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Los Angeles, CA – September 8, 2017

Jason Martinez, a Research Associate at Romero & Levin Wealth Management, Inc. in Santa Ana, CA, has earned the prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.

The CFA charter, one of the most respected and recognized investment credentials in the world, represents a tradition of upholding the highest standards of education and integrity in the investment profession. The charter is recognized globally by employers, investment professionals, and investors as a definitive standard by which to measure the competence, integrity, and dedication of serious investment professionals.

Recipients of the CFA charter have successfully completed the CFA Program, a graduate-level, self-study curriculum and a series of three intensive examinations taken sequentially, which, in total, takes most candidates between two and five years. Candidate surveys report that preparation for the three exams typically requires at least 900 combined hours of study.

The CFA Pro

gram, which is administered by CFA Institute, the global not-for-profit association of investment professionals, sets a standard that is acknowledged around the world for measuring the competence and integrity of financial analysts, portfolio managers, and investment advisers. Currently, more than 100,000 investment professionals in 135 countries and territories hold the CFA charter.

The first CFA exam was administered in 1963. Due to the rigor of the program, only around one in five candidates who enroll in the CFA Program pass all three exams and meet the professional and ethical requirements to earn the charter. Earning the designation demonstrates mastery of the skills most needed for investment analysis and decision making in today’s fast-evolving global financial industry.

Administered worldwide in English, the CFA Program is firmly grounded in the knowledge and skills required every day in the investment profession and covers ethical and professional standards, securities analysis and valuation, international financial statement analysis, quantitative methods, economics, corporate finance, portfolio management, and performance measurement.

Martinez has worked in the financial industry for five years. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of California, San Diego and a Masters in Business Administration at California State University, Long Beach. Martinez began his financial career at Karl H. Romero & Associates, Inc. as the Director of Client Relations in 2013. He then joined Romero & Levin Wealth Management, Inc. in 2016 as a Research Associate.

“I am thrilled to finally receive my charter,” Martinez said. “It represents the successful culmination of hundreds of hours of study and a demonstrated commitment to professionalism and ethics.”

John Bowman, CFA, managing director, Americas at CFA Institute, explained what motivates candidates to make such a significant investment of their time and energy to seek to earn the CFA designation.

“For 50 years, candidates have sought to earn the CFA charter for two chief reasons,” Bowman said. “One, to expand and test their knowledge of current practice across a broad range of investment topics, and two, to demonstrate to clients, employers, and peers their mastery of a demanding body of knowledge.

“In the past

decade, as the CFA Program has been adopted as a worldwide standard, the charter also has become an ‘international passport’ to work in financial markets anywhere in the world,” Bowman concluded.

ENDS

Jason Martinez, CFA is a Registered Assistant with, and securities are offered through, LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC.

Notes to Editors

About CFA Institute

CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 115,000 members, who include the world’s more than 100,000 CFA charterholders, in 138 countries and territories, as well as 138 affiliated professional societies in 60 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.