiliations with tax and legal specialists, to manage the
diverse holdings of high net worth clients. Banks and brokerage firms use advisory talent pools
to aggregate these same services.

"The fallout of the events of 2008 has produced a high level of skepticism and distrust among
investors, and they will demand greater transparency from their providers to understand what
they own, the value of their investments and associated risks"[citation needed]. For this reason wealth
managers must be prepared to respond to a greater need by clients to understand, access, and
communicate with advisers regarding their current relationship as well as the products and
services that may satisfy future needs. Moreover, advisors must have sufficient information,
from objective sources, regarding all products and services owned by their clients to answer
inquiries regarding performance and degree of risk-at the client, portfolio and individual security
levels.

Today wealth management advisors must have access to an objective content repository. This
repository must contain a current and readily available profile of the clients holdings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_management