By, Siti Sufiah Mohd Rasidan
GOMBAK, 27th April 2025: On Friday, 25 April 2025, the Islamic Finance Student’s Association, IFSA, had invited Fera Aisyah Mohd Khalil to give a talk on her journey of achieving the Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), qualification in line with the CAREERFINDAYS 2025 event. The talk was held at night in the Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences building, at IIUM Gombak.
Fera Aisyah was without a doubt, the most qualified person to give a talk on the topic due to her spectacular background. She not only holds the position as one of the board members of the CFA Society, but also a Portfolio Manager in Khazanah. Her journey in the industry started 10 years ago when she got the opportunity to be a graduate trainee at Khazanah and chose to pursue CFA in order to stand out from other trainees. On top of that, she even received a scholarship from Yayasan Peneraju that helped support her journey.
Fera’s story on being a full time worker while taking her CFA studies was very inspiring for the audiences, showing how persistent and hardworking she is as a person. She mentioned that she had to juggle between her work and her studies for three whole years. “Three years of not having my own life was worthwhile,” she stated. The CFA exams taught her a lot of things, but the most valuable thing it gave her was the confidence boost that made her the person she is now.
Fera continued her talk by giving a few tips and tricks by sharing a few mistakes that past CFA students had made and even urging the audiences to pursue the certificate themselves. CFA is known to be a globally respected qualification that is very useful for those who will be entering the industry in future. Fera also said, “It’s like an equalizer because it’s a global exam that is similar in every part of the world.”
Fera also recommended students to apply for Yayasan Peneraju scholarship while taking the CFA exam. “Yayasan Peneraju scholarship was important for me because it got me to network with the right group of people and that kept me going as well,” Fera stated. This shows that not only does Yayasan Peneraju serves as a financial backbone, but it gave her a few close friends that has helped her get through the difficult journey.
To end her talk, Fera gave a piece of advice for all audiences, “You have to believe in the momentum of your actions and don’t let your anxiety eat you up. Instead, use that anxiety to fuel your energy for you to take actions.” Her valuable insights have helped painted a clear picture for all of the audiences on what CFA is and may be especially helpful for those who are interested in starting their journey in achieving CFA.***
