2013 CFA exam content to be outsourced?

CFA General
#1

I ran across this press release from Wiley announcing that they will be providing content for the CFA exams starting in 2013.

Continuing a five year long publishing relationship between the two companies, Wiley will provide proprietary custom publishing services and content to CFA Institute starting with the 2012 Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) candidate program and the 2013 Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) candidate program. Wiley’s publishing services include the composition, manufacturing, and digital publication of 18 volumes and nearly 10,0000 pages of essential educational finance content over three program levels to over 200,000 CFA candidates.

We’re delighted to take our already strong partnership with CFA Institute to this new level. Having published the CFA Investment Series for the past five years as well as the CFA Investment Perspectives we know what it takes to produce quality content that meets the high standards of CFA Institute,” said Joan O’Neil, Vice President and Group Executive Publisher Wiley Global Finance.

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120207006515/en/Investing/Wiley/Global

Does this mean that the CFA is outsourcing their content starting in 2013? Any guesses how this will impact the quality of the CFA program?

#2

I don’t think they are going to be designing the questions on the exam. They may be involved in printing and distributing them to test centers. They may also be obtaining the rights to produce the books/ebooks that candidates are sent. I sense that the quality impact will be minimal, either way. A lot of the CBOK is already based on stuff that Wiley publishes (All the Fabozzi stuff, for example).

#3

Plus, it’s not like CFA material is all that great to begin with.

#4

doubt if it will make much difference, other than putting the price up. They’re just bundling and marketing the books for CFAI