KUWAIT CITY, Jan 29: “As we’re still starting with our company, so my colleagues and decided on taking a different route and setting the bar higher. We decided to go for rating at that time, anybody would probably laugh. During the exercise, we realize our weaknesses and we worked hard to fix them. It took discipline, the right process and the procedure and the hardest part was containing our ego. Our next brilliant idea was implementing transparency across the group,” said Faisal Al-Ayyar, Vice Chairman of KIPCO, a prominent Kuwaiti business leader , during the CFA Society Kuwait 5th Annual Charter Award Ceremony held on Monday evening at the Sheikha Salwa Al Sabah Hall in Salmiya. Al-Ayyar who was the chief guest tackled in his brief keynote speech the importance of ethical standards and professional excellence in doing business and engaging in the market.

CFA Kuwait President Rafik Hafez welcomed all the guests to the ceremony as he briefly outlined CFA Kuwait’s establishment in 2008 and how it has served CFA charterholders and CFA Programme candidates. CFA is an association of local investment professionals consisting of portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors and other financial practitioners. “CFA Kuwait promotes the highest ethical standards and professional excellence within the local investment community,” he pointed out.

He added that the mission of CFA Kuwait is to advance the interest of the Kuwait investment community by promoting and maintaining the highest standards of professional excellence and integrity; contribute to the development of Kuwait capital markets; contribute to the continued education and professional development of investment professionals in Kuwait; and actively promote the CFA programme in Kuwait. CFA Kuwait is a member society of CFA Institute. There are 137 CFA Societies around the world that support the mission of the CFA Institute at a local level, and provide members with career growth, information exchange, and professional networking opportunities.

Highlights
During the event, a video presentation on the highlights of CFA Kuwait in the last five years was shown to the guests. Among the special guests in the 5th Annual Charter Award were Richard Fernand, CFA, Director of Industry Relations EMEA at CFA Institute who was the guest of honour and Dr Marc Faber, the Editor and Publisher of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report.” Those who were chartered that evening were Ahmed Mohamed Metwalli, Allen Khoury, Anuj Tew Ari, Borhan Kamali, Dalal Jamal Alshaye, Ganesh Subramanian Mani, Gaurav Kumar Singh, Hany Mahmoud Hanafy Mahmoud, Hiba Ahmadullah Khan, Ibrahim Helou, Jassem Alduaij, Karthik Kumar Vijay Kumar, Khaled Jamal Al Kandari, Khalid Alsahli, Lina Danawi, Mohammad Ramadhan, Mubarak Ama, Alhamdan, Norah M A J A AlHashash, Sanoop Parambath Unni, Saud AlSubaie and Umar Ahmed Faruqui. Al-Ayyar handed them their charter certificates and congratulated them. The charter award ceremony hosted by Nagwa Asran, the CNBC Arabia Kuwait and Cairo Bureau Chief was followed by an outlook presentation of Dr Faber on “Deflationary Bust or Government Profligancy and Money Printing.”

Over the last five years, CFA Society Kuwait has grown its number of new charterholders by 62 %, making it one of the largest CFA societies in the Middle East region. There are now 115 CFA members and charterholders in Kuwait, comprising portfolio managers, analysts, chief investment officers, chief executive officers, investment advisers, and senior financial consultants. To earn the CFA designation, candidates must pass all three levels of the exam (successful candidates often report dedicating in excess of 300 hours of study per level); meet the work experience requirements of four years in the investment industry; sign a commitment to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct; and become a member of CFA Institute.

Looking at the year ahead Hafez concluded: “The year ahead will be interesting for CFA Society Kuwait as financial markets in the GCC continue to grow and mature. Charterholders will hear from a range of global experts from a variety of professional and educational institutions, where issues and topics affecting both the global and regional markets will be reviewed and discussed. In addition to that, CFA Institute will be hosting its annual Middle East Conference in Dubai in March, ahead of the next set of examinations in June.”