CFA holds its Annual Charter Awards Ceremony for 2011

Monday, 12 December 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Devin Jayasundera

The CFA Annual Charter Awards Ceremony and the CFA Sri Lanka Investment Research Challenge Awards was held amidst a gathering of renowned financial professionals in the country. This year The CFA Sri Lanka Investment Challenge was won by the Royal Institute of Colombo. 18 charter recipients were awarded the CFA Charter this year.

“The Financial Times have stated that CFA is a Global Passport and a Global Currency” remarked CFA Asia Pacific Management Director Dr. Ashvin Vibhakar. He explained the significance and the opportunities that entails by acquiring a CFA qualification. “Every year CFA institute engages with its stakeholders and inquires them on what they consider most relevant factors in hiring a new charter holder, and then also we go to industry leaders and ask their feed back in this regard. Based on this information received we prepare the CFA curriculum”.

In regard to the academic rigor involved in CFA he noted that according to the estimates of the CFA, successful candidates have studied a minimum of 350 hours for each exam. They also have to study over 7000 pages of material. In fact a Canadian News Paper described CFA exams as ‘Killer exams’.

The code of ethics and standards of professional conduct should not be compromised at any situation stressed Vibhakar. “Do not do anything ever that will tarnish the reputation of the charter. Keep in mind the profession and your duty is to increase the value of the charter and make sure that you’ll always keep the interest of the client and the market environment ahead of you. To put it in Warren Buffets words, he said “it takes years to build a reputation and it takes only five minutes to ruin it”.

CFA Sri Lanka Investment Challenge a unique competition is an opportunity where the students get the opportunity to experience the best practices of equity research analysis. The competition comprises of four elements where the participants have to analyze a public quoted company with the aim of coming up with investor recommendations and compiling all the analysis and producing a report which has to be presented in front of a panel of experts.

CFA Sri Lanka President Malinga Arsakularatne expressed that at the initial formation of the CFA society of Sri Lanka there were only 16 charter holders and today it has grown in to a body of 126 charter holders. He congratulated the new charter holders and advised them to conduct their professional career with integrity and in align with the CFA code of ethics and standards.

The Guest Speaker of the evening was Colombo Dock Yard MD/ CEO Mangala P.B Yapa.