Investment Professional of the Future

CFA Institute commissioned Mercer to conduct a market sizing study to ascertain the number of core investment professionals working globally.

The total number of core investment professionals was estimated to be approximately 1.05 million at the end of 2018, as shown in Exhibit 4.

Mercer projects that in 10 years, there will be 1.2 million core investment professionals. This equates to a 10-year growth rate of 16% (1.5% compound annual growth rate, or CAGR). The size and growth expectations vary greatly by market. Among the four largest markets, India and China are projected to have 10-year growth of approximately 33% and 26%, respectively (2.9% and 2.3% CAGR), and more developed markets like the United Kingdom and United States are projected to have 10-year growth of 10% and 9%, respectively (1.0% and 0.9% CAGR).

Mercer’s projections are consistent with the findings from our industry leader survey, shown in Exhibit 5, in which 49% of respondents expect growth, 22% expect no growth, and 28% expect a decline in the number of investment professionals in the next 5–10 years).