BNP Paribas Investment Partners Joins with CFA Institute to Launch Claritas® Investment Certificate Globally
BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) is partnering with CFA Institute to launch the Claritas® Investment Certificate – the latest professional programme from CFA Institute – across BNPP IP offices worldwide and is one of the first organisations to adopt it as a global standard for its staff.
Launches took place across BNPP IP offices worldwide throughout March, April and May, with key speakers from CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, presenting alongside key internal stakeholders to underpin the significance of the programme to the organisation’s strategic priorities.
With CFA charterholders and candidates of the CFA Program across its worldwide staff base, BNPP IP is a long-standing supporter of the CFA Institute portfolio of educational programmes and is closely aligned to the organisation’s mission to promote the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence. Great emphasis and investment is placed on developing technical expertise at BNPP IP and the launch of the Claritas Investment Certificate is the latest initiative to receive the endorsement of its international Engagement & Leadership Programme, which aims to strengthen the company’s resilience against the finance industry’s shifting landscape.
Charlotte Dennery, Chief Operation Officer for BNPP IP said: “CFA Institute sets a very high standard for its educational programmes. I am extremely pleased that we have taken this important step of partnering with the Institute to launch Claritas. The certificate comes at a time when the industry is under pressure to raise levels of knowledge and to reinforce the need for individual accountability. More than ever, understanding the functions, processes, relationships and responsibilities that make up the big pictures are today’s key business, and individual, differentiators.”
John Bowman, CFA, managing director and co-lead of Education at CFA Institute, commented: “We are honoured to be working with BNP Paribas, a global organisation with a rich history. Through the broad adoption of the Claritas Investment Certificate, BNP Paribas is offering employees a valuable opportunity to develop their skills and competence in the industry, whilst also demonstrating its ongoing commitment to raising awareness of ethics. The global integration of our new programme is a model example of how we envisage Claritas being supported and implemented across an entire workforce to increase investment acumen, create a common lexicon, and cultivate a more collaborative culture.”
The Claritas Investment Certificate provides candidates with a thorough understanding of how the investment industry works and their professional responsibilities within it, thus representing a new international education and ethics standard across the financial services sector. The new programme is accessible to a wide range of professionals working with investment decision makers in functions such as operations, administration, IT, HR, 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 centre. On successful completion of the examination, candidates will be awarded a certificate of knowledge.
BNP Paribas Investment Partners is the dedicated, autonomous asset management business of BNP Paribas Group and offers the full range of asset management services to both institutional and retail clients around the world. A client-centric organisation, BNP Paribas Investment Partners is structured around three major business lines: institutional, distribution and Asia Pacific & emerging markets. We have some 700 investment professionals globally, each specialising in investing in a particular asset class or product type. With total assets under management of EUR 488 billion, BNP Paribas Investment Partners is the 6th largest asset manager in Europe.
Source: BNP Paribas Investment Partners, as at 31 March 2014, asset under management and advisory
CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organization is a champion for ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. The end goal: to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow.