This platform has stellar ratings because of the rigorous vetting and exhaustive testing it does to ensure it connects users exclusively with high-caliber freelance CFA charterholders. The service expertly matches world-class talent to your project description, saving you significant time.
Toptal achieves a 98% success rate by considering each requirement and preference you submit, including niche specialties and critical soft skills. These factors make it the ideal option when you want to hire only the best chartered financial analysts.
Their clients say:
“TopTal was a tremendous help to us! We recently took on a project that we quickly realized would need some outside experience and assistance. After contacting TopTal, within the same day, they had 3 individuals for us to interview. The individual we chose had senior-level experience and helped us make the project a tremendous success! A big thanks to TopTal!” — John Penrod, from Trustpilot review
Enjoy a 5-day risk-free trial while hiring from a selection that only includes the top 3% of applicants.
The CFA Institute certifies all chartered financial analysts worldwide. Firms can turn directly to the organization to find CFAs for hire. You can put a posting on the CFA Institute Career Center and anywhere member society career sites are available. Doing so ensures you only reach verified Chartered Financial Analysts.
Choose from four plans of different visibility levels for job posts that last for 30 or 60 days.
You can only post a job ad and wait for members to contact you instead of searching a talent pool or getting expert matching.
The cost of a job posting may be high given there is no guarantee you will hire a CFA.
Robert Half is a trusted name in staffing solutions. The site enables companies to find skilled professionals in finance and accounting.
You can use the service to look for someone you would eventually like to hire full-time or simply find freelance CFA charterholders for temporary projects. While you cannot browse CFAs specifically, you can search for job titles and use filters to home in on a professional who meets that criterion.
The company allows you to specify whether you are looking for short-term or long-term talent.
The site offers a satisfaction guarantee.
While Robert Half seeks highly skilled candidates, you might have to do more of the vetting and interviewing.
Fintalent’s target clientele is companies looking to staff for merger and acquisition projects. If you need to hire a chartered financial analyst working on the buy side, you can sort through strong candidates here. CFA freelancers also work in strategy, corporate development, fintech, and private equity deals.
Their clients say:
“I had a good experience with Fintalent. Setting up the profile is very easy, the projects available are catered to each person so they are relevant, and the Fintalent team is very responsive and makes things happen quite fast and with minimal bureaucracy. Recommended!” — Pedro S., from Trustpilot review
The service now has over 3,000 freelancers in over 40 countries.
Their team can quickly connect you with vetted freelancers.
It may not be the right fit if you are not handling M&A.
As a powerhouse accounting firm, Deloitte offers various types of financial analysis and corporate advisory services. They provide comprehensive guidance for tax matters, risk advisory, M&A, and consulting. You can count on high-quality service from Deloitte, though you might not be able to handpick and hire freelance CFAs from the site.
Wealthtender is a finance publication that also provides an advisor directory. A notable feature is the site’s SEC-compliant reviews platform, the first of its kind. Wealthtender allows you to locate certified advisors in locations throughout the United States. Though not a recruiting or hiring site for businesses, it can be a good place to find CFA charterholders looking to transition into new roles.
The site is a relatively new marketing platform that allows you to connect with and hire CFAs.
You can isolate which CFA specialization you are looking for, but only for planners in the U.S.
The website tends to be a bit slow, and the platform does not explain how it vets the advisors it links to.
For over 20 years, WiserAdvisor has been a directory for finance professionals and a blog for financial education. The service is free for consumers and links them to vetted retirement planners in the U.S. All professionals on the site hold clean records and have registered with FINRA/SEC. This is another option for finding Chartered Financial Analysts in the consumer space who may be open to other jobs.
Their users say:
“WiseAdvisor led us to our new financial planner, so we really have to say the system worked as advertised. We were given several viable alternatives and interviewed four… They did what they said they would, and we are pleased with the results.” — Alan C., from Trustpilot review
The service focuses on individuals and families who want help with retirement planning and investment management.
Businesses and recruiters may not necessarily be able to find a freelance chartered financial analyst who works remotely, but the directory is free to use.
As a high-quality hiring resource, 1840 & Company works to take the hassle out of finding freelance experts and outsourced teams. Its team has built its many connections into an exclusive professional marketplace that finds talent across fields. The site also uses a global pricing model to simplify scaling.
