CFA Institute

Ah, the Cat Fanciers’ Association, where you can find purebred chocolate Ocicats and beautifully shaded, silver, long-haired Burmillas...wait, wrong CFA.

This CFA refers to the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. (That makes more sense for this glossary.) This esteemed, international organization is kinda like the cool kids club that you so desperately tried to be a part of as a kid. But instead of teaching you how to play spin the bottle, it serves to support and educate financial advisors, investment managers and other investment professionals.

Want to join? Sorry, they’re only accepting memberships from those who are in the wealth management and asset management industry (you know, the cool kids). And you have to take a fancy test, which you probably wouldn’t pass anyway, have years of investment advisory experience, have multiple important references and the ability to pay a hefty fee. It’s ok, we hear the UBWA (Underwater Basket Weaving Association) is still accepting membership applications though. Or maybe stick with the cat version of the CFA.