LIFA: An Alternative Financial Analyst Certification

LIFA, Licensed International Financial Analyst is a relatively new certification awarded by the International Research Association Massachusetts, USA. IRA hopes LIFA to be the one global professional certification for investment professionals. The Licensed International Financial Analyst designation is designed for securities analysts, portfolio managers, investment advisors, educators and other investment professionals. This certification helps measure the candidate’s competency across a wide array of investment related topics. The key strengths of this exam are low enrollment fees, easy to access online study material and low cost to candidates taking the certification. Professionals from the following areas can apply for this certification:

• Accounting
• Banking
• Broker-Dealer, Investment Banking
• Consulting
• Financial Publishing
• Foundation/Endowment
• Government/Regulatory Agency
• Insurance
• Investment Company/Mutual Fund
• Investment Management Counseling
• Law
• Plan Sponsor
• Real Estate

The exam has three levels. On clearing level III, an investment report must be submitted by the candidate. Candidates can apply for a waiver of Levels I and II. The reason being Level III passing requires an understanding and synthesis of concepts in levels I and level II thoroughly. Some of the areas covered in Level III are:

• Corporate Finance
• Derivative Instruments
• Economics
• Ethics
• Financial Statement Analysis
• International Markets
• Portfolio Management
• Quantitative Analysis

The investment report must include an analysis of an individual company or industry, which provides information reasonably sufficient upon which to base an investment decision and includes a recommendation.