Two years down the line, the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations will have questions on artificial intelligence, automated investment services and mining unconventional sources of data, as the CFA accreditation believes a candidate must have a basic understanding on these lines too.

The update which has been brought by the officials from CFA accreditation that manages the financial credential, would see candidates embrace computer and data science apart from wealth and asset management.

As of 2019, the exam would see new topics such as algorithmic and high-frequency trading along with the usual ones.

Stephen Horan, managing director of credentialing for the CFA Institute, was reportedly quoted as saying that candidates would not be expected to code computer programs but rather distinguish between structured and unstructured data and identify characteristics of robust investment algorithms.

He also believes that fintech will soon play more prominent role in education and the fund managers must have an understanding of the services such as “robo-advisers” apart from the regular financial understanding. He added that a background in computer science or generally programming could be incredibly beneficial for the financial industry.

Considered one of the toughest exams to clear, the traditional curriculum of CFA covers topics from understanding how corporations spend cash to the mechanics of complex financial instruments and government regulation.

It is estimated that close to 190,000 people will sit for the CFA exam which is set to be held on June 3.