I think you might be the one confusing the regional pecularities with world standards.
First of all - I was referring to the US CPA, as was the original poster. The Canadian CPA is analogous to the UK CA, its a much smaller group of people.
Toronto has the highest CFA charterholders per capita, so you have no idea what you’re talking about regarding respecting the charter. It has one of the largest CFA societies in the world.
Your anecdotes are data-mining, you could find examples of those nuances in any country.
Your comments on accountants not being able to understand mathematics or complex theories is ridiculous. Some grasp financial concepts well and some don’t. There are lots of accounting concepts that you wouldn’t understand yourself. If you think otherwise, let me know and I’ll ask you a few.
Mathematics?? CFA requires…additions and subtractions and basic algebra you learned in middle school. Highly doubt any CPAs will have tough time with these.
EconomicAnalyst, you wack son
@ CADFX,
The CIM is the Chartered Investment Manager designation that is obtained through the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). In order to be registered as a PM in Canada, you need to have either your CIM or CFA plus the required work experience. (The CIM is very light on material as opposed to the CFA - I have my CIM).
Many job titles use Financial Analyst and typically want you to have an undergrad degree in Business (Accounting, Finance, Economics etc) and most times want you enrolled in the CPA program, or have the CPA designation.
Yeah I ended up looking it up - I actually took the CSC basic course in university so I’m surprised I didn’t remember seeing this on their site. Edited my comment.
CSI is a cash grab. Any credibility or value derived from them (aside from local regulatory requirements), is worthless. No offense.
^ well it depends on what your job is in the financial industry.
I have mixed feelings about the CSI. The material they provide in order to satisfy the industry regulatory requirements are ok but I don’t care for the way some of the testing is done on the material.
Background: I’m in Big 4 accounting with a CPA, passed Level I on my first attempt with a strong matrix and I feel cautiously optimistic about Level 2 (awaiting results).
For those who are familiar with the CFA curriculum, it goes CFA > CPA > CFP
For most people, it goes CPA and “what’s a CFP / CFA?” The only time I’ve been asked “what is a CPA”, it was followed by a sarcastic “… , Certified Party Animal?”
Having been through the CPA exams, I can tell you I spent 100 hours at most studying combined for all four exams and passed each on my first attempt. I’ve often told my accounting colleagues that Level I could be compared to showing up and taking all four CPA exams on the same day, and Level II can’t be compared to the CPA at all.
Passing rates are similar between the programs, but I believe that says more about the preparation of candidates than difficulty of the exam. Generally, CFA candidates put in the time and effort required because the exams are not cheap and can only be taken once a year. That’s not necessarily true for CPA candidates given it costs $100 to re-take an exam and you can take each exam quarterly until you pass it. Some people fail the sand exam multiple times per year and make the rest of us look good by keeping the pass rate at 40%.
I have no experience with the CFP but understand from others that it could be passed with only a small amount of incremental work after you’ve completed the CFA program, and I’d put it behind both the CFA and CPA in terms of “respect”.
Yes, I comprehend the question.
Who gets more respect: CFA, then CPA, then CFP.
As far as actual demonstrated competency though, CPA is more deserving of respct. These people actually know their job and are capable for performing it. CFAs are incompetent and lazy, is the statistic still that 9 in 10 underperform the market after fees?
^how do u feel about CPAs that stick to GAAP? lol
Why do you post here?
In all seriousness, by sheer numbers alone a CPA does not hold much market value. Had a few CPAs themselves tell me they find the CFA material much more intense and difficult and have no will to take the exams.
Been here since 2002-ish, habit I guess! 
It’s useful to observe, and see how the types of people who are managing big chunks of money think. These are the people I am up against in the market, so I need to understand them.
2006, but who’s counting?
Making the fatal flaw of assuming, without proof, this group of people actually manage money and are a viable sample that represents the industry.
Naw, 2002 as I said.
Naw, it’s not really a “fatal flaw”, I’m still alive.
The people on this site will be in the future, or already are, managing money. These forums have a certain persistent attitude/view, which mirrors the industry. For example they nitpick. 
Maybe not yet but I suspect over the long run it’ll bite you where it matters most!
Assuming you don’t evolve and grow your strategy overtime
^ I think you are just making stuff up. It’s not really some big deal.
of course I am, it’s called conjecture man!