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23.09.2016 General News

Africa Rising: Ghana Born Isaac Simpson, Youngest CFA Charterholder

By Kwesi Koomson
Isaac SimpsonIsaac Simpson
23.09.2016 LISTEN

As the Wall street journal succinctly puts it, “The CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Exams is the most difficult exam on wall street.”

Isaac at 26, has been awarded the CFA Charter. The CFA program is the most coveted professional financial designation globally .He is currently the youngest CFA Charterholder in Ghana, West Africa. Ghana currently has only 25 resident CFA Charterholders.

He attained above 70% in 9 out of the ten tested subjects on average at all levels. He also passed all levels on first try. He pursued this great success concurrently with various levels of the Society of Actuaries actuarial exams, all of which he also passed on first try.

The program consists of three exams written once annually across the world. Overall, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is a daunting challenge, and the odds of success from start to finish are slim. Less than 20% of those who begin the challenge end successfully.

Bloomberg’s Surveillance host, Tom Keene who is a CFA Charterholder told Business Insider how brutal the CFA exams are. In his own words, "The CFA is what I call a British exam, which is very difficult for Americans to understand.” "It's an overwhelming body of knowledge ... You can't memorize it, you can't guess which parts will be on the exam, it's just absolutely overwhelming." He concludes with a rather interesting statement about the exam; "You're not trying to get an A+, you're trying to get a quality C."

Isaac is currently a consultant with the Deals advisory unit of KPMG Ghana. He also spent some time working at Deloitte West Africa as a risk analyst. He is a proud alumnus of Achimota School and also graduated “Magna cum Laude” from KNUST with a Bachelors in Actuarial Science.

Isaac is not just an academic, he is also a peer counsellor and career coach. He has supported many people land dream jobs both abroad and locally. He is a Christian and enjoys playing the jazz Guitar and gospel electric lead. He supported the EPICS of Purdue University, USA to get funding for some community service projects. The project provided portable water for rural dwellers in Bekwai, in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

He is also a key member of Preservers Union, Ghana – a female human rights, protection and development union. He enjoys playing soccer and is an ad-hoc community soccer team coach.

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