CFA Institute, the global association for investment professionals, launched the Claritas Investment Certificate Monday at its 66th Annual Conference in Singapore.
Announced back in January, the new education program provides a thorough understanding of how the investment industry works and represents a new international education and ethics standard across the financial services sector.
Global registration for the Claritas Investment Certificate is now available on the CFA Institute website, at http://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/claritas.
The Claritas certificate is accessible to a wide range of professionals working with investment decision makers in functions such as operations, administration, information technology, human resources, marketing, sales, compliance and customer service.
It is a self-study course which requires between 80 to 100 hours of study over a six month period and is made up of seven modules, covering the industry, tools, instruments, structure, controls, client methods, and ethics, culminating in a single self-scheduled, online exam at a proctored testing center.
On successful completion of the examination, candidates will be awarded a certificate of knowledge.
CFA Institute developed the Claritas certificate in response to the financial crisis, and as part of a global call to action for industry participants to play their part in addressing the overall lack of trust in financial services.
The industry’s enthusiasm for the Claritas certificate has been confirmed through a pilot program, which launched in January. Over 3,300 candidates from 70 companies in 50 countries served as pilot participants.
Feedback from pilot participants supports the need for the program: 84 per cent of participating employers said they would recommend the program to other employees, and 85 per cent of employees who took the course would recommend it to colleagues.
John Roger, president and CEO of CFA Institute, officially opened public registrations from the CFA Institute 66th Annual Conference in Singapore, and expressed his excitement about the initiative,
“Education is at the heart of the CFA Institute mission and the new program allows us to broaden our programs to help people working across the financial services sector,” he said.