The Impact and Innovation award recognizes high impact and highly innovative initiatives that have potential for development. Congratulations to the three regional winners: CFA Societies Canada, CFA Society Sri Lanka and CFA Society VBA Netherlands.
AMER
CFA Societies Canada: Delivering the CFA Institute Investment Foundations® Program to Regulators
CFA Societies Canada has successfully delivered the CFA Institute Investment Foundations® Program to regulators across the Prairies and Atlantic Canada this year. In partnership with CFA Society Calgary, CFA Society Saskatchewan and CFA Society Atlantic Canada, weekly virtual seminars were taught by local CFA charterholder volunteer instructors, several of whom were current or former regulatory professionals and able to relate the program to a regulatory context.
The seminars were delivered to 47 regulatory employees, including two regulators’ CEOs, in support of their registration in the program and participants were provided with access to the learning’s ecosystem. The seminars ran for 20 weeks from September 2020 through February 2021.
How the local society has made an impact
This initiative allowed CFA Societies Canada to build brand and mission awareness within the regulatory community and gave the local society a unique platform to introduce an expanding educational offering. CFA Societies Canada also successfully facilitated a CFA Institute Regulator Scholarship agreement with all 13 Canadian Standards Association (CSA) jurisdictions, covering approximately 2,000 regulatory employees.
CFA Societies Canada leveraged the CFA Institute “Seminars in a Box”, which gave local CFA charterholder volunteers the opportunity to be instructors for the program without the usual material preparation time. It also showcased their expertise to the regulators while putting the global CFA Institute brand, mission, and programs front and centre.
Through its targeted approach, CFA Societies Canada was able to appeal to regulators’ needs, access enforcement divisions and address a gap in professional development all at no cost to the regulator and minimal cost to the society.
How this can be replicated by the CFA Society® community
The initiative could be easily replicated in other markets globally through execution of the license agreement for and adaptation of the 20 “Seminars in a Box” from CFA Institute, and use of local volunteers as instructors. Seminars can be delivered virtually using the Zoom webinars platform, which helped to reach regulatory employees across a wide geography, gave flexibility for asynchronous participation by video where schedules conflicted and the return on investment was very attractive, as incremental costs (a Zoom account upgrade and gifts for the instructors) to deliver the program were minimal.
“Providing mission-driven learning opportunities to regulators has become an important new avenue for us in building awareness and engagement with the regulatory and policymaker community in Canada.” – Michael Thom, CFA, Managing Director of CFA Societies Canada
“This has been a multi-team effort that is truly aligning CFA Institute’s mission/values with that of the regulators. We are all in this together as we work to support market integrity and intelligent regulation.” – Barb Bauer, CFA, CFA Society Calgary
“We are thrilled to be able to offer this program to the regulatory agencies in Atlantic Canada, and we appreciate the efforts of CFA Societies Canada, along with our local volunteers to make this happen. It is great to see such strong enrollment from across the region.” – Andrew Walker, CFA, CFA Society Atlantic Canada
APAC
CFA Society Sri Lanka: Supporting CFA Program Candidates & Building Community
The Candidate Council (CC) of CFA Society Sri Lanka was established to assist local CFA Program candidates in their exam preparation and to help grow and build a sense of community.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 and a nationwide lockdown, activities were disrupted, with no readily available contingency plan. Key challenges were the delivery of exam preparation activities (which until then were only delivered in-person) and increased financial challenges and anxiety faced by candidates.
How the local society has made an impact
The local society restructured its activities to address these challenges by converting sessions to webinars within a week of health restrictions being implemented; setting up an easy payment scheme with a leading bank in Sri Lanka (which converted CFA Program enrolment and exam fees to a 0% interest, instalment plan); and responding to soaring candidate inquiries through multiple channels, including social media and WhatsApp.
Over the last year, the CC organized the highest number of events in its history and offered benefits and services beyond its usual offerings to help local candidates navigate the challenging period. The positive impact of these initiatives is evident, as CC membership uptake reached an all-time high, with membership registrations increasing by 20% YoY by the end of FY20 (73 CC members), and further increasing to 58% YoY for FY21 YTD.
The virtual classroom significantly reduced costs while generating income through member subscriptions and event fees, steering CC towards a sustainable model. Sessions conducted on the changing exam structure and Pre-Exam Tips boosted the morale of candidates and helped the local society to develop a closer relationship with the candidate community.
How this can be replicated by the CFA Society® community
This initiative could be easily replicated by the CFA Society network, as it is a scalable and sustainable model. The local society would advise starting small, using free tools, before growing the virtual classroom sessions with better equipment, e.g. livestreaming sessions. Societies could also build on existing relationships with local financial institutions and match financial products available in the market to help candidates in financial need, as CFA Society Sri Lanka did as part of this initiative.
“In an environment where many CFA Program candidates self-study for the program and have limited options in the way of exam support, the Candidate Council (CC) Initiative has become a focal point for candidate related activities and has helped to create a sense of community amongst its members. With nearly a third of the candidate base in Sri Lanka choosing to become CC members, it has helped to build closer ties with the broader society with past CC members showing strong interest to volunteer and give back to the society.” – Travis Gomez, CFA, Director & Candidate Council Chair, CFA Society Sri Lanka
EMEA
CFA Society VBA Netherlands: Launching a MiFID II Stay Compliant Program
In 2020, CFA Society VBA Netherlands launched a MiFID II stay compliant program, which received huge interest from the large asset managers in the Netherlands. The program consists of purpose-built education material and assessments on global or European topics and is modified each year. CFA Society VBA Netherlands is accredited by the Dutch Securities Institute, which means that its MiFID II stay compliant program is officially recognised and demonstrably meets local regulatory requirements.
Study material and assessments are available online and in English. The program is free for members of CFA Society VBA Netherlands and available to non-members at a reasonable price.
How the local society has made an impact
In 2020, CFA Society VBA Netherlands had over 1000 participants in the programs, signed up by 14 investment firms and some individuals. The program has further strengthened relationships with large employers and regulators in the Netherlands and attracted more than 100 new members to the local society.
The content development process relies on local specialists (often members) who have ample knowledge of the required topics and an education committee oversees the quality of the program. Both the specialists (teachers) and the members of the education committee contribute to the program on a voluntary basis. This support clearly indicates the strong positioning the society has in the Dutch market, as it can run the program through volunteers.
Through such programs, the local society wants to position itself as the ‘go to’ organisation for education and keep the professional competence of investment professionals advising or informing institutional clients in the Netherlands up-to-date.
CFA Society VBA Netherlands demonstrated the value a local society can bring to meet the specific needs of its market. This initiative bridged the strategic pillars of industry and regulatory outreach, product development, professional learning, and membership value.
How this can be replicated by the CFA Society® community
CFA Society VBA Netherlands has learned how to build a network of contacts with regulators and employers in the investment industry, undertake the application process for an accreditation, set up an internal process for content development in partnership with volunteers, and build the infrastructure needed to deliver such a program. The CFA Society community could learn from the experience of CFA Society VBA Netherlands and the program could be leveraged by societies in local markets. In particular, the MiFID program of CFA Society VBA Netherlands might be a useful product in markets where the local regulator does not impose specific rules on MiFID II training.
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