To be sure, it shattered a lot of dreams. Dreams whose seeds were planted, for some, as far back as the early nineties, when the Institute was formed. On visits to the hallowed halls of CFA headquarters. In conference rooms, where colleagues discussed the merits of MBA versus CFA. Upon receiving an email from a friend who'd just updated his signature to include those three little letters and a note to "please see my updated credentials," when the urge to vomit was strong, but was no match for the realization, "I want that."

On June 7, 2014, those dreams were still just that: a dream. Today, for a record number of dreamers, they are a reality.

The pass rate for the Chartered Financial Analyst exam’s third and final level rose to the highest since 2006. Fifty-four percent of applicants succeeded, the CFA Institute said in a statement today, up from 49 percent on the June 2013 exam. Passage was the highest since 2006, when 76 percent of candidates made it. The average pass rate from 2004 to 2013 was 54 percent, institute data show. Rates fell as the financial crisis spurred more people to seek the designation amid mounting competition for jobs on Wall Street.

CFA Exam Results [CFAI]
CFA Pass Rate on Level 3 Jumps to 54%, Highest Since 2006 [Bloomberg]

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