The company focuses on helping its clients boost capital and growth.
A growth expert discusses your goals and challenges to locate a compatible freelancer or team and keeps in contact with you throughout the process.
The site does not dedicate a page to hiring CFA charterholders, but you can use filters to find people with that certification.
A cost-effective platform for sourcing various types of freelancers, Guru minimizes your upfront expenses by leaving the vetting and interviewing to you. Search through profiles to find CFAs or post a job for free to let them contact you.
Insight Global provides a staffing solution that assists with candidate curation, onboarding, and payroll when you need to find a CFA. It can help with permanent, contract-to-hire, and contract positions in all industries. Additionally, their team has been a trusted agency by over 800 companies on the Fortune 1000.
Upwork remains a viable solution for anyone who wants to take on the bulk of screening and vetting candidates. If you want to hire a CFA charterholder, you can post jobs for freelancers or sort through the community to find a match.
Upwork has a worldwide reach and now offers its Expert-Vetted program. This invitation-only arrangement lets you choose from the top 1% of freelancers on the site.
The platform makes it easy to connect with applicants before making a hire.
Upwork uses algorithms and artificial intelligence to match clients with freelancers with the right mix of skills.
A secure payment platform and fixed-price protection lowers the risk of hiring.
This company has come a long way from being a task-oriented website that only offers assignments for $5 each. You can specifically search for individuals who are chartered financial analysts from locations around the world.
Fiverr remains a dependable platform for communicating with freelancers.
You can request refunds if the work is unsatisfactory.
You might not be able to find the top-ranked professionals since the site focuses on being a budget-friendly solution.
Kolabtree is one of the most exclusive platforms for finding freelancers, as it specifically caters to those in scientific fields. Its filtering makes it simple to find CFA charterholders who are consultants and data experts.
Post project details to invite experts to quote on.
The site ensures confidentiality and secure, flexible payments.
You can use Indeed to post jobs with specific requirements, including that you are only hiring chartered financial analyst freelancers. The site remains the most-visited job board in the U.S., giving you an extensive reach. Specify whether you are looking for remote, contract, part-time, or full-time workers. Then vet and interview the candidates.
Indeed is an inexpensive way to cast a wide net for applicants as long as you do not have a short hiring timeframe.
The platform includes several resources to help you assess candidates.
The interface is convenient for accepting resumes and CVs.
For the widest domain of professionals, consider LinkedIn. The business-focused social media platform now has over 1 billion users and allows you to find chartered financial analysts. You could also network with other recruiters on the site to build connections that might help you locate the right person.
Easily search for specific skill sets and get to know applicants ahead of time.
Make more direct introductions to top prospects with a Premium membership.
Guide to Hiring Freelance Chartered Financial Analysts
Hiring a Chartered Financial Analyst is an intelligent decision for businesses and wealthy families. The input of these professionals positions you to make strategic moves that maximize your profitability or investment returns. However, you may find it challenging to find a CFA charterholder.
Not just any financial planner can list “CFA” after their name. Qualifying as a charterholder starts by meeting one of the following criteria:
Four years of work experience
A bachelor’s degree (or being in the final year of studies)
4,000 hours of work experience in at least three years
A CFA must also live in a participating country, speak English, and meet a professional code of conduct. Interestingly, they must also have an international passport.
Gaining the certification requires passing three exams, with each demanding over 300 hours of study on average. These assessments are only available periodically at official facilities for a registration fee of up to $1,390. Completing a test takes six hours. Unsurprisingly, the total pass rate is only 43% over the past 10 years and has been as low as 22% some months.
For that reason, there are only 190,000 CFAs worldwide. Compare that with the 283,000 personal financial planners in the U.S. alone, and you know why it can be a challenge to find chartered financial analysts for hire.
These experts are particularly important to business owners who desire reliable market forecasts to make profitable decisions. Consider the experience of Romy Parzick, who served as the Chief Operating Officer of Vault, an education benefits platform. She relates:
“Erik has been an extremely valuable member of our team who has [a] tremendous breadth of experience with startups in our lifecycle phase. What makes his contribution unique and highly effective is not only his excellent financial modeling skills and knowledge, but also the emotional intelligence with which he manages each relationship at Vault, understands our team dynamics, and helps us tackle startup challenges effectively.”
Vault continues to find success, with over 1,750 employers using its platform. That includes significant players in various industries, such as Mastercard, Prudential, and SurveyMonkey.
Clearly, an intelligent and highly educated advisor can have a positive impact on your business. If you are hiring chartered financial analysts, use this guide to make the process easier.
Hiring a Freelance Chartered Financial Analyst
You no longer need to limit your search to full-time or even part-time CFAs. Many now work as freelancers, offering multiple benefits beyond the initial cost savings. By using a qualified online market such as Toptal, you can quickly locate the ideal candidate and skip long hiring processes.
An online platform also means you do not have to stick to your local market to hire a freelance CFA. This makes it easier to find someone with a particular specialty or skill set that fits your niche.
Understanding What Chartered Financial Analysts Do
Why should you hire chartered financial analysts? According to Jeremy Keil, a CFA and financial planner at Keil Financial Partners: “A CFA charterholder is someone who has attained one of the highest distinctions in the investment management profession. They are trained in deep investment analysis well beyond the knowledge of a typical financial advisor.”
The CFA Program verifies an individual’s competence and integrity in finance. Therefore, CFAs have the knowledge to perform a number of advisory roles in the public and private sectors, typically in investment management.
The CFA Institute highlights the ideal careers for Chartered Financial Analysts in multiple categories:
Quantitative and analytical: Data analyst, research analyst, risk analyst, data scientist, Forex currency trader
Often, a CFA’s job might be with either a buy-side or sell-side investment firm. The buy side involves those individuals and entities that wish to invest to grow wealth. The sell side deals with those creating and selling investment products and services.
What does a chartered financial analyst do on the sell side? Within these firms, a CFA handles either front-, middle-, or back-office financial responsibilities. The roles might look something like the following illustration:
As you can tell, the skill set of a CFA must be diverse. The foundations of such abilities rest on analysis, problem-solving, clear communication, and ethical decision-making.
As your business grows, you should consider finding a chartered financial analyst for hire who can oversee the work of financial planning and corporate accounting. Eventually, such a position can grow to become a fractional or full-time chief investment officer.
These professionals assist with risk management and sustainable expansion of your operations. Even if you do not plan to hire a CFA for the long term, calling on one as a consultant is a wise decision when you plan major investments, either as a company or for families with substantial wealth and foundations to manage.
Bear in mind that hiring a CFA does not just assure you get someone with extensive financial training. A key selling point is the certification’s focus on ethics. This can ensure you have a trustworthy associate who commits to your financial success through responsible practices that align with your values.
How To Hire Chartered Financial Analysts
Financial planner Jeremy Keil makes this point about hiring chartered financial analysts, “They are tough to find. Most work for institutions managing million-dollar-plus portfolios and don’t work directly with regular financial consumers.”
Clearly, you need every advantage to find and hire these in-demand professionals before someone else does. Before settling on how to hire a CFA, work with your stakeholders to determine your needs to simplify your search. You should consider:
Budget allocation for the project and hiring process
Project schedule
Hiring timeframe
Unique industry skill sets or requirements your CFA should have
Remember that the work of interviewing and vetting candidates can delay the time it takes to find a CFA and negatively impact your budget or schedule. If you need to move quickly on hiring, you should typically opt for a service that prequalifies and matches candidates, such as Toptal.
Also, remember that you do not necessarily need a CFA expert at the top of the field. Practically any charterholder is a worthwhile candidate if the person understands your particular discipline. Hiring a newer CFA charterholder could also be more cost-effective.
You can distinguish a junior analyst from a mid-level or elite expert fairly easily. Someone at the entry-level phase will have only passed Level I or II of the CFA exam. Research from Kaplan Schweser determines that these individuals are a good fit for asset management, accounting, finance, equities, risk management, and internships.
CFAs at the mid-tier have their certification and bachelor’s degrees. These individuals are ready for senior investment consultant roles and positions in the C-suite. At this stage, you only need to look for a match in your corporate culture and industry specialization.
Highly skilled CFAs have years of experience and an MBA. They will also be able to command top dollar. In fact, recent data shows that Chartered Financial Analysts with an MBA earn 18% more than their counterparts.
Choose senior CFAs if you have a large company or complex situations that need an outstanding result. They are especially suitable when you have longer-term projects or need someone to lead a sizable team. However, the CFA Program is rigorous enough that you can still find excellent CFAs in the junior and mid-level tiers.
Skills To Look For When Hiring CFAs
The chartered financial analyst skills you should seek in an applicant depend on your industry and project. To start with, double-check that prospective hires have the following competencies on their resumes:
Mathematical skills
Detail- and process-oriented decision-making
Knowledge of the financial system and global current events
Interpersonal communication and relationship building
Critical thinking and analytical competency
Those on the qualitative and analytical side will especially require strong math and programming skills. In general, these analysts will be competent in:
To hire a CFA for client-facing roles, focus more on someone who has experience with investment strategies and processes. Such people rely more on emotional intelligence for persuasion and negotiation. They may also require greater attention to ethics and the regulatory environment.
In all cases, look for someone compatible with your team’s culture. That means finding a person with soft and collaborative “T-shaped skills” that show both focused expertise and broad general abilities. Review other organizations and environments candidates have worked in to get a better idea of whether they can thrive alongside you.
Fortunately, social media has become a useful way to uncover someone’s mindset before you meet them in person. Their posts will clue you into what they are passionate about, which is a good indicator of where and with whom they excel.
This might also be an effective way to see how well a person collaborates with others. An analyst who is part of various professional groups and organizations or has seen success in different types of assignments could be the versatile fit you are looking for.
The Cost To Hire Chartered Financial Analysts
SalaryExpert put the base compensation for a CFA at $108,800 a year. This equates to $52.31 per hour.
However, CFAs usually average bonuses of $4,559 yearly. As with other finance positions, you should consider offering additional pay to your freelancer CFA for successful performance.
Tips for Writing a CFA Job Description
Of course, your CFA job description should cover every requisite of a candidate. Still, get to the point of what you are looking for and why you are hiring a CFA.
Do not merely copy and paste every possible thing a CFA could do as job requirements. Discuss with your hiring team the best way to concisely cover the following points:
The job title
A brief summary
Responsibilities and goals
Essential skills and qualifications
Preferred qualifications (“nice-to-haves”)
Say a little about the personality of your company’s culture and what kind of applicant would be a good fit on the team.
Also, make it clear how to apply for the position. Of course, when you work with a site like Toptal, an expert matcher conveniently connects you with candidates risk-free.
Effective Interview Questions To Ask When You Are Looking To Hire a Chartered Financial Analyst
Once someone passes the application process, the final step is to conduct an interview. At this phase, your primary concern is a culture match.
The following questions often prove helpful:
What was your greatest accomplishment in your previous role?This helps you determine how the person measures success.
How would you explain [insert complex topic] to someone with no financial experience?You want an intelligent CFA, but you also need someone who can make hard subjects easy to understand for decision-makers and stakeholders.
Can you share an example of a time an analysis went wrong and what you learned? No one is perfect, but everyone should be willing to learn from mistakes and get better.
How do you ensure accuracy when handling large amounts of data or particularly stressful deadlines? CFAs should be professionals who can handle stress and do not make excuses, even when times get tough.
Describe an instance when you disagreed with a colleague or manager and how the matter ended. You can use this to get a better idea of how much of a team player the individual is and how they handle conflict.
Keep an eye out for other penetrating questions that help you identify a good match.
How To Find Freelance Chartered Financial Analysts for Hire
Remember, when thinking about where to find chartered financial analysts for hire, you can try outsourcing agencies, job boards, and freelance marketplaces. Professional networks and events that focus on financial matters can also lead to great connections.
However, you might not have the time for a lot of legwork, which is why we provided you with a list of the best sites to hire CFAs. Consider using a cost-effective solution that helps you quickly encounter the highest-caliber talent with no work on your end. To do that, we thoroughly recommend Toptal.
Finding and hiring a top chartered financial analyst is an excellent step toward strengthening your business. However, it can be a challenge to contract with someone among these highly sought-after experts. This guide’s list of sites is a good place to start tracking down willing freelancers who are ready to work with you.
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