1 июня 2017 г.

Paul Smith, President of CFA Institute, spent a day in Moscow meeting the board members of CFA Association Russia before heading to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPEIF).

CFA Russia board members met Paul for breakfast and had a chance to get to know him personally, before moving to the discussion of issues surrounding CFA Institute, its societies worldwide and future plans to increase membership and improve the global brand of the professional association.

Having worked in the investment management industry and held various top positions in major financial companies across the world, the president of CFA Institute brought a lot to the table.

“CFA Institute is focused on trying to deliver on its mission that is to raise professional investment standards throughout the investment community globally,” Paul Smith said.

The president said that currently CFA Institute is focusing on the demand side of the CFA charter, working to bring awareness to employers around the world about the designation and making the CFA charter more recognizable. The main idea is that once more companies start seeing the real value of the CFA charter and require it for certain positions, then more people would seek to obtain it, thus increasing a number of CFA members and candidates worldwide.

As of late, China has become a global leader in the number of CFA candidates.

“It’s just China, really, there is no secret… 40 percent of all our candidates come from China,” Paul said, adding that a large portion of CFA Institute’s revenues now come from Asia.

Apart from the increase of CFA candidates in Asia, Paul also mentioned about CFA Institute’s push to include more women in the investment profession. Currently, the numbers are not great, but the organization is working hard to change this, the president said.

Finally, Paul and CFA Russia board members discussed some of the strategies on how to increase a number of members in local societies by improving membership value. The board members talked about future targets and goals that CFA Russia is aiming to achieve within the next couple of years.

After spending a day in Moscow, Paul went to St. Petersburg to attend the SPIEF-2017 that is held during June 1-3.