Early-career analysts on the CFA track make around $80,000 in total pay. The median US charterholder, across all roles, earns about $300,000, and the top decile gets to roughly $500,000. All three figures come from CFA Institute's compensation data.

The charter is the standard credential for investment work on both the buy side and the sell side, in asset management, equity research, investment banking and wealth management. I hold it, and I built FreeFellow's CFA practice bank.

What the numbers cover

The entry figure is total compensation for a junior analyst on the CFA track, usually before the charter is finished. The median is base plus bonus plus equity across all US charterholders in every role. The top decile is mostly senior portfolio managers and CIOs at large asset managers.

The range is wide because the charter covers everyone from a first-year research associate to a CIO running billions. Where you land depends far more on your role and your firm than on the charter itself. What the charter does is help you get into investment roles and move up once you're there.

From analyst to CIO

Most people start as a research or investment analyst, move up to senior analyst or associate portfolio manager, then portfolio manager, and some go on to Chief Investment Officer. Equity research has its own ladder from associate to analyst to senior analyst covering a sector. Buy-side research, sell-side equity research and investment strategist roles sit along the way. The charter carries the most weight in the middle of the ladder, where firms treat it as a baseline.

To earn it, you pass all three exam levels and log 48 months of qualified investment work experience, which can come before, during or after the exams. Most people get the charter three to four years after starting Level I.

If you want to work in asset management, equity research or portfolio management, the charter is close to mandatory and the pay ceiling is high. For corporate finance, accounting or financial planning, the CPA, CFP or CMA fits those jobs and their pay more directly, and the Finance Credential ROI Map puts all of them side by side.

FreeFellow's CFA question bank and full solutions are free, so the charter costs you the exam fees and your study time, not a prep course.