The Abu Dhabi office, which opened this week, is the CFA’s first office in the UAE and eighth international office.
Headquartered in the United States, the CFA Institute is the body behind the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) accreditations.
Improving standards
Gary Baker, managing director for Emea at the CFA Institute, told Middle East news website The National that one of the core functions of the office will be to help UAE jurisdictions set up ethics and structure codes for financial advisers.
Another key element will be to help improve the number of financial advisers who obtain the institutes CFA qualification.
It can take six years to attain all three levels of the qualification, with only one in six of initial applicants completing the programme.
“Everyone takes the same exam irrespective of where they are or which country, so there is a gold standard, in other words, it does not matter what local custom is, this is what we think is acceptable local practice.
“We are trying to develop some idea that there is a benchmark to which people should be trying to reach,” Baker said.
Financial advisers in the UAE have traditionally lagged behind other regions in obtaining this qualification, with figures showing 460 holders in Abu Dhabi and 3,000 in total in the UAE, this is compared to 153,000 globally.
Low trust levels
Further, in March, the CFA Institute published research that found 54% of UAE investors use a financial adviser, but only 32% consider them trustworthy.
Baker says the mission of the organisation is to boost both trust levels and the number of qualified advisers in the UAE.
“Employers are keen to hire CFAs because they have a very strong financial education.
“Another component that is very dominant in the exam is ethics; 20% of levels one, two and three is all about ethics and codes of standards.
“Employers like that profile – someone who is financially educated and knows how to deal with ethical dilemmas,” Baker said to The National.
