We are thrilled to share that, in tandem with the release of 2024 Refresher Readings, we are expanding our suite of member benefits by extending member access to Practical Skills Modules (PSMs) and the Learning Ecosystem (LES) next week!

Through our latest member survey, members shared that their primary challenges as professionals involve adopting new technologies and staying up to date with industry trends. They also shared that they wanted us to improve the digital experience and make our resources more accessible. This initiative directly responds to those needs through one of our flagship offerings—the CFA Program curriculum.

Refresher Readings—readings taken directly from the latest CFA Program curriculum—are already one of our most in-demand and utilized member benefits. Providing access to Refresher Readings via the LES will give members a richer, more interactive way to consume the material. It will also be a more familiar experience for our newer charterholders, who have had access to the LES as a study tool for the past several years. The LES allows for a customized digital experience—users can log in anytime from a variety of devices, bookmark readings, and track what they’ve consumed. Traditional PDF access to Refresher Readings will continue to be available.

After last year’s announcement of changes to the CFA Program, members showed great interest in accessing the PSMs, so we are proud to respond to this request. Members can use their access to PSMs—10-15 hour programs that use a combination of videos, multiple-choice questions, guided practice, and case studies to develop practical skills—to upskill, reskill, and fill any knowledge gaps they have since earning their charter. The PSMs also focus on areas that will help members stay up to date with industry trends.

For our initial release to members, PSM topics will include Financial Modeling at Level I (how to build a top-tier three-statement financial model of a company in Excel to understand how the value of a company is determined) and Analyst Skills at Level II (focusing on the skills equity analysts need using insights gained from hundreds of successful analysts).

We plan to roll out Python Programming Fundamentals at Level I (demonstrating the basics of Python and how to use Jupyter notebooks for developing, presenting, and sharing data science projects related to finance) and Python, Data Science & AI at Level II (an introduction to machine learning, AI, and data science to understand financial statements, reporting, and analysis using Python) as PSMs next calendar year.

Both Refresher Readings and PSMs will be eligible for Professional Learning (PL) credit.

We plan to email our members with more information about their access next week. We will also provide societies a promotional toolkit to help spread this good news to your members. Society leaders and staff can also look forward to an Inside Track session in early December, where we’ll discuss these updates to the CFA Program and why they matter to members, and how members can access these benefits. Look for registration information in the coming weeks.