Portfolio or Fund Managers
Investment Analysis
Buy- and sell-side research analysts
Investment analysts
Quantitative analysts
Risk managers/analysts
Performance analysts
Managers of managers
Investment strategists
Investment consultants
Credit analysts
Financial Advisers, Planners, and Wealth Managers
Chief Investment Officers
CEOs & CFOs (Investment Management subsector only)
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).
APAC
AMERICAS
EMEA
Market
10-Year Growth Projection
Current Estimated Market Size*
India
33%
47K
Indonesia
29%
23K
Turkey
28%
4K
China
26%
139K
Australia
19%
21K
Mexico
19%
7K
Brazil
18%
17K
United Arab Emirates
17%
6K
Peru
15%
2K
Singapore
14%
14K
Argentina
12%
8K
Korea
11%
28K
Italy
10%
18K
Spain
10%
16K
France
10%
28K
United Kingdom
10%
50K
Netherlands
10%
5K
United States
9%
284K
Switzerland
9%
17K
Japan
8%
46K
Canada
8%
30K
Germany
4%
39K
Hong Kong SAR
4%
20K
Russia
2%
19K
Total
16%
1.05M