Lo, Andrew W.
In 1937, a small group of security analysts decided over a luncheon that “the benefit of their discussions could be multiplied by organizing a formal group and holding meetings regularly” (Tatham 1945, p. 3). Thus began the New York Society of Security Analysts, with an initial membership of 20 analysts. The Financial Analysts Journal was launched eight years later, in 1945. Today, CFA Institute has roughly 180,000 investment professionals, of which over 175,000 hold the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. And in 2019, more than 350,000 participants took the CFA Program examination. With 161 local societies globally, CFA Institute is the most widely recognized professional organization in the world for financial analysts, and its flagship publication, the Financial Analysts Journal, reflects the diversity and creativity that such an organization has fostered over three-quarters of a century.