In celebration of the 10th anniversary of founding the Russian Society of Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA Association Russia), the Association directors, founders and guests planted an alley of apple trees on the grounds of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow at 4 Maliy Gnezdnikovsky Lane.  This will be known as CFA Apple Alley.

CFA Institute is a global organization of investment professionals committed to promoting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence among financial professionals for the ultimate benefit of society. The Higher School of Economics and its Banking Institute is a partner university of the CFA Institute.

Neil Withers, President of CFA Association Russia                    

Tom Collimore, Head of Industry Relations at CFA Institute

Dana Day, Director of Industry Relation, EMEA Region at CFA Institute

The CFA Russia is the local society associated with the CFA Institute. It was founded in Moscow 10 years ago by 30 CFA Charterholders, but now has over 500 members who have achieved the distinction of passing three levels of exams concerning professional knowledge and ethics. Although at the beginning most members were people who had received their charter in overseas financial markets, now the local society is comprised primarily of young Russians who have achieved this distinction here in Moscow.

The CFA designation requires a candidate to sit three annual exams each of 6 hours, with a recommended period of study of over 350 hours. The past year in Moscow 2,000 candidates wrote exams in two sessions, June and December.

CFA Institute was founded on the basis of financial analyst groups in Canada and the USA, but now China, Brazil, India and Russia lead in the numbers of new members and growth and the organization has become truly global reflecting the interconnected international financial markets. Approximately 130,000 charter-holders are working around the world.

Vladimir Tutkevich, Executive Director of CFA Russia, commented, “The tremendous interest in the global qualification within Russia has brought world standards of professionalism and ethics to our financial markets. This is essential if capital markets are to meet the needs of our growing economy over the long run.”

Vasiliy Solodkov, Director of HSE Banking Institute 

Vassily Solodkov, Director of the Banking Institute at the Higher School of Economics stated, “The educational material of the CFA Institute provides an excellent basis for our course, Masters in Finance. We have been pleased to work with CFA for a number of years.”