Private Harbour professional designations

The following professional designations are actively held by one or more members of the Private Harbour staff.

Chartered Financial Analyst

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter is a globally respected graduate-level investment credential established in 1962 and awarded by the CFA Institute, the world’s largest association of investment professionals. The institute is dedicated to developing and promoting the highest educational, ethical and professional standards in the investment industry.

Earning the CFA charter demonstrates mastery of many of the advanced skills needed for investment analysis and decision making in today’s quickly evolving global financial industry. The program is updated every year by experts from around the world to ensure candidates learn the most relevant and practical new tools, ideas and investment and wealth management skills.

Among the requirements for earning the CFA charter are: passing three sequential, six-hour examinations; having at least four years of qualified professional investment experience and committing to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

The code of conduct requires CFA charterholders to: place their clients’ interests ahead of their own, maintain independence and objectivity, act with integrity, maintain and improve their professional competence and disclose conflicts of interest and legal matters.

For more information, visit cfainstitute.org.

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

CPAs are licensed and regulated by their state boards of accountancy. The requirements for generally include a minimum college education (typically 150 credit hours with at least a baccalaureate degree and a concentration in accounting) and minimum experience levels (most states require at least one year of experience providing services that involve accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, all of which must be achieved under the supervision of or verification by a CPA). Candidates must also pass the Uniform CPA Examination.

To maintain a CPA license, states generally require completion of 40 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) each year or 80 hours over a two-year period or 120 hours over a three-year period.

Additionally, all American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) members are required to follow a rigorous Code of Professional Conduct. This requires CPAs to act with integrity, objectivity, due care and competence; fully disclose any conflicts of interest (and obtain client consent if a conflict exists); maintain client confidentiality; disclose to the client any commission or referral fees; and serve the public interest when providing financial services.

For more information visit aicpa.org.

Personal Financial Specialist (PFS)

The PFS credential demonstrates that an individual has met the minimum education, experience and testing required of a CPA in addition to a minimum level of expertise in personal financial planning.

To attain the PFS credential, a candidate must hold an unrevoked CPA license, fulfill 3,000 hours of personal financial planning business experience, complete 80 hours of personal financial planning CPE credits, pass a comprehensive financial planning exam and be an active member of the AICPA.

A PFS credential holder is required to adhere to AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct and is encouraged to follow AICPA’s Statement on Responsibilities in Financial Planning Practice. To maintain their PFS credential, the recipient must complete 60 hours of financial planning CPE credits every three years. The PFS credential is administered through the AICPA